Roger Clemens was back at Houston’s Minute Maid Park on Saturday, not watch one of his former clubs, but to actually take the mound at age 61.

Pitching for the Savannah Bananas, a novelty barnstorming team, the Texas native was showered with applause when he made a surprise appearance in relief.

‘Eleven-time Major League All-Star, two-time World Series champion, and seven-time Cy Young Award winner: The Rocket, Roger Clemens!’ announced the MC, who happened to be wearing a team-colored yellow tuxedo and matching top hat.

Clemens then emerged from the dugout wearing a yellow jersey with ‘Rocket’ emblazoned across the back.

The former Red Sox, Blue Jays, Yankees and Astros ace lumbered to the mound and warmed up before promptly surrendering a two-run single to another novelty team, the Party Animals.

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Savannah Bananas relief pitcher Roger Clemens takes the mound at Minute Maid Park

Roger Clemens acknowledges the crowd in Houston, where he once pitched for the Astros

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Roger Clemens (right) joined friend and fellow Texan Andy Pettitte (left) in Houston in 2004

Clemens would recover and ultimately induced a dribbler to the mound, which he relayed to first to end the inning.

In total, Clemens gave up three hits and three runs in a third of an inning.

And Clemens wasn’t the only former Astros player on hand. Ex-Houston stars Roy Oswalt and Josh Reddick also made an appearance on Saturday night. In fact, Oswalt struck out a batter in his brief appearance, while yielding a hit and an unearned run.

The Bananas were founded in 2016 as a member of Coastal Plains League, a summer circuit for college players. But Bananas owner Jesse Cole always had grander ambitions, eventually starting a professional team alongside the amateur squad so he could fully try out a version of the game he calls ‘Banana Ball.’

Among the rules: a two-hour time limit on games, no bunting, batters having the option of trying to steal first, no stepping out of the box, no mound visits, and a scoring system that awards a point to the team that puts up the most runs each inning.

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Another former Astros Ace, Roy Oswalt, also made an appearance for the Bananas

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The Savannah Bananas MC is seen announcing Roger Clemens to the crowd in Houston

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Red Sox Hall of Famer Bill Lee collapsed during an exhibition game for the Bananas in 2022

Lee (above, before the start of a Red Sox alumni game in 2018) was ultimately saved by medics

But beyond the rules, Cole delivers a barrage of entertainment on almost every pitch, including choreographed dances, bizarre skits and players roaming through the stands mingling with fans.

‘Some people who are more traditional may think this isn’t quite baseball. And it is different,’ Rawitch said. ‘At the same time, if you look at the exhibit we have on baseball in the 1800s, you’re talking about playing the game with no glove and underhand pitching. The game continues to evolve, and I think Banana Ball is part of the evolution.’

There have also been a number of former Major Leaguers to take part in Bananas games, including another former Red Sox pitcher, Bill ‘Spaceman’ Lee.

In fact, Lee collapsed before taking the mound for the Bananas in 2022, but the 77-year-old was resuscitated using a defibrillator. (He later collapsed before an appearance at a Triple-A game in 2023, but was again saved by paramedics)

Other former Red Sox to play for the Bananas include Jake Peavy, Jonathan Papelbon and Jonny Gomes.

Former Oakland Athletics outfielder Eric Byrnes previously served as the Bananas’ manager.

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Clemens will be best remembered as a Red Sox ace, but also pitched for the Blue Jays

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Clemens won a pair of World Series titles with the Yankees and returned to the Bronx in 2007

Clemens’ legacy in baseball is complicated to say the least.

He set a Major League record with the Red Sox by striking out 20 batters in a game in 1986 and did it a decade later to boot. Along the way, the former Texas Longhorns star established himself as one of the game’s premier pitchers before moving on to Toronto and New York, winning a pair of World Series titles in the Bronx.

But Clemens will forever be linked to baseball’s steroid era.

He was named in the infamous Mitchell Report, which was a 20-month investigation into steroid use in baseball. In the report, former Yankees trainer Brian McNamee stated he injected Clemens with steroids in 1998, 2000, and 2001. Former teammates Jose Canseco, Andy Pettitte and Jason Grimsley also claimed to have know that Clemens used steroids as well.

Clemens was ultimately found not guilty of lying to Congress in 2008, when he testified that he did not take steroids.