Roger Clemens

Major League Baseball player, a right-handed starting pitcher. Competes mostly with power via his four-seam and two-seam fastballs, also sports a splitter, slider and changeup. Rog is also known for his accuracy and command of the strike zone.

Nicknamed The Rocket, Roger made his name pitching with the Boston Red Sox, where he won 3 Cy Young Awards. But he was never able to win a World Series (see the Curse of the Bambino) and during the last four years of his stay in Boston, he seemed lethargic and uninterested.

He burned his bridges behind him at the end of his tenure in 1996, when he became a free agent and signed with the Toronto Blue Jays. There he won another pair of back-to-back Cy Young Awards, reached the 200-win mark, and had his 3,000th strikeout. He'd hoped the Blue Jays would contend for the World Series, but the team struggled. So Roger moved on.

At time of writing, he pitched for the New York Yankees (traded for Homer Bush, Graeme Lloyd and David Wells). Finally he has been part of that elusive World Series win, in both 1999 and 2000. He also won his sixth Cy Young Award with the Yankees in 2001, going 20 - 3.

Rog went 13 - 6 in 2002, and appeared in one post-season game - a no-decision in the Yankees' only win against the Anaheim Angels.

Rog retired from the Yankees in 2003, only to be lured out of retirement a week later by the Houston Astros. The chance to pitch in his hometown, in the National League, and with good buddy Andy Pettitte was too good to pass up. Part of Roger's deal excused him from road trips when he was not scheduled to pitch, so that he could spend more time with family, and also work with various charities including his own Roger Clemens Foundation. Clemens went 18-4 with a 2.98 ERA and 218 strikeouts, good for yet another Cy. He led the Astros into the post-season, and almost into the World Series itself against his old team, the Boston Red Sox. Ah, what a show that would have been!

He's married with four children (Koby, Kory, Kacy and Kody) - all named with the letter K to honour his 4 of his 6 American League Cy Young Awards (1986, 1987, 1991, 1997, 1998, and 2001). Rog also won the National League Cy Young pitching for the Astros in 2004.

Throughout his 13 year stint with the Red Sox, Clemens repeatedly stated that he would only play for one of two teams - the Red Sox, or the Houston Astros (the latter because it was close to home). The Red Sox rewarded Clemens' Cy Young season of 1990 by making him the highest paid player in baseball (which lasted all of a few weeks, when Jose Canseco signed a bigger deal). After two outstanding seasons, Clemens was ineffective and often injured between 1993 and 1995. In 1993, he failed to pitch 200 innings for the first time since 1985. This trend would continue through the '95 season. Although Clemens had a respectable ERA, it was during this period that many sportswriters began to question Clemens' work ethic, his weight, and his desire to win.

Fast forward to 1996. Now in the final year of his contract, Clemens returned to form by leading the league in strikeouts, but his ERA was still not that of a dominant pitcher. During this period, Clemens "amended" his statement, saying that he wished to pitch only for the Red Sox, the Astros, or a "competitive team". At season's end, Clemens demanded a larger amount of money than the Red Sox wanted to pay, so he took the money and ran... to Toronto.

Now, no offense to Toronto fans, but the Blue Jays of 1997 were not a competitive team. Aside from Pat Hentgen, the team did not have any solid, proven pitching talent, and their offense was subpar with the exception of Carlos Delgado. Clemens stretched his definition of "competitive team" a little too far, some would say.

Although Clemens returned to Fenway triumphantly the following year, striking out 16 in eight innings, he couldn't help but defile himself by making gestures towards the box of general manager Dan Duquette while walking off the field. Later returns to Fenway drew less and less of a response - the fans simply didn't care.

The Red Sox ended up replacing Clemens with Pedro Martinez, a younger, more dominant pitcher who is now the best pitcher in the American League. The Yankees got a ring for Clemens, in spite of his pathetic stats last year, and Clemens now toils away as a .500 pitcher for the World Champs...

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Addendum: Please, let's not sugar coat Clemens' 2001 season by making it more than it is. Clemens has been outpitched by his own teammate (Mike Mussina). Clemens' record is more a product of luck, run support (over 6 runs a game), and convenient scheduling by Joe Torre than it is his dominant performance this season. Clemens has started a total of 23 games against teams that are sub-.500, and it took Clemens almost three months to pass an injured Pedro Martinez on the strikeout leaderboard.

Clemens: Hall of Famer? Definitely. 2001 Cy Young Winner? Yes. Having one of the greatest seasons of all time? Not really.

Here's something for the ages -

Let it not be forgotten what kind of behaviour ruined baseball at the end of the 20th century and on into the 21st. I loved watching baseball as a kid and wanted to be a pitcher when I grew up. Now I can't stand to watch it at all and Roger Clemens' actions on the mound tonight are a perfect example of why Major League Baseball players make me want to kill.

In the 2000 MLB season, much hoo-rah was to be had over the feud between Roger Clemens, a pitcher for the New York Yankees, and Mike Piazza, catcher (and world series DH) for the New York Mets. In a baseball town that has gifted baseball with so much honor, pride and class over the years, it was shocking to everyone when the slapfighting between Clemens and Piazza escalated to the point of Clemens intentionally throwing at and hitting Piazza during an at-bat in an early July game in the 2000 season.

Tonight, on October 22nd, during game two of the World Series, Mike Piazza was 3rd to bat against Clemens in the bottom of the first inning. Clemens threw two fastballs to the inside corner for strikes, threw low and outside for a ball, and after a foul ball Piazza took a swing and the bat broke. The jagged, sharp, broken barrel of the bat rolled out to Clemens' feet, which he then scooped up in his glove and hurled at Piazza as he advanced down the first baseline. Seeing as how this was entirely unprovoked and a very dangerous thing to do, it cleared the benches and almost resulted in some old school asswhipping.

I wish it had. I wish someone would have grabbed Clemens and broke him over their fucking knee. Congratulations Rocket, people like you are an extremely huge part of the problem with major league baseball today.