During the seventh inning stretch at Yankee Stadium, Roger Clemens made the dramatic announcement from George Steinbrenner’s luxury box that he will rejoin the Yanks for the remainder of the 2007 season. Clemens made his announcement right after Kate Smith’s rendition of "God Bless America," and the Yankee faithful erupted in one of the loudest cheers ever heard in the House the Ruth Built.
This announcement took everyone by surprise. From the guys in the booth to the Yankees sitting in the dugout, to the fans in the stands, everyone looked and sounded surprised. Now all the Yanks have to do is hold the fort for the next month or so until Clemens – arguably the greatest pitcher in the history of modern baseball – can get himself ready to join the rotation.
As opposed to last year’s almost daily Clemens Watch, the result of this year’s Clemens sweepstakes was sprung on the unsuspecting sports world, including his friends. According to Clemens, even his best friend Andy Pettitte didn’t know about the Rocket’s decision. As a matter of fact, during the Yankee broadcast, Yank pitching coach Ron Guidry walked over to Pettitte and asked him if he knew anything about Clemens’ decision. Pettitte could be seen answering in the negative.
Clemens said that he was getting regular calls from Derek Jeter, Pettitte and other Yanks, and so when his agent told him that he had a deal in place, Roger decided that he was ready to get back to work in New York. The Rocket said that he is ready to shoulder the responsibility that comes from being a Yankee, and that even though the tug from Boston was very strong; he felt that he belonged back in the Bronx.
The hard-throwing right-hander said he had no hesitation in joining the Yanks despite the hard times that they’ve endured during the first few weeks of the 2007, and that he was looking forward to joining some old friends and playing for Joe Torre.
The Rocket said that he thinks he can be ready to go by the end of May. For all of you schedule watchers out there, the Yanks play the Red Sox on June 1.
Article comments
1 - DD2
I can hear them all the way from Boston to Brooklyn right now.
Clemens
Pettitte
Mussina
Wang
Hughes
A Rod is back in form.
Jeter is htting like a house on fire.
Hideki Matsui is hot
Yes, it's going to be a very good summer.
2 - Chris Beaumont
First, two words: Who and Cares.
Secondly, was this truly a surprise to anyone?
3 - sal m
actually baseball fans - particularly yankee and red sox fans - care.
and this was a surprise in that there was no indication in the media or any leaks that this was going to happen.
4 - Kevin
As has been stated elsewhere, baseball executives seem to be forgetting one crucial element to the Roger Clemens "sweepstakes": the man is almost 45 years old, and each year it becomes more likely that he will simply run out of gas. Will he be effective this year? Maybe. Is he worth $20 million plus, or more than $1 million per start? Absolutely not; no one is.
I can just picture Roger, in 2017, signing with the Yanks for a $100 million contract -- prorated, of course, for the one month he'll be able to play.
5 - sal m
the point that clemens is a 44 year old pitcher who is bound to run out of gas is valid. however, there's no indication that he has run out of gas as his numbers last year indicate. he got no support from the astro line-up and had several no-decisions or losses as a result. his era was 2.3 and his other stats were quite strong as well.
the yanks will be able to pay for clemens salary out of the increased gate receipts from his starts.
6 - The Haze
Increased gate receipts.....28 mil. salary right? hhmmm. How much for a family to go to the ballpark? God you gotta love capitalism,huh?
7 - sal m
when you consider how much a ticket/parking/hotdog/soda/beer and whatever other sundries cost, a 50,000 gate and the TV ratings boost for a clemens start versus the same game with 25-30,000 gate for game featuring a triple A schmoe pitching means a lot more cabbage for the yanks. and if they make the playoffs than clemens really pays for himself.
8 - Temple Stark
"when you consider how much a ticket/parking/hotdog/soda/beer and whatever other sundries cost"
People do consider that (it seemed you missed Haze's point entirely), that's why they're disgusted that the guy will get about $1 million per start. By the way, salary and other such figures and considerations were noticeably absent from the piece.
Though it is entirely your prerogative, you seem to be coming at this from the owners POV, rather than regular Juan and Jane baseball fan.
A salary of $18 million for 2/3rds of a season does not help fans of baseball. It's obscene.
9 - sal m
i don't disagree with you at all. and i don't really miss haze's point. steinbrenner and his cadre don't care at all about the fans.
juan and jane stopped being the prime consideration of sports owners and the players years ago. for quite a while the sides in the equation have been the owners and players against the fans.
and i'm on record as being against and agast at the spectacle of the clemens auction both from the perspective of how an all-time great could cheapen himself by going through this, and how the owners have thrown themselves at him.
