Roger Clemens

William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962), nicknamed "Rocket", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), most notably with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees and also played for the Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros. He was one of the most dominant pitchers in major league history, tallying 354 wins, a 3.12 earned run average (ERA), and 4,672 strikeouts, the third-most all time. An 11-time MLB All-Star and two-time World Series champion, Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards, more than any other pitcher in history. Clemens was known for his fierce competitive nature and hard-throwing pitching style, which he used to intimidate batters.

Clemens debuted in the MLB in 1984 with the Red Sox, whose pitching staff he anchored for 12 years. In 1986, he won the American League (AL) Cy Young Award, the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, and the All-Star Game MVP Award, and he struck out an MLB-record 20 batters in a single game. After the 1996 season, in which he achieved his second 20-strikeout performance, Clemens left Boston via free agency and joined the Toronto Blue Jays. In each of his two seasons with Toronto, Clemens won a Cy Young Award, as well as the pitching triple crown by leading the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts. Before the 1999 season, Clemens was traded to the Yankees where he won his two World Series titles. In 2001, Clemens became the first pitcher in major league history to start a season with a win–loss record of 20–1. In 2003, he reached his 300th win and 4,000th strikeout in the same game. Clemens left for the Houston Astros in 2004, where he spent three seasons and won his seventh Cy Young Award. He rejoined the Yankees in 2007 for one last season before retiring. He is the only pitcher in Major League history to record more than 350 wins and strike out more than 4,500 batters.

Clemens was alleged by the Mitchell Report to have used anabolic steroids during his late career, mainly based on testimony given by his former trainer, Brian McNamee. Clemens denied these allegations under oath before the United States Congress, leading congressional leaders to refer his case to the Justice Department on suspicions of perjury. On August 19, 2010, a federal grand jury at the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., indicted Clemens on six felony counts involving perjury, false statements, and contempt of Congress. Clemens pleaded not guilty, but proceedings were complicated by prosecutorial misconduct, leading to a mistrial.Courson, Paul
"Jury selection to begin in perjury retrial of baseball's Roger Clemens."
''www.cnn.com'', April 16, 2012

/ref> In June 2012, Clemens was found not guilty on all six counts of lying to Congress. These controversies hurt his chances for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He never received the 75% of votes required in his ten years of eligibility, ending with 65.2% in 2022. However, despite the steroid controversies, Clemens is still considered by many as one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history.

Early life

Clemens was born in Dayton, Ohio, the fifth child of Bill and Bess (Lee) Clemens. He is of German descent, his great-grandfather Joseph Clemens having immigrated in the 1880s. Clemens’ parents separated when he was an infant. His mother soon married Woody Booher, whom Clemens considers his father. Booher died when Clemens was nine years old, and Clemens has said that the only time he ever felt envious of other players was when he saw them in the clubhouse with their fathers. Clemens lived in Vandalia, Ohio, until 1977, and then spent most of his high school years in Houston, Texas. At Spring Woods High School, Clemens played baseball for longtime head coach Charles Maiorana and also played football and basketball. He was scouted by the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins during his senior year, but opted to go to college. ''www.robinsonlibrary.com.'' Retrieved November 6, 2017.

College career

He began his college career pitching for San Jacinto College North in 1981, where he posted a 9–2 win–loss record. He then attended the University of Texas at Austin, compiling a 25–7 record in two All-American seasons, and was on the mound when the Longhorns won the 1983 College World Series. He became the first player to have his baseball uniform number retired at the University of Texas. In 2004, the Rotary Smith Award, given to America's best college baseball player, was changed to the Roger Clemens Award, honoring the best pitcher. At Texas, Clemens pitched 35 consecutive scoreless innings, an NCAA record that stood until Justin Pope broke it in 2001.

Professional career

Drafts and minor leagues

The New York Mets selected Clemens in the 12th round of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft, however, he did not sign. Clemens was selected in the first round (19th overall) of the 1983 MLB draft by the Boston Red Sox and quickly rose through the minor league system. In 1983, Clemens pitched for two different teams in two different leagues and at two different levels. He pitched for the A-ball Winter Haven Red Sox of the Florida State League and the AA New Britain Red Sox of the Eastern League. Clemens started all four games he played with Winter Haven, pitched three complete games with one shutout and allowed no home runs. He posted a 3–1 win–loss record, a 1.24 earned run average, struck out 36 batters in 29 innings pitched and his walks plus hits per inning pitched was 0.759. Clemens started all seven games he played with New Britain and pitched one complete game shutout and allowed one home run. He posted a 4–1 win–loss record, a 1.38 earned run average, struck out 59 batters in 52 innings pitched and his walks and hits per innings pitched was 0.827. His combined minor league totals in 1983 included starting all 11 games he played and pitched four complete games with two shutouts and only one home run allowed. He posted a 7–2 win–loss record, a 1.33 earned run average, struck out 95 batters in 81 innings pitched and his walks and hits per innings pitched was 0.802.

Clemens started the 1984 season with AAA Pawtucket Red Sox of the International League. In seven games, he started six of them, pitching three complete games with one shutout. Despite posting a 2–3 win–loss record and walks and hits per innings pitched of 1.136, his earned run average was 1.93, and he struck out 50 batters in innings pitched.

Boston Red Sox (1984–1996)

On May 15, 1984 at Cleveland Stadium, Clemens made his Major League debut. An undiagnosed torn labrum threatened to end his career early; he underwent successful arthroscopic surgery by Dr. James Andrews.

On April 29, 1986 at Fenway Park, in a 3–1 win over the Seattle Mariners, Clemens struck out a career-high 20 batters, becoming the first pitcher in MLB history to strike out 20 batters in a nine-inning game. Following his performance, Clemens made the cover of ''Sports Illustrated'', which carried the headline "Lord of the K's trikeouts" Other than Clemens, only Kerry Wood, Randy Johnson and Max Scherzer have matched the total. (Johnson fanned 20 batters in nine innings on May 8, 2001. However, the game went into extra innings but Johnson got credit for it as he only pitched 9 innings. Tom Cheney holds the record for any game: 21 strikeouts in 16 innings.)

Clemens started the 1986 All-Star Game (played in his hometown of Houston) in the Astrodome and was named the Most Valuable Player of the contest by throwing three perfect innings and striking out two. He also won the first of his seven Cy Young Awards. In 1986, Clemens won the American League MVP award, finishing with a 24–4 record, 2.48 ERA, and 238 strikeouts. When Hank Aaron said that pitchers should not be eligible for the MVP, Clemens responded: "I wish he was still playing. I'd probably crack his head open to show him how valuable I was." Clemens was the only starting pitcher since Vida Blue in 1971 to win a league MVP award until Justin Verlander won the award in 2011. Clemens attributes his switch from what he calls a "thrower" to a "pitcher" to the partial season Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver spent with the Red Sox in 1986.

Facing the California Angels in the 1986 ALCS, Clemens pitched poorly in the opening game, watched the Boston bullpen blow his 3–1 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 4, and then pitched a strong Game 7 to wrap up the series for Boston. The League Championship Series clincher was Clemens's first postseason career victory. He did not win his second until 13 years later. After a victory in game five, Boston led 3 games to 2 over the New York Mets in the 1986 World Series with Clemens set to start game six at Shea Stadium

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