Shawn Estes resented infamous role in Roger Clemens-Mike Piazza feud

Shawn Estes still believes it should have been someone else.Twenty-four years after the ex-pitcher secured a spot in Subway Series lore by throwing behind Roger Clemens and infamously missing on a potential bean-ball relation, Estes said he “resented” having to do so.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets.

“The reason why I resented it is not that I felt like that it didn’t need to be done and it wasn’t like the ‘woe is me, why am I the guy that has to take care of this?’ I kind of felt like it was more of it wasn’t my responsibility,” he told Tony Reali.“I feel like it should have fallen on someone that had more skin in the game, that had more emotions toward the situation that was at hand.”Retaliation bean balls are part of baseball’s tradition, and Estes failing to hit Clemens is one of the most infamous examples in the sport’s history.Estes became the third wheel in the rivalry between Clemens and ex-Mets legend Mike Piazza that took a turn of the worse in 2000.The seven-time Cy Young winner beaned Piazza in the head during a July 8, 2000 game at Yankee Stadium and then months later in the World Series did something never seen before.After he sawed off Piazza’s bat in the first inning of Game 2, Clemens grabbed a piece of the barrel and threw it toward Piazza while the catcher ran down the first-base line in a historic World Series moment.Well, those moments left the Mets wanting blood and fate would have it that Clemens would not pitch again against the Mets until June 15, 2002 at Shea Stadium.And this is where Estes enters the picture.Estes was not on the 2000 Mets, having been with the Giants at the time, and now had the responsibility of hitting Clemens.“Not to say that I didn’t like my teammates that were there in 2000 that I were teammates in 2002, Al Leiter, John Franco, obviously Mike Piazza.It’s not because I didn’t lik...