Koby Clemens Banned from Winter League Baseball After Going AWOL

Roger Clemens’ 24-year-old son, Koby Clemens, was banned from winter league baseball last Wednesday.  Clemens, who has been in the Houston Astros farm system since 2005, had been playing winter ball with the Mayaguez Indians in Puerto Rico.  Last week, he abandoned the team without giving any reason for his departure.  According to a report from a Puerto Rican newspaper that was translated by Hardball Talk, the team has filed paperwork as a result which bans him from playing winter ball in Puerto Rico, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, or Venezuela.

“The paperwork will explain that he didn’t give reasons for abandoning the team,” team owner Daniel Aquino explained. “With this document we’re meeting the rules of the Caribbean Baseball Confederation, which assert that no one who abandons a team without good reason can play in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, or Venezuela … I’d like the fans and everyone else to know that we’re not looking to sanction Clemens. Even less do we wish to do him harm. We’re only following procedure.”

Naturally, the question now becomes why he did this.  Aquino said reports that Roger Clemens advised Koby to leave the team after Wilson Ramos was kidnapped are false.  Regardless of the reason, this sounds like something a high school freshman would pull if they were hoping to make varsity but only made the freshmen team.  Why a 24-year-old man would bail on a team without reason is pretty puzzling.