THE WARMUP

Happy Sunday. The Back Page is open.

This week the column goes back to July 8, 2000 — the day Roger Clemens beaned Mike Piazza and set off a rivalry that outlived both their careers. Everywhere else, the World Cup keeps forcing its way in: a poem for England's return to the Azteca, a look at who's next after Belgium ended the USMNT's run, and a story out of Gaza that has nothing to do with brackets.

Baseball then, soccer now. Grab a cuppa and settle in.

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THE LEAD

I can still hear the crack and feel the silence right after.

The Yankees' Roger Clemens beaned the Mets' Mike Piazza on July 8, 2000, at Yankee Stadium. Nearly 56,000 people rose to their feet in horror, including my best friend Steve-O and me in the second-to-last row of the upper deck, as the Mets' star catcher lay motionless on the ground.

Clemens looked like he was sending a message. Piazza had owned him in previous meetings, including a grand slam the month before, and the two teams were in the middle of the first day-night, two-stadium Subway Series doubleheader in history — a scheduling quirk from an earlier rainout. Steve-O and I rode the subway between both stadiums to watch it happen. After the beaning, Piazza reportedly refused to accept Clemens' phone call to apologize.

Then the rivals met again in the World Series that October. In Game 2, Piazza broke his bat on a foul ball, and the barrel helicoptered toward the mound. Clemens picked it up and threw it back in Piazza's direction as the catcher ran to first. Benches emptied.

Joe Torre spent the next two years steering Clemens away from Shea Stadium to dodge a rematch. The closest brush came when Mets starter Shawn Estes threw a pitch at Clemens that sailed well behind him.

The story caught up to both of them in 2004. Piazza was elected the National League's starting catcher for the All-Star Game. Clemens, now with the Houston Astros and in the middle of a season that would win him the NL Cy Young, was the obvious choice to start for the NL on Houston’s home field. They were forced onto the same battery.

The headline I wrote for The Journal News, "Assault and battery mates," won a New York Press Association award.

The AL teed off on Clemens in the first inning like nobody ever had. Ichiro doubled. Pudge Rodriguez tripled. Manny Ramirez and Alfonso Soriano both homered. Six runs, a 9-4 win, and home-field advantage that carried the Red Sox to their first title in 86 years. It's almost as if Piazza was tipping pitches — the Crash Davis move, straight out of "Bull Durham."

Torre, who spent years publicly defending Clemens, wasn't so sure anymore by 2009. Asked on WFAN whether the bat toss was "'roid rage," Torre said he hadn't tied the two together at the time. In retrospect, he said, it could very well have been. Clemens' former trainer, Brian McNamee, had already testified he'd injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone in 2000 and 2001.

Piazza's been in the Hall of Fame since 2016. Clemens, a 354-game winner, is still waiting on his call. That night in 2000 is a big reason why.

They don't make All-Star Games like that anymore.

— Ian Powers

THE QUESTION

Before England's 2026 Round of 16 win over Mexico at the Azteca, how many World Cup matches had the Three Lions played at that stadium?

See answer below 👇

THE READS

Each week, we curate 4-6 of our favorite reads from this week. The selections came from our own curation and from dozens of submissions by our readers. Thank you so much, and keep them coming.

Jessica Schiffer traces how Naomi Osaka's custom entrances, once a novelty, became the blueprint at this year's Wimbledon. Taylor Fritz showed up in a Boss suit, Frances Tiafoe stripped off a Lululemon tracksuit courtside, and Djokovic's Lacoste blazer sparked its own debate. Osaka's walk-on alone produced the most-watched clip in Tennis Channel's Instagram history. Andre Agassi's jean shorts were the scandal once. Now the entrance is the marketing plan. (Hard Court)

Alex Harper marks England's Round of 16 win over Mexico with a poem built on a single image: the Azteca as mountain, standing since it broke England once before, when Maradona's Hand of God ended their 1986 hopes on the same ground. Forty years later, the Three Lions climbed it. (Millington Studios)

Khaled Beydoun writes for Karim Zidan's Sports Politika about Suleiman al-Obeid, the former Palestinian national team forward known as "the Palestinian Pele," who scored more than 100 goals before he was killed. The Palestinian Football Association says more than 400 players have died since October 2023, alongside coaches, referees and club officials. Beydoun names several by position and nickname, then asks readers watching the World Cup not to look past what's happening in Gaza. (Editor's note: the piece uses the terms "genocide" and "ethnic cleansing" to describe the war.) (Sports Politika)

Clare McEwen lays out what happened to Forest Green Rovers Women, cut days after finishing second in the fifth tier and one point off promotion, then traces the same pattern at Plymouth Argyle, Thornaby FC, Reading, Blackburn and Wolves. Every case follows the same script: the women's side has its best season, the men's side misses its target, and the money moves toward the men. Lewes FC gets held up as the counterexample — equal budgets for both sides, proof it's a choice, not a math problem. (She Can Kick It)

Bud Schmeling traces the career of Neiman, the closest thing sports ever had to an official illustrator, sketching from the sidelines at Super Bowls, Olympics and title fights for decades while somehow also turning up in a 1985 group photo with Warhol, Basquiat and Haring. Shea Stadium fans once chanted for him to start drawing mid-game. Don King's assessment of his talent involved a paintbrush, a monkey and a peanut, and it wasn't a compliment to the monkey. (Victory Journal)

THE LISTEN

Each week, we curate 1-2 of our favorite podcasts. The selections came from our own curation and from submissions by our readers. Thank you so much, and keep them coming.

Sam Bales, Graeme and James work through the biggest matches and moments from the World Cup's knockout rounds so far, with detours into Trump's sideline involvement and a stray reference to cricket's Snicko technology. Bales also writes on Substack, where the crew runs their World Cup predictions model. (The Sam on Sport Podcast)

THE WATCH

Each week, we curate 1-2 of our favorite videos. The selections came from our own curation and from submissions by our readers. Thank you so much, and keep them coming.

With the Belgium wreckage still fresh, 11 Yanks skips the postmortem and goes straight to the next cycle, running through 20 prospects who could shape the U.S. roster in 2030. The argument underneath it: the Pulisic generation never got out of the Round of 16, and the group coming up behind them might be built to actually do it. (11 Yanks)

THE ROSTER

We want to celebrate as many independent creators on The Sunday Back Page as possible. Here are all the people who either submitted their work for consideration or were considered independently this week. Many of these creators deserved a place in this newsletter, and we hope they continue to submit their work. Please keep them on your radar.

Let’s Talk Football | The Full Scope | Jack Greven | Michael King | Heart of a Fan | Jason Clewes | Eric Katz | Jesse Gerritsen | Kwame Twumasi-Ankrah | The Secret Tour Caddy | Jessica Schiffer | Wayne Coffey | Jack Carnefix | Daniel Benson | Javi Aguilar | The Cycling Podcast | Tevin Morris | Rohan Ajit | Beyond Talent by A.M. | David Pinto

Want to see your independent publication featured here? Let us know. There are hundreds more baseball Substacks out there. Give me a shout!

THE ANSWER

C) Twice — Both in 1986, four days apart. England beat Paraguay 3-0 in the Round of 16, then lost 2-1 to Argentina in the quarterfinal, the match everyone actually remembers, for Maradona's Hand of God and the Goal of the Century. Most people guess "Once" because the Paraguay win gets erased by what came four days later.

THE SCORECARD