Jump to content

Roger Clemens

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Anoncow (talk | contribs) at 05:00, 6 August 2006 (Roger Clemens turned 44 on 4-Aug-2006 (2006-1962=44)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Roger Clemens
Roger Clemens
Roger Clemens
Position Starting Pitcher
Team Houston Astros
Experience 22 years
Age 44
Height 6' 4" (1.93 m)
Weight 230 lb (107 kg)
Bats Right
Throws Right
College Texas
2006 Salary $22,000,022
Place of Birth Dayton, Ohio
Selection 1983 amateur draft, first round (19th pick)
Drafted by Boston Red Sox
Major League Debut May 15, 1984
Career Win-Loss 343-175
Career Win % 66.2%

William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962 in Dayton, Ohio), nicknamed "The Rocket", is one of the preeminent Major League baseball pitchers of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, and is widely considered to be one of the greatest pitchers of all time[1]. He has won seven Cy Young Awards -- two more than any other pitcher has received. He throws and bats right-handed, and currently plays for the Houston Astros.

Clemens made his debut with the Boston Red Sox, where he played for 13 seasons, after which he was famously pronounced to be in "the twilight of his career" and signed with the Toronto Blue Jays. In two seasons with the Blue Jays, he made a comeback as he won the pitching triple crown and the Cy Young award each year. He was traded to the New York Yankees for the 1999 season, where he would have his first World Series success. He won his 300th game in 2003, a rare accomplishment for modern pitchers, and is one of just four pitchers to surpass 4,000 strikeouts. He currently is second on the all-time list behind only Nolan Ryan. After retiring from the Yankees, he changed his mind and returned in 2004 with the Houston Astros, where he has remained a top tier pitcher.

In 2006, after playing in the World Baseball Classic and not signing with any team through late May, Clemens returned to baseball yet again, signing a 1-year contract with the Astros.


Youth

Clemens' parents separated when he was an infant. His mother soon remarried Woody Booher, whom Clemens still considers his father. Booher died when Clemens was nine years old, and Clemens has been quoted from time to time that the only time he ever felt jealous of other players is when he saw them in the clubhouse with their fathers.[2] After living in Dayton, Ohio until 1977, Clemens spent his high school years in Texas. At Spring Woods High School in Houston, Texas, Clemens starred in football, basketball, and baseball.[2] He was scouted by the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins during his senior year, but opted instead to go to college.

He began his college career pitching for San Jacinto College North in 1981, where he was 9-2. The New York Mets selected Clemens in the 12th round of the 1981 draft, but he did not sign. He then attended the University of Texas, compiling a 25-7 record in two All-American seasons, and was on the mound when the Longhorns won the 1983 College World Series. He became the first player to have his baseball uniform number retired at the University of Texas.[3] In 2004, the award for the best college pitcher was renamed from the Rotary Smith Award to the Roger Clemens Award. [4] [5]

Professional career

Boston Red Sox (1984-1996)

Clemens was drafted 19th overall by the Boston Red Sox in 1983 and quickly rose through the minor league system, making his major league debut on May 15, 1984. In 1986 his 24 wins helped guide the Sox to the World Series (which they lost) and earned Clemens the American League Most Valuable Player award for the regular season. This was the first of his seven Cy Young Awards (he also won the AL award in 1987, 1991, 1997, 1998 and 2001 and the National League award in 2004).

Hall of Fame slugger Hank Aaron angered the hurler by saying that pitchers should not be eligible for the MVP. "I wish he were still playing," Clemens responded. "I'd probably crack his head open to show him how valuable I was." Clemens remains the only starting pitcher since Vida Blue in 1971 to win a league MVP award.

In 1986, Clemens became the first pitcher in history to strike out 20 batters in a nine-inning major league game. Only Kerry Wood has matched the total, in 1998. (Randy Johnson struck out 20 batters in the first nine innings of an extra-inning game, but, like Tom Cheney's 21 strikeouts in 16 innings, his performance is catalogued separately by MLB because the game was not completed in the standard length.)

