Athletes - Roger Clemens

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	Athletes - Roger Clemens

William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962 in Dayton, Ohio), nicknamed "The Rocket", is among the preeminent Major League baseball pitchers of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. He throws and bats right-handed.

Youth

After living in Dayton, Ohio for the first few years of his life, Clemens spent the rest of his childhood in Texas. At Spring Woods High School, Clemens starred in football, basketball, and baseball. He began his college career in 1981, pitching for the San Jacinto College North Gators, where he was 9-2 and wore No. 26. His coach was Wayne Graham. He also attended the University of Texas, compiling a career as one of the best collegiate pitchers of all time, and was on the mound when the Longhorns won the 1983 College World Series.

Pro career

He was drafted 19th overall by the Boston Red Sox, making his major league debut on May 15, 1984. In 1986 his 24 wins helped guide the Sox to the World Series (which they lost) and earned Clemens the American League Most Valuable Player award for the regular season and the first of his seven Cy Young Awards (he also won the AL award in 1987, 1991, 1997, 1998 and 2001 and the National League award in 2004). He was also a member of the MLB All-Century team in 1999.

Hall of Fame slugger Hank Aaron angered the hurler by saying that pitchers should not be eligible for the MVP. "I wish he were still playing," Clemens responded. "I'd probably crack his head open to show him how valuable I was." Clemens remains the only starting pitcher since Vida Blue in 1971 to win a league MVP award.

Clemens is one of only two pitchers to have thrown 20 strikeouts in a 9-inning major league game (Kerry Wood is the other. Randy Johnson also struck out 20 batters in the first nine innings of a game, but since the game went into extra innings, Johnson was not awarded the record). Remarkably, Clemens accomplished the feat twice; on April 29, 1986 against the Seattle Mariners at Fenway Park, and on September 18, 1996 against the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium, more than ten years later. He accomplished both as a member of the Boston Red Sox.

"Twilight of his career"

After Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette infamously claimed Clemens was in the "twilight of his career" and opted not to re-sign him following the '96 season, Clemens signed with the Toronto Blue Jays. In his two seasons there, he won the Cy Young award both years. Clemens was traded to the New York Yankees before the 1999 season for David Wells, Homer Bush and Graeme Lloyd. In 1999 and 2000, he won World Series titles with the Yankees.

Clemens' 2000 season was marred by a pair of ugly moments involving New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza. During a July 8, 2000 game between the Mets and the Yankees, Clemens threw at and hit Piazza in the head with a pitched ball. Piazza had enjoyed great success as a hitter against Clemens (including a grand slam against Clemens one month earlier), which was seen as Clemens' motivation. The incident received intense media coverage, and when both the Yankees and the Mets reached that year's World Series, there was great anticipation regarding the two men's first confrontation since the beaning. Astoundingly, in that first at-bat (in the 1st inning of Game 2 of the 2000 World Series), Piazza's bat shattered, sending a large piece of the broken bat shard flying in Clemens' direction. Clemens picked it up and threw down toward the first base line, narrowly missing Piazza, clearing the benches of both teams. Clemens, surprisingly, was not ejected from the game, although he would later be fined $50,000.

In 2001, he became the first pitcher in history to start a year 20–1. He finished the season at 20-3 and added another Cy Young Award to his resume.

Early in 2003, he announced his retirement, effective at the end of that season. On June 13, 2003, pitching against the St. Louis Cardinals in Yankee Stadium, Clemens recorded his 300th career win and 4,000th career strikeout, the only player in history to record both milestones in the same game. The 300th win came on his fourth try; the Yankee bullpen blew his chance of a win in his previous two attempts. He became the 21st pitcher ever to record 300 wins and just the third ever to record 4,000 strikeouts, joining Nolan Ryan (5,714) and Steve Carlton (4,136). His career record upon reaching the milestones was an impressive 300-155; his record at the end of the season was 310-160 with 4,099 strikeouts.

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Athletes - Roger Clemens

Youth

Pro career

"Twilight of his career"

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