The High Court

Deep Thinkers Only...

The Big Gavel-Rocket Man

If he keeps this up much longer, Roger Clemens just might one day retire as the greatest pitcher in baseball history.  As it is now, the almost 43 years young Clemens (he turns 43 in August) is working on one of the most impressive seasons in modern history.  After his seven shutout innings on Sunday against the Cincinnati Reds, the Rocket lowered his ERA to 1.41.  More impressively (and almost impossibly), Clemens has allowed only one run in 46 innings of work on the road.  How does a 0.19 ERA sound?  That is how you fight off the effects of pitching in a hitter-friendly home park.  Giving up a few cheap ones in the cozy confines?  Then just go on the road and throw up nothing but goose eggs (and keep in mind, Cincy is a launching pad in its own right).

 

By sheer will, Clemens has lifted this Astros club from the depths of the NL Central right to the brink of .500.  His won-loss record is a sparkling 7-3, but had he received any run support early in the season, Clemens would be well into double figures in victories.  In seven of his seventeen starts, he allowed two runs or fewer and did not get a win.  Regardless, his win on Sunday was number 335 for his career, good for ninth place all-time.  In fact, the rarified air Clemens now inhabits is actually much greater than that.  Of the eight men standing in front of him on the win list, only Warren Spahn pitched after 1930.  And Spahn (who like Clemens, was great at an advanced age) finished his career in 1965.  There has not been a single pitcher in the last 40 years that can equal Clemens’ lengthy excellence.  If you are willing to start modern-day Major League history at a point after 1930, we can certainly make the argument that Roger Clemens is the finest pitcher of all time, modern-day division.

 

And to think that in the winter of 1996 Red Sox GM Dan Duquette thought the Rocket was running out of fuel.  All he has done since is win 143 games (against 56 losses) and add four Cy Young awards to his trophy case (Duquette was busy refilling the Slurpee machine at a Boston-area convenience store and couldn’t come to the phone to comment…I’m kidding, of course…I think….).  He also managed to snag a couple of World Series rings with the Yankees, and just last fall, Clemens helped lead Houston within one win of a trip to the Fall Classic.

 

The discussion will soon turn to whether or not Clemens will end up in Yankee pinstripes, or perhaps if he might fittingly return to Beantown for one last run at glory in the city where it all began.  The Rocket was the 1986 AL MVP as he led the BoSox to the World Series against the Mets (I think we all remember how that turned out).  The divorce from the franchise and the fans was quite messy, but one has to believe Red Sox nation would welcome home the greatest pitcher in the storied organization’s history (and that is with apologies to Cy Young).  Would Clemens be willing to return to Boston is another question altogether…

 

And part of that has to do with his love for his family and a desire to continue to be near them.  Another issue at hand is the fact that his oldest son, Koby, was just drafted by the Astros in June.  Koby, who has a roster spot at national champ Texas waiting for him, could be enticed by the desire to play with his timeless father and skip playing college ball for Dad’s alma mater in exchange for an Astros jersey.  Houston has indicated they might like to convert the younger Clemens to catcher, which raises the possibility of a father/son battery someday, especially if Roger decided to follow in the footsteps of another Texan who pitched until he was 46.  You remember that Nolan Ryan fellow, don’t you?  For that matter, as well as the Rocket is pitching now, he may be throwing to his grandson in 2029. 

 

Like the man or not (and we know you Mike Piazza fans don’t), you have to admit that there has never been a baseball player with a greater focus and work ethic for the game.  Clemens’ single-minded devotion to his unmatched workout program and his pre-start preparation has allowed him to continue to dominate hitters half his age.  As I mentioned with Barry Bonds a week ago, the opportunity to see Clemens pitch is a rare treat, not unlike the experience of baseball fans in the 1920’s as they watched the great Walter Johnson (the Big Train finished with 417 wins, mostly for awful teams).  Johnson is regarded by most historians as the greatest right-handed pitcher of all time.  Well move over, Walter…you are getting some company.

 

Roger Clemens is clearly guilty of using and abusing major league hitters for over twenty years.  And we thank him for it.  If it were possible, baseball fans would want to sentence him to providing us with this kind of excellence until he was at least 50.  And let’s face it…if the man gets the idea in his head, it may just happen.

 

Court is adjourned.

Second all-time in strikeouts.

Ninth (and counting) all-time in wins.  Seven Cy Youngs.

In an era of big offense, no pitcher has ever done it better than Roger Clemens.

(mlb.com)