10 - Temple Stark
OK, sorry, it sure seemed like you missed the point.
I wouldn't know and don't see where "the record" is, though it wasn't reflected in this piece. Good to know the extra info.
I like Clemens as a pitcher by the way - a little aggressive when he doesn't need to be sometimes - as opposed to aggressive when he needs to be, of course. But the last few years who is as a pitcher or a person hasn't impressed me. There's a lot I don't see about who he is of course.
- Temple
11 - The Haze
Now correct me if I'm wrong here but doesn't contracts get ok'd by MLBPA? Didn't AROD have a contract overuled a few years back? What if a regular player tried to negotiate a contract like that? Would MLBPA say okay?. Roger packs people into the stands thats all MLB cares about. Oh yeah and they care about your money.Another black eye for America's game.
12 - sal m
once again the haze makes a great point...the league IS complicit in the money grab, which shouldn't surprise us in the day of october night world series games that don't start until 830pm.
and temple, i'd written about the clemens auction last year in a few of my pieces and just was tired of it by this year.
this item that i posted was just an attempt to get up a story about 15 minutes or so after the event happened. i wrote this as clemens was being interviewed by the local yankee broadcasters during the top of the 8th inning, and was just telling people what was said. being that i'm in yankee country i could speak a bit to the fact that there really hadn't been any hints that this was going to happen, at least not when it did.
13 - The Haze
This will not be good for baseball in the long run.Personally I think Clemens is a great pitcher,but the precedent that this sets could have serious ramifications in the future considering congress is watching baseball like a hawk since they couldn't take care of their own little steroid scandal(which they silently condoned to win the fans back from the strike year).Wait until some young gun with an ego the size of Rogers wants a clause in his contract and they say no.Should he sue or what? Pandora's Box has been opened on the way contracts are set up now.Thanks Rog. Thanks MLBPA. and of course thanks to all the fans who continue to pack the ballparks .UGH. I guess you do reap what you sow. Imagine this happening back in the day? Christ! There would be a riot in the clubhouse.I know there's no "I" in team, but is there a "Roger"? I wouldn't him on my bench unless he was there for the duration not when he sees fit.Picture Bonds doing this? Man,would he get raked across the coals!
14 - sal m
i agree with the haze.
the only thing that may happen is if clemens doesn't deliver and the yanks continue to struggle, then maybe other teams won't be so willing to sell their souls. although baseball owners aren't the brightest bulbs, as evidenced by bud selig's ascention to the position of commissioner.
15 - Hairynipples
"Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?
Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson?
Joltin' Joe has left and gone away."
Of course I am referencing the Lemonheads version of the song. Did you know Doris Day almost got cast as Mrs. Robinson? That may have changed my life forever or at least until I switched the channel to the Carnal Knowledge broadcast on HBO.
Last trivia crap from Wikepedia:
"Frank Sinatra covered a tongue-in-cheek version of this song for his 1969 album My Way. This version changes a number of lines, including replacing "Jesus" with "Jilly" (Sinatra's close bartender friend) and including a new verse directly referring to Mrs. Robinson's activities in The Graduate:
The PTA, Mrs. Robinson,
Won't okay the way you do your thing
Ding ding ding.
And you'll get yours, Mrs. Robinson,
Foolin' with that young stuff like you do
Boo hoo hoo, woo woo woo. "
Sorry for the irreverent post, but it made me laugh.
16 - sal m
nips:
i think the altitude and the altoids are getting to you...
17 - The Haze
MLBPA basically told George McGovern to "stick it" in regards to the steroid investigation(not that I blame them!). How do you think that's gonna sit with the government when it comes time to talk to the Met clubhouse attendant who was just nabbed for distribution?(bet they cut a big deal with this guy to sing like Sanjaya!)
18 - sal m
i know you meant george mitchell, and i agree about congress watching and waiting to see how this plays out.
when you realize that radomski - the club house drug dealer - has been a subject of investigation for years and has been cooperating for at least 18 months, you have to think that the authorities know a lot more than has been made public.
19 - The Haze
Thanks Sal. What the hell was I thinkin'! George McGovern! It might as well be him though because I don't think MLBPA is going to cooperate as much as they're going to try and cut deals behind curtains with the government. They both realize whats at stake here and if it means serving up a few "casualties of war" the MLBPA will do it,probably under the guise of saving the "integrity" of the game! Sports as we use to know it is gone. What do you think Nolan Ryan's teammates would have said if he had a contract like Clemens? It just reeks of "I'm bigger than the game".