He’s back. Like an uninvited guest at your birthday, the man who just won’t stay down and be retired is back. Now, he’s a Skeeter.
Regardless of how I feel about what he did or did not do, Roger Clemens has had a storied career. I will not deny that.
However, if he keeps on this road he’s traveling, he’ll be remembered less for his numbers and more for acting like a cold sore that won’t go away.
The 50-year-old former All-Star signed with the Sugar Land (Texas) Skeeters of the independent Atlantic League on Monday. He started for the minor league team Saturday at home against Bridgeport. “His fastball was clocked at 87 mph; all of his pitches were working,” reports Randy Hendricks, Clemens’ agent, to ESPN. “He threw a three-inning simulated game after an extensive workout warm-up.”
Well, technically that does sound like an Indy leaguer.
Hendricks tells ESPN that Clemens and Skeeters manager Gary Gaetti have been talking about this “for months”. Really? Clemens, who was acquitted in June of charges he lied to Congress, hasn’t played for a team since pitching for the Yankees in 2007 at the age of 45.
He went 6-6 in 18 games with a 4.18 ERA that season. As if that wasn’t enough of a clue to stay down.
Texas Rangers pitcher Roy Oswalt, a former teammate of Clemens with the Astros, is excited about Clemens’ return to baseball. “I think he’s going to show everybody that all that stuff that he had to go through had nothing to do with the success he had in the big leagues,” Oswalt tells ESPN. “He said he’s going to do it a little bit and see how his body responds. I wouldn’t be surprised next year if he’s pitching in the big leagues for somebody.”
“He’s always loved to compete,” says Yankees Manager Joe Girardi of Clemens. “That’s who he is. He kept coming back. There were times he felt he couldn’t quite go a full season, but he gave it as much as he had. He loved to compete. That’s a hard thing to replace is that competition. Guys miss it.”
Clemens did have some great years with the Astros after turning 40. He went 18-4 with a 2.98 ERA in 2004, winning his record seventh Cy Young Award. He went 13-8 with a career-low 1.87 ERA in 2005.
Clemens earned $160 million and won 354 games in a 24-year career with the Red Sox, Yankees, Blue Jays and Astros. His 4,672 strikeouts are third-most all-time and he was named to 11 All-Star Games.
So, yesterday he took the mound for the Skeeters of the Atlantic League. He joined a roster that includes former major league pitchers Tim Redding, Scott Kazmir and Jason Lane, a teammate of Clemens’ on Houston’s 2005 World Series team. Pitching for the first time in five years, Clemens tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings for the Skeeters.
It isn’t clear how long Clemens will pitch for the Skeeters. “This is a one game at a time thing,” Hendricks says. “Let’s see how he does on Saturday.”
How does he get to do this? I don’t get to report to work when I want.
“He didn’t travel with the Astros half the time toward the end there,” echos Oakland pitcher Brett Anderson. “I can’t imagine him traveling for the Sugar Land Skeeters. I’m sure they’ll draw a good crowd and it will be fun, but it’s kind of those things you read about it and you’re like: ‘What’s he doing?’ ”
Clemens has been throwing batting practice to one of his sons often, but that doesn’t mean he’s major league ready. I get that it’s difficult to get that urge to compete out of your blood. However, I have to ask if he cares at all about his legacy. If he does, why does he keep putting it on the line?
The Astros are in dire straights. They are full-speed ahead for one of the worst seasons in franchise history. Could Clemens potentially be a late season gate draw at Minute Maid Park?
Probably. That still doesn’t answer why. Clemens could have his pick of teams that would have him as a coach, special assistant, etc.
That got me thinking further. Like most things Clemens did in his career, I wonder if the game actually factors into it at all. If Clemens can find his way back to the majors this season, that would push his Hall of Fame balloting back another five years.
So, instead of being on one of the most controversial ballots in Hall of Fame history, he could give us five more years to forget how he put the game last. I wonder if Barry Bonds will be on the Camden Riversharks roster next.
