Clemens Goes Back To The Future In Independent League Start

Roger Clemens, 50, started for the independent Sugar Land Skeeters (ed’s note: hahaha Skeeters) yesterday and went 3 1/3 scoreless innings and gave up just one hit with no walks to two strikeouts. The 50-year-old also hit 88 mph with his fastball and threw 24 of his 37 pitches for strikes against the Bridgeport Bluefish.

Ummm, holy s**t. Did I mention he’s 50 years old? I know he was playing against Independent League scrubs, but those are some pretty incredible numbers for a guy his age who hasn’t pitched in a MLB game since 2007.

It’s pretty obvious that he’s just trying to make it back to the bigs so his Hall-of-Fame eligibility gets pushed back five years — and the Astros all but assured him it would happen — but this is pretty intriguing. I really want to see how he’d fare against ML talent at  this juncture in his career.

Granted I’m a Clemens apologist, but I hope he gets a shot to pitch in the show this year. I don’t want him anywhere near the Yanks, but I hope he gets a chance with the Astros or some other loser team.

The Astros claim they don’t want to sign Clemens as a publicity stunt, but I call BS on that. The team boasts the worst record in the majors at 47 games under .500 (40-87), is last in the NL in home attendance, last in the NL in average attendance and has no stars to attract fans to the ballpark. Give me a break. Don’t piss on my head and tell me it’s raining. If a seven-time Cy Young award winner is pitching — even for a team like the 2012 Astros — wouldn’t you go to the game?

Rocket said he hasn’t thought about returning to MLB, but that just can’t be true. There’s no other reason for him to be back on the mound at his age. After seeing what his former buddy Andy Pettitte did earlier this season he’s got to be thinking about a comeback.

Baseball gods, please let this happen!

“88 MILES PER HOUR!”

Fun Fact: Roger Clemens had already made 34 big league starts before Back to the Future was released in theaters.

“Let’s see if you bastards can hit 90,” I bet he said.