Remarkably, Clemens accomplished the feat twice, striking out 20 Seattle Mariners on April 29, 1986 at Fenway Park, and then doing the same more than ten years later, on September 18, 1996 against the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium. The latter performance occurred in his second-to-last game as a member of the Boston Red Sox.

No Red Sox player has worn #21 since Clemens left the team in 1996.

Toronto Blue Jays (1997-1998)

Notoriously, Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette said Clemens was in the "twilight of his career" (after four consecutive seasons, 1993-96, which were by his standards mediocre at best) and opted not to re-sign him following the 1996 season. However, the full quote from which "twilight" is excerpted was not entirely negative, and also referred to Red Sox management's stated hopes that Clemens would spend his entire career with Boston.

Nevertheless, Clemens signed with the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1996 offseason, and won the Cy Young Award in both his seasons with the Blue Jays, also winning the pitching Triple Crown twice. Some consider Clemens' tenure with the Blue Jays as his best individual seasons of his career, despite the lackluster records the Blue Jays had as a team.

In Clemens' first start in Fenway Park as a member of the Blue Jays (July 12, 1997) he pitched one of the greatest games of his career, giving up only 4 hits and 1 run in 8 innings. 16 of his 24 outs were strikeouts; every batter who faced him struck out at least once.[6]

The emphasis on the 1996 "twilight" quote took on a life of its own following Clemens' post-Boston successes, and Duquette was vilified for letting the star pitcher go.[7] As of the start of the 2006 season, Clemens' record since he left Boston is 149-61.[2]

New York Yankees (1999-2003)

Clemens was traded to the New York Yankees before the 1999 season for David Wells, Homer Bush and Graeme Lloyd. In 1999 and 2000, he won World Series titles with the Yankees.

Clemens' 2000 season was punctuated by a pair of notorious moments involving New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza. During a July 8, 2000 game between the Mets and the Yankees, Clemens hit Piazza squarely in the head with a pitch. Piazza had previously enjoyed great success as a hitter against Clemens (including a grand slam against Clemens one month earlier), which was widely seen as Clemens' motivation. The incident and its aftermath received intense media coverage. Piazza bitterly criticized Clemens, while the Mets were assailed for not "protecting" their star catcher (retaliating by hitting an important Yankee batter). And when both the Yankees and the Mets reached that year's World Series, there was great anticipation regarding the two men's first confrontation since the beaning.

In Piazza's first at-bat of Game 2, his bat shattered, sending a large piece of the broken bat shard flying in Clemens' direction. Clemens picked it up and threw the broken bat down toward the first base line, missing Piazza but clearing the benches of both teams. Clemens later claimed that he was "fielding" the broken bat, having mistaken it for the baseball. His explanation was widely ridiculed[8], in part because pitchers fielding baseballs hit in fair territory don't typically throw them towards the home plate side of their dugout. Mets pitcher Al Leiter said, "If he felt that way, shouldn't he have thrown it to Tino (Yankee first baseman Tino Martinez)?"

During the subsequent faceoff, both Clemens and Piazza appeared hesitant to confront one another. Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe compared the situation to two schoolyard bullies, afraid to fight, but suddenly forced to. Clemens was not ejected from the game, although he would later be fined $50,000. Following the bizarre incident, he proceeded to shut down the Mets with 8 innings of 2-hit, no-walk, 9-strikeout pitching.

In his previous start, in Game 4 of the 2000 ALCS against the Seattle Mariners, Clemens threw a one-hit shutout while striking out 15. Many consider it to be Clemens' best and most "clutch" game as a Yankee. This contest was also marked by gamesmanship, as Clemens knocked down the Mariners' star hitter Alex Rodriguez twice during his first at-bat. (Rodriguez would eventually walk, the only baserunner allowed by Clemens through the game's first six innings.)

In 2001, Roger Clemens became the first pitcher in history to start a season 20-1. He finished at 20-3 and won his sixth Cy Young Award.

