Roger Clemens

Don't get me wrong. I like Roger Clemens and all. He used to be one of my favorite pitchers but that was before he retired the first time after playing as a Yankee in New York. Those were the days when I liked the Yankees and voted in Nomar Garciaparra on the AL part of the All-Star ballot.

Heck, I watched Clemens pitch yesterday on ESPN as he started his rehab game before making his way back to Houston. Do I root for Clemens anymore these days? Rarely, unless the Astros play the Cubs even though they are becoming more of a rival in the division to my beloved Cardinals.

In 2003, I remember Bud Selig replacing Barry Zito on the All-Star team because Roger Clemens was retiring and deserved one last All-Star appearance. Heck, he got his 300th win and 4,000th strikeout in the same game almost 3 years ago (June 13, 2003) against my Cardinals!

How wrong was baseball because one year later, Clemens was pitching in the NLCS against my Cardinals. In 2003, I rooted for NY over Boston. The next year, Boston over NY despite Nomar Garciaparra being traded away to the dreaded Cubs of Chicago.

While there is no doubt in my mind that the Rocket is a Hall of Famer, he'll have to give it up sooner or later. True, Nolan Ryan pitched an MLB record 27 years but what will Roger do? He's at 22 seasons going into this one. At the end of last season, Clemens had 341 wins and 4,502 strikeouts. The standards for the Hall these days are 300 wins or 3,000 strikeouts for pitchers. Clemens is only one of 4 players to fan over 4,000. Randy Johnson is the only other active player with over 4,000. I doubt he'll ever get close to Nolan Ryan's record of 5,714 strikeouts.

For the record, he retired once at the end of the 2003 season. The second time, at the end of the World Baseball Classic in the spring of 2006. So will the 2006 season be his last? Time will surely tell.

In the mean time, I'm sure the city of Lexington has enjoyed the publicity in the past week with Clemens in town. It's the first time I know of that he pitched here since Pawtucket was in the International League (AAA) while the Louisville Redbirds (AAA) were in the American Association until the end of the 1997 season.

Some history for you: From 1968-1972, the team currently known as the Pawtucket Red Sox (AAA) played at old Cardinal Stadium as the new Louisville Colonels.

I did lose some respect for him during the offseason when he signed with Houston because I thought when he said he would retire, that he would be retiring for good. After Clemens retired, I started rooting for the Boston Red Sox.