I have to laugh because that's what Scott Hatteberg once called Roger Clemens when he (Clemens) was starting a game against Barry Zito, the year after Zito won the award.Asked himself about the Clemens vs. Zito, "Cy Old vs. Cy Young" match-up, Zito said, "I wouldn't say Cy Old because I won't want to show any disrespect to Roger."
Nice.
Zito went on to pitch 8 shutout innings in Yankee Stadium, and Oakland won 2-0. Todd Zeile went 0-4 at third base for the Bronx Bombers, and who doesn't love a good Todd Zeile story?
That loss, May 4 of 2003 is one of 178 The Rocket has suffered in his 23-year-career. Oh by the way, he's been on the winning end 348 times, good for 8th all time. His 4,604 strikeouts are second-only to Nolan Ryan. And "Cy Old" has 7 "Cy Young" awards, easily the most ever.
It's a sad commentary on the state of big league pitching when a 44-year-old is the most coveted free agent arm on the off-season market (with all respect to Daisuke Matsuzaka, Zito, and Jason Schmidt). But he's definitely worthy of it because D-Mat has never recorded an out in a big league game, Zito has that "great but not stud" label, and Schmidt has a history of injuries. Plus there's the fact that Roger Clemens has been basically the same pitcher in the 80's, 90's, and 00's.
1980's.....95-45, 3.06 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 8.51K/9
1990's...152-89, 3.02 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 8.68K/9
2000's...101-44, 3.27 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 8.55K/9
So should he return for 2007? Why not. His last three seasons have been some of the best of his career. As an Astro since 2004, he's been 38-18, with a 2.40 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and 8.43K/9 in two-and-a-half seasons, so it's not like he's lost anything.
But if he comes back, where should he go? Well, he hasn't traded in his Houston duds just yet, and the Yankees and Rangers are also in the hunt. My guess is, if he comes back at all, it will be as an Astro (because of the familiarity factor, and because they'll be a contender in the NL Central), or as a Yankee (because of the Andy Pettitte factor, because they'll be a contender in the AL East, and maybe because of this).
I'm not sure if I would come back if I was in The Rocket's Reeboks, but then again, I never had his stuff.
8 comments:
clearly he should just come back full circle to the bosox... rocket, schill, beckett, d-mat...
i know why your blog is so awesome-
helton post (rumors about being traded to the RedSox)
arod post (pictures fighting with tek)
clemens post (where will he go... boston?)
because you always post about the red sox... tomorrow you should provide comments on the best knuckleballer in the league, or the best post season comeback in history, or who you think should have won the MVP the last few years...
by way, since i am already monopolizing the message board, i thought i would add a comment about that picture of rocket that you used in the article. i had a poster of that picture on my wall until i got to high school.
Did the blog mention Clemens going to Boston? Anyway, while that rotation does look sick, there are a lot of Sox fans that wouldn’t want to see this happen (Bill Simmons for one). When Clemens left Boston he was fat and on the decline, then he gets to Toronto, gets in shape and is nasty again. He also took a shot or two at the Sox after winning the series in NY.
I blame most of what happened during that time on Dan Duquette. He ran both Clemens and Vaughn out of town (Vaughn’s departure was probably not a bad thing as it turns out). Of course, he also nabbed Pedro and somehow got Lowe and Veritek for Slocumb, but I still didn’t like the guy for running two of my favorite players out of town.
My point is this: while you or I might not mind having Clemens back in Boston, there is enough documented bad blood between him and the town to make it easy for him to say no to Theo (especially when he’s being wooed by other contenders). AKA, let’s not get our hopes up just yet.
What are the chances Clemens didn't take steroids? That being said I'd still take him for the second half of the season. Although that is sort of annoying, no one is good enough to say, I'm gonna go ahead and relax the first few months and play when I feel like it.
(Look I didn't mention the Red Sox. Dammit, now I did.)
clemens is good enough, plus he is like 56 years old. if he pitches the entire year he will be too tired by the end of the season. it makes perfect sense and seems like a logical solution.
he doesnt have to play, the point is he is money enough to still do it, and every team wants his service.
diddy-pot-p-fret: i hear you, and i understand if he doesnt return, but i am not still bitter and i would welcome his return. maybe if they hadnt won a WS it wouldnt be easy to forgive him, but they did, without him.
if only other Boston fan thought like us (I find myself saying this a lot).
Is it possible that he "didn't lose anything" over the last couple of years because he was pitching to NL lineups? The recent history of NL pitchers going to the AL does not bode well for Clemens.
Not that he wouldn't be the Yankees best pitcher. But if Yankee or Red Sox fans are expecting to get that 2.50 ERA, they're going to be bitter when his ERA is hovering around 4 in August.
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