On June 15, 2002, Clemens made his first start in Shea Stadium since the two incidents with Mike Piazza in 2000. With Clemens batting against the Mets for the first time, the game represented the Mets' first risk-free chance to "get even" with Clemens for his nearly two-year-old beanball. The speculation was that Clemens was certain to be plunked; the reality was more ambivalent. Mets starter Shawn Estes threw a pitch behind Clemens' back, failing to satisfy the crowd and drawing an umpire's warning (thus preventing Estes from making another HBP attempt). However, the Mets scored four runs off Clemens, including home runs by the two Met principals Estes and Piazza, and handed Clemens the loss.

Early in 2003, he announced his retirement, effective at the end of that season. On June 13, 2003, pitching against the St. Louis Cardinals in Yankee Stadium, Clemens recorded his 300th career win and 4,000th career strikeout, the only player in history to record both milestones in the same game. The 300th win came on his fourth try; the Yankee bullpen had blown his chance of a win in his previous two attempts. He became the 21st pitcher ever to record 300 wins and the third ever to record 4,000 strikeouts, joining Nolan Ryan (5,714) and Steve Carlton (4,136). His career record upon reaching the milestones was 300-155; his record at the end of the season was 310-160 with 4,099 strikeouts.

The end of Clemens' 2003 season became a series of public farewells in which the great righthander was met with appreciative cheering. His last games in each AL park were given extra attention, particularly his final regular season appearance in Fenway Park (a spectacle which was repeated when the Yankees ended up playing the Red Sox in that year's ALCS and Clemens got a second "final start" in his original stadium). Clemens was permitted to manage the Yankees' last game of the regular season. Clemens made one start in the World Series against the Florida Marlins; when he left trailing 3-1 after seven innings, even the Marlins left their dugout to give him a standing ovation.

Houston Astros (2004-)

He chose to un-retire, signing a one-year deal with his adopted hometown Houston Astros on January 12, 2004, joining close friend and former Yankees teammate Andy Pettitte. On May 5 2004, Clemens recorded his 4,137th career strikeout to place him second on the all-time list behind Nolan Ryan. He finished the season with 4,317 strikeouts and an 18-4 record, giving him a career record of 328-164. After the season, he won his seventh Cy Young Award, extending his record number of awards. He became the oldest player ever to win this award, at age 42. This also made him the fourth pitcher to win the award in both leagues, after Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martínez, and Randy Johnson.

Clemens again decided to put off retirement before the 2005 season after the Houston Astros offered salary arbitration. The Astros submitted an offer of $13.5 million and Clemens countered with a record $22 million demand. On January 21, 2005, both sides agreed on a one-year, $18,000,022 contract, thus avoiding arbitration. The deal gave Clemens the highest yearly salary earned by a pitcher in MLB history. It also made him the sixth highest paid player in baseball that year.

Clemens' 2005 season ended as one of the finest he had ever posted. His 1.87 ERA was the lowest in the major leagues, the lowest of his 22-season career, and the lowest by any National Leaguer since pitching great and contemporary rival Greg Maddux in 1995. He finished with a 13-8 record despite ranking near 30th in run support, with the Astros scoring an average of only about 3.5 runs per game in games in which he was the pitcher of record. The Astros were shut out eight times in Clemens' starts.

He has more career wins than any other right-handed pitcher of the live-ball era. On April 8, 2005, Clemens won his first start of the season against the Cincinnati Reds, which tied him with Steve Carlton for second in wins for live-ball pitchers, and first among pitchers whose career began after World War II. However, it took him a month to surpass Carlton, as he was victimized by horrendous run support in a string of five starts that produced one loss and four no-decisions. On May 9, he finally got his second win of the season against the Florida Marlins, giving him 330 for his career. Only left-hander Warren Spahn is ahead of Clemens in wins among live-ball pitchers. Passing Carlton also gave Clemens more wins than any pitcher alive. As long as the era of five-man pitching rotations continues, it will be difficult for future pitchers to pass Clemens on the career wins list. The only current pitcher with a reasonable chance of passing Clemens is Maddux, who now has 327 wins to Clemens' 343 and is nearly four years younger.

