Clemens-Piazza Bat Sells For $47.8K In Auction

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

October 22^nd, 2000. The Yankees and Mets were in Game 2 of the Subway Series World Series. Roger Clemens was on the mound, facing Mets star Mike Piazza. The two already had some history, after Clemens hit Piazza in the head with a pitch earlier in the year. Piazza received a concussion and had to miss the 2000 All-Star game. Clemens wound up, delivered the pitch, and Piazza fouled it off, breaking his bat in the process. Piazza made it about a third of the way to first base before something flew by his feet. Clemens actually threw the barrel of the bat towards Piazza. Benches cleared, but no ejections were made. If anyone was unsure about the rivalry between Clemens and Piazza before, they knew now.

Luckily, that bat was saved by Jeff Mangold, the Yankees strength trainer at the time. He saw it in the garbage after the game, and decided to bring it home. Thirteen years later, the bat was sold for $47,800 to an anonymous bidder. Mangold stated the money will go to his child’s college and a donation to the CJ Foundation for SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).

Clemens claimed he thought it was the ball, not the bat that he was throwing. If so, I would have loved to see everyone’s reaction when he threw the ball at the runner, rather than to first base. Whatever your take on the bat throwing incident is, everyone can agree that it is one of the most well remembered moments of the Yankees dynasty run.