Days Of Yankees Past: Roger Clemens

With the Hall of Fame inductions coming up in a month, I wanted to take a look at the career of one of the players who has the most controversy on the ballot. Clemens’ career will be under a microscope by the BBWAA when they decide who to elect to the 2015 class. Despite alleged PED use and being named in the Mitchell Report, Roger Clemens is still one of those pitchers that should be regarded as one of the best pitchers of all-time and in what has become to be known as “The Steroid Era.”

The Rocket’s career began when he was drafted by the Boston Red Sox with the 19^th pick in the 1983 MLB Draft after pitching at the University of Texas. When he was the Longhorns, Clemens went 25-7 over a two-year period and was part of the team that won the ’83 College World Series.

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After starting 27 games in the minor league, Clemens made his debut with the Red Sox on May 15, 1984 against the Cleveland Indians, a game in which he gave up four earned runs on 11 hits over 5.2 innings pitched. He would get the no decision in that game. He would go 9-4 in 21 games that season, the beginning of a great 13 years in Boston.

During his time with the Red Sox, Roger Clemens won 192 games and had a .634 winning percentage. He had three 20+ win seasons and seven seasons of 17+ wins. During this portion of his career, he won three of his seven Cy Young Awards, including a second place finish to Bob Welch of the Oakland A’s in 1990 despite having a 1.93 ERA.

Of course, the year Clemens is remembered for in Beantown is 1986, his MVP year. During that season, he went 24-4 with a 2.48 ERA, which was actually the third lowest ERA of his career. He threw over 281 innings that season and struck out 238 batters (2^nd in the American League). Clemens pitched two games for Boston during the 1986 World Series loss to the Mets, including a win in Game 2 and starting the famous Game 6, where he struck out eight batters and gave up one earned run over seven innings (no-decision).

After finishing the final season of his career in Boston, the 12-time All-Star signed a three-year, $24.75 million contract with another AL East team, the Toronto Blue Jays. He only played two seasons in Toronto, but during those seasons in Canada, Clemens went an impressive 41-13. In 1997, he went 21-7 with a 2.05 ERA in 34 games and struck out 292 batters en route to winning a Cy Young award, which he won during both of his Toronto years.

In the offseason of 1999, Clemens would move to his third AL East team, the New York Yankees. Toronto traded him to the Bronx for infielder Homer Bush, reliever Graeme Lloyd, and starter David Wells. Roger would win two World Series with the Bronx Bombers from 1999-2003.

His best season in New York would be in 2001, the year the Yankees fell to the Diamondbacks in Game 7 of the World Series. Clemens would win the Cy Young Award that season with a 20-3 record and over 220 innings pitched. He would win 77 games with New York during those five seasons.

The right-hander would shine in the postseason with a 6-3 record. In that 2001 World Series, the Rocket struck out nine D’Backs and gave up one run over seven innings to win Game 3. He would start Game 7 as well, striking out ten batters and giving up a lone run over 6.1 innings, but in a no-decision. The other game fans remember is from 2003 when he started against Pedro Martinez in Game 7 of the ALCS. While Clemens struggled that night (three runs on six hits over three innings), New York made sure it wouldn’t be the last postseason game he pitched in the Bronx.

After the ’03 season, Clemens announced his retirement, but shortly after, he signed a one-year deal to go back home and play for the Houston Astros. He played with his friend Andy Pettitte and was impressive in Houston. In his three seasons (ages 41-43), he went a combined 38-18 with a 2.40 ERA. In 2004, he went 18-4 with a 2.98 ERA to win his seventh Cy Young award. He finished third in the voting in 2005 despite a 1.87 ERA. He would end up winning four games in the postseason with Houston and got the Astros to their first World Series appearance in ’05.

It was thought that the man with 354 career wins would hang up the cleats after 2006, but in May of 2007, Clemens went into George Steinbrenner’s box at Yankee Stadium to tell the crowd he was coming back to pitch at age 44. In 18 games that season, he went 6-6 with a 4.18 ERA, but the Yankees did make the postseason. Clemens would pitch in one more playoff game, Game 3 of the ALDS against Indians, where he went 2.1 innings, giving up three runs on four hits, a game that New York would end up winning.

Despite all the accolades, there is some controversy involving the Rocket. He was named in the Mitchell Report back in December of 2007 where it was said that Clemens allegedly took performance-enhancing drugs from his trainer Brian McNamee. Despite his friend, Andy Pettitte, admitting to using PED’s, Clemens adamantly denied it, even in front of Congress. He would be indicted on perjury and false statement charges in 2010, but was ultimately found not guilty two years later.

This year, I have a vote in the IBWAA and I am casting one of my votes for Roger Clemens. Despite the cloud of scrutiny, Clemens was one of the best pitchers I’ve ever seen and its tough for me to ignore an entire era out of the game’s history. Even before the alleged use, you could make the case that Clemens was a Hall Of Famer. With 354 wins (ninth all-time) and 4,672 strikeouts (third all-time) over 24 seasons, it’s tough not to think that Clemens is one of the better pitchers to ever play the game.