In his final start of the 2005 season, Clemens got his 4,500th strikeout. On October 9, 2005, Clemens made his first relief appearance since 1984, entering as a pinch hitter in the 15th, then pitching three innings to help the Astros defeat the Atlanta Braves in the longest postseason game in MLB history. The game ran 18 innings, and Clemens was awarded the win.

After the NLCS victory, Clemens' 2005 season ended disappointingly, as he lasted only two innings in Game 1 of the 2005 World Series. The Astros went on to lose all four games of the franchise's first World Series. A hamstring pull had hampered Clemens' performance since at least September.

The Astros declined arbitration to Clemens on December 7, 2005, which prevented them from re-signing him before May 1, 2006. The Astros, Rangers, Red Sox, and Yankees expressed an interest in signing him, but Clemens implied that he was finally retiring after his Team USA was eliminated by Mexico in the second round from the 2006 World Baseball Classic on March 16, 2006.[1] However, there was no formal retirement announcement.

On May 31, 2006, following another extended period of speculation, it was announced that Roger Clemens was coming out of retirement for the third time to pitch for the Astros for the remainder of the 2006 season. Clemens signed a one-year contract worth $22,000,022 (his uniform number is #22), which would've been the highest one-year salary in MLB history. Since Clemens won't be playing a full season, he got a prorated percentage of that: approximately $12.25 million. Clemens made his return on June 22, 2006 against the Minnesota Twins, losing to their rookie phenom, Francisco Liriano, 4-2.

Postseason performance

File:Roger Clemens 1986 World Series Television Graphic.JPG
Roger Clemens competing in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.

In the 1986 ALCS, Clemens pitched poorly in the opening game, watched the Boston bullpen blow his 3-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game Four, and then pitched a strong Game Seven to wrap up the series for Boston. The 1986 ALCS clincher was Clemens' first postseason career victory. He would not win his second until 13 years later.

After a bad start in Game 3 of the 1986 World Series, Clemens returned to the mound for Game 6, which would have clinched the World Series for the Boston Red Sox. Clemens left the game after 7 innings leading 3-2, but the Red Sox infamously went on to lose the game in the 10th inning, and subsequently, the championship. Clemens' departure was highly debated and remains a bone of contention among the participants. Red Sox manager John McNamara claimed Clemens took himself out due to a blister, though Clemens strongly denies that. [9]

Clemens' most explosive postseason failure came in the second inning of the final game of the 1990 ALCS against the Oakland Athletics, when he was ejected for arguing with an umpire, putting a dismal stamp on an A's sweep[9]. He was suspended for the first 5 games of the 1991 season and fined $10,000 [3].

Clemens had two other playoff no-decisions, in 1988 and 1995, both occurring while Boston was being swept. These games did no favors for Clemens' reputation as the Red Sox ace between April and September. Clemens' overall postseason record with Boston was 1-2 with a 3.88 ERA, and 45 strikeouts and 19 walks in 56 innings.

Roger Clemens began improving his postseason numbers as a New York Yankee, pitching more effective October ball between 1999 and 2003. His 3-0 record in the World Series includes a must-win performance with New York down 2-0 in the 2001 series[10]; then, in Game Seven, it was Clemens who matched Curt Schilling; his start (6 innings, 1 run, 10 strikeouts) was forgotten in the wake of the Diamondbacks' famous ninth-inning comeback.

Clemens' most spectacular game as a Yankee was his 2000 ALCS start against the Seattle Mariners, in which he threw a complete game one-hitter with 15 strikeouts. Clemens' overall postseason record with New York shows a 7-4 record with a 3.17 ERA, and 98 strikeouts and 35 walks in 102 innings.

