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President Trump demands Roger Clemens be enshrined in Hall of Fame ‘now’

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Three months after applying pressure that helped lead to a rule change making the late Pete Rose eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame, President Donald Trump has turned his attention to Roger Clemens.

In a social media post on Sunday, Trump argued that Clemens belongs in the Hall of Fame and that he should be inducted immediately.

“I played Golf yesterday with the Great Roger Clemens and his son, Kacy,” Trump wrote. “Roger Clemens was easily one of the few Greatest Pitchers of All Time, winning 354 Games, the Cy Young Award seven times (A Record, by a lot!), and played in six World Series, winning two! He was second to Nolan Ryan in most strike-outs, and he should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame, NOW!”

The president went on to recognize MLB’s steroids era and dismissed Clemens’ connections to performance-enhancing drugs.

“People think he took drugs, but nothing was proven. He never tested positive, and Roger, from the very beginning, totally denies it. He was just as great before those erroneous charges were leveled at him. That rumor has gone on for years, and there has been no evidence whatsoever that he was a ‘druggie,’” Trump wrote.

Clemens responded with a post to X in which he said, in part, “I appreciate the love! DT knows more than anyone the fake news that’s out there. Everyone has their agendas. … I played the game to change my family’s direction generationally and to WIN!”

While one could quibble with Trump’s framing of some of Clemens’ accomplishments — he has two more Cy Youngs than Randy Johnson, and he is actually third all-time in strikeouts, not second — there was no denying them. Of course, it was never about that.

Like Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Curt Schilling, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro and others, Clemens was a central figure in MLB’s steroid era.

He was linked to steroid use in the Mitchell Report in 2007 and was later indicted on six counts of felony perjury, false statements and obstruction of Congress as a result of testimony he provided. And while Clemens was ultimately acquitted of those charges, many Hall of Fame voters not only believed that Clemens took steroids, but believed that it should keep him out of the Hall of Fame.

In 2022, Clemens’ last chance to be inducted, he earned 65.2 percent of the vote, well short of the 75 percent required for enshrinement. Bonds, Schilling and Sosa also fell off the ballot that year. Palmeiro fell off the ballot in 2014, while Rodriguez remains eligible.

It was only a couple of months ago that Trump made a case for Rose, the all-time hits leader who died last September, to be enshrined in Cooperstown. Later in May, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced a rule change that removed lifetime bans on deceased players, theoretically making Rose eligible for the Hall. Trump compared the Rose situation to Clemens on Sunday.

“This is going to be like Pete Rose where, after over 4,000 Hits, they wouldn’t put him in the Hall of Fame until I spoke to the Commissioner, and he promised to do so, but it was essentially a promise not kept because he only ‘opened it up’ when Pete died and, even then, he said that Pete Rose only got into the mix because of DEATH,” Trump wrote. “We are not going to let that happen in the case of Roger Clemens. 354 Wins — Put him in NOW. He and his great family should not be forced to endure this ‘stupidity’ any longer!”

(Photo of Roger Clemens at Yankees Old Timer’s Day earlier this month: Wendell Cruz / Imagn Images)





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11-year-old dies after being shot while ‘ding dong ditching’ in Houston, police say

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An 11-year-old boy has died after being shot while playing a doorbell ditch prank in Houston on Saturday night, police said.

The boy and several other kids were ringing doorbells and running from multiple homes in an east Houston neighborhood, according to CNN affiliate KHOU. As the boy ran from a house on Racine Street just before 11 p.m., someone chased after him and shot him in the back, according to KHOU.

The boy was transported to hospital and was pronounced dead on Sunday, according to police.

One person was detained at the scene for questioning and has since been released, police said. Investigators are reviewing surveillance video and working with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office on possible charges, KHOU reported.

“It’ll more than likely be a murder charge,” Sgt. Michael Cass, a homicide detective with the Houston Police Department, told KHOU, noting the boy’s death does not appear to involve self-defense because the shooting “wasn’t close to the house.”

“Ding dong ditching” is an age-old prank that’s risen in popularity in recent years as a social media challenge. TikTok videos often feature variations where pranksters pound on or kick people’s front doors.

In a Dallas suburb at the end of July, a man fired multiple shots into a fleeing car after someone banged on his door, according to police. The man was arrested on charges of aggravated assault.

Some “ding dong ditch” pranks have turned deadly in the past.

In May, an 18-year-old high school senior in Virginia was shot and killed while filming a “ding dong ditch” to post on TikTok, The New York Times reported. The man accused of shooting the teen was charged with second-degree murder.

In 2020, three 16-year-olds were killed when a man rammed his car into their vehicle in retaliation for pulling a “ding dong ditch” prank on him. The man was convicted of three counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2023.

Authorities across the country have raised concerns about the door knock challenge, warning of both the potential danger and legal consequences for those involved.

“Think it’s funny to bang on doors and run? Think again,” the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office in Indiana wrote in a Facebook post in August. “What might seem like a prank can lead to serious legal trouble, property damage, or worse – someone getting hurt.”

“That’s a good way to end up dead, especially in Florida,” Sheriff Mike Chitwood of Florida’s Volusia County Sheriff’s Office told CNN affiliate WESH in July, after arresting a 13-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy for kicking a local resident’s door one night.

The teens were captured on a doorbell camera creeping up to a family’s home and kicking the door before running away, WESH reported. Authorities took two hours to find them.

“You’re endangering your future with this TikTok challenge,” Chitwood said. “You’re going to be charged with a felony.” The two teens were charged with burglary, according to WESH.





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Craig Jones puts Chael Sonnen to sleep twice in CJI 2 superfight

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Chael Sonnen stepped in as a late replacement for Gable Steveson at Sunday night’s Craig Jones Invitational 2 in Las Vegas and did his best to survive against Craig Jones.

In a match scheduled for three five-minute rounds, Sonnen managed to get tapped twice with the same move.

A former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight title challenger, Sonnen immediately took Jones to the ground to find himself locked in a buggy choke. The choke was tight, and Sonnen apparently went to sleep.

Sonnen regained his senses, and both athletes agreed to go at it again. Sonnen took Jones down again, going for a leg lock with no real danger to a grappler of Jones’ caliber. The CJI founder against attacked with the buggy choke, again having Sonnen go lights out.

McCarthy couldn’t help but laugh as Sonnen tried to make it best three out of five — and the crowd chanted to get the two go at it again —, but the referee called the end of the contest.

The official result was read as Jones being victorious via double buggy choke.

Watch the second finish below.



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Liverpool agrees to British-record deal for Alexander Isak, sources say

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Liverpool have agreed to a British-record deal to sign striker Alexander Isak from Newcastle United, sources told ESPN.

The Premier League champions have had a £125M bid accepted to sign the Sweden international, who is expected to undergo a medical ahead of Monday’s transfer deadline.

It brings an end to one of the summer’s most-protracted transfer sagas, with Isak having spent more than a month agitating for a move away from Newcastle. The 25-year-old did not join the club on their preseason tour of the Far East and has not featured for Eddie Howe’s side this season.

He also released a sensational statement earlier this month in which he claimed promises had been “broken” by the Newcastle hierarchy and insisted a move this summer would be in the best interests of all parties.

Isak is now set to become the most expensive signing in Premier League history, surpassing Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo who joined the London club for £115M from Brighton & Hove Albion in the summer of 2023. It marks the second time this summer that Liverpool have broken their transfer record, with Arne Slot’s side having committed spending an initial £100M (plus a potential £16M in add-ons) to sign Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen in June.



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