In 2004, Clemens was the losing pitcher in game 7 of the NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Clemens' 2005 postseason was marked by highs and lows. He made a dramatic 3-inning emergency relief appearance in Game 4 of the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves, pitching the 16th through 18th innings and collecting the series-ending win. However, during the 2005 World Series, a hamstring pull ended Clemens' start after two innings, as his hometown team lost 5-3. It was Clemens' only World Series appearance for the Astros[11]. Clemens' overall postseason record with Houston is 4-2 with a 4.60 ERA, and 29 strikeouts and 15 walks in 41 innings.

Controversy

For the duration of his career, Roger Clemens has been the focal point of several controversies. His overwhelming regular-season successes never translated to Boston's postseason play, from his departure in the infamous Game Six of the 1986 World Series to his out-of-control ejection in the 1990 ALCS against the Oakland Athletics. His two-inning stint in the 2005 World Series was also a major disappointment. Between 1999 and 2000, the only three Yankee postseason losses came in Clemens starts. The two-year soap opera that followed his beaning of Mike Piazza cemented Clemens' surly, unapologetic image in the minds of many detractors. The annual angst over his "retirements" became harder to take seriously.[citation needed]

Clemens's reputation has always been that of a pitcher unafraid to throw close to batters. Clemens only led his league in HBP once, in 1995, but he was among the leaders in several other seasons. This tendency was more pronounced during his earlier career, and has since tapered off. Still, Clemens' reputation precedes him. After an ALCS game against the Mariners where he knocked down Alex Rodriguez and then argued with him, Mariners manager Lou Piniella called Clemens a "headhunter"[12]. Clemens was 13th all time in hit batsmen after the 2005 season[13], but it is also pointed out that this is consistent with a long-time pitcher with a reputation for pitching inside. Clemens' HBP-per-inning rate is actually lower than virtually all of his pitching contemporaries, and in many cases, far lower.

Nevertheless, before his signing with the Astros, Clemens had long been accused of hitting batters because he had the luxury of being an American League pitcher who rarely went to bat himself.[14]. In 2004-05, Clemens hit 9 batters in 426 innings, a notable reduction in his HBP rate. Clemens has been hit by a pitch once in his career, in 2005 by Kip Wells.

Clemens has attracted various controversy over the years for his outspoken comments, such as complaining about having to carry his own luggage through an airport or criticizing the Fenway Park of the 1980s for being vastly sub-par [15]. On April 4 2006, Clemens made a racially insensitive remark when asked about the devotion of Japanese and South Korean fans during the World Baseball Classic: "None of the dry cleaners were open, they were all at the game, Japan and Korea." [16]

Other media

Clemens has appeared as himself in several movies in television episodes. Perhaps best known was his appearance in the season three episode of The Simpsons, Homer at the Bat, where he is hypnotized into thinking he is a chicken. Clemens has also made guest appearances as himself on the TV shows Hope and Faith, Spin City, Arli$$, Saturday Night Live as well as in the movies Kingpin and Anger Management [17]. He appeared in the 1994 movie Cobb as an unidentified pitcher for the Philadelphia A's.[18]. In 2003, he was part of an advertising campaign for Armour hot dogs with MLB players Ken Griffey Jr., Derek Jeter, and Sammy Sosa. Since 2005, Clemens has also appeared in many commercials for Texas-based supermarket chain H-E-B.

He released an early autobiography, Rocket Man: The Roger Clemens Story (ISBN 0140109498), written with Peter Gammons, in 1988 [19].

Awards and recognition

While he has two championship rings with the 1999-2000 Yankees, Clemens has also been on the losing end of four World Series (1986 Red Sox, 2001 and 2003 Yankees, and 2005 Astros) which is tied with Tom Glavine and John Smoltz (who were both on the Braves when they lost the '91, '92, '96 and '99 World Series) for most among active players.

In 1999, while many of his performances and milestones were yet to come, he ranked number 53 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was elected by the fans to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In 2005, the updated Sporting News list moved Clemens up to #15.

By the end of the 2005 season, Clemens had won seven Cy Young Awards, an MVP and two pitching triple crowns. He has also won The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award five times, was named an All-Star 11 times, and won the All-Star MVP in 1986.

Personal

Clemens married Debra Godfrey on November 24, 1984. They have four sons: Koby, Kory, Kacy, and Kody. ("K" is a baseball scorer's notation for "strikeout.") Koby was drafted by the Astros as a third baseman and signed on July 14 2005, at the age of eighteen.

Debra once left a Red Sox game, when Clemens pitched for another team, in tears from the heckling she received. She claimed that the bad attitudes of Boston fans was the reason they never won the World Series. This is documented in an updated later edition to Dan Shaughnessy's best-selling book, Curse of the Bambino. The Red Sox won the 2004 World Series.

Debra posed in a bikini with her husband for a Sports Illustrated pictorial regarding athletes and their wives. This appeared in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition for 2003. Clemens was completely clothed, though his uniform jersey was open. [20]

On February 27, 2006, to train for the World Baseball Classic, Roger pitched an exhibition game between the Astros and his son's minor league team. In his first at-bat, Koby hit a home run off his father. Then in his next at-bat, Roger threw an inside pitch that almost hit Koby. Koby laughed afterwards in an interview of the game about the incident.

Trivia

  • Gave up Sammy Sosa's first career home run. [2]
  • Has won seven Cy Young Awards, more than any other player.
  • With his seventh Cy Young Award in 2004, joined Gaylord Perry, Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez as the fourth pitcher to win the award in both leagues.
  • Became the oldest pitcher to win the Cy Young Award, at age 42 in 2004.
  • In 2004, became the third pitcher to start the All-Star Game for both leagues, after starting in 1986 and 2001 for the American League (the Red Sox and Yankees, respectively). Pitchers to previously start for both leagues were Vida Blue and Randy Johnson.

References

  1. ^ Gammons, Peter, "Ample living proof of Clemens' greatness", ESPN.com, May 1, 2006
  2. ^ a b c Story, Mark, "22 Things You Should Know About 'Rocket' ", Lexington Herald-Leader, June 6, 2006.
  3. ^ a b http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/C/Clemens_Roger.stm
  4. ^ http://clemensaward.com/index.html
  5. ^ http://www.baseball-almanac.com/awards/roger_clemens_award.shtml
  6. ^ Retrosheet complete box score
  7. ^ http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1208/is_10_223/ai_54117613
  8. ^ Stark, Jayson, "Clemens' bat toss adds confusion to Series", ESPN.com, October 23, 2000.
  9. ^ a b Nocera, Joseph, "Roger Clemens, Choke Artist", Slate.com, October 10, 2000.
  10. ^ Buscema, Dave, "Rocket's long, magic journey", Times Herald-Record (Middletown, New York), October 23, 2003.
  11. ^ Associated Press, "Crede keys Chicago win with bat, glove", ESPN.com, October 22, 2005
  12. ^ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/2000/world_series/news/2000/10/22/mets_yankees_game2_ap/
  13. ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/HBP_p_career.shtml
  14. ^ http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bb/2471241.html
  15. ^ http://www.slate.com/id/2083648/
  16. ^ "Anna Benson withdraws divorce papers", Philadelphia Daily News, April 5, 2006.
  17. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0166048/
  18. ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Roger_Clemens
  19. ^ http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140109498/qid=1146162366/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-5230924-9607958?s=books&v=glance&n=283155
  20. ^ http://www.debbieclemens.com/bio.htm
Preceded by Major League Baseball All-Star Game
Most Valuable Player
1986 		Succeeded by
Preceded by American League Most Valuable Player
1986 		Succeeded by
Preceded by American League Cy Young Award
1986, 1987 		Succeeded by
Preceded by American League Cy Young Award
1991 		Succeeded by
Preceded by American League Cy Young Award
1997, 1998 		Succeeded by
Preceded by American League Cy Young Award
2001 		Succeeded by
Preceded by National League Cy Young Award
2004 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Roger_Clemens&oldid=67949919"