Let The Healing Begin
Time for Yankees’ fans to move ahead and look forward to 2004 season
By: Russ Rose
Special to Yankees Talk Shop
January 18, 2004
Get over it Yankees’ fans. They’re not coming back. No matter how angry, frustrated, sad, shocked or disappointed we are they’re not coming back. Of course, I’m speaking of Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte.
There is no doubt Yankees’ fans across the nation are still reeling from the double loss of Pettitte and Clemens. The former, Pettitte, after feeling jilted by the Yankees opted to go home to be near his family. The latter, Roger Clemens, wanted the same thing only he told the world he was retiring to accomplish that goal. He’d been to 20 spring trainings and played away from his family for his entire career. Except for the off-season and occasional trips to Arlington, Texas Roger Clemens was never home.
Andy Pettitte had a distinct advantage over the Rocket. He started out as a Yankee. Up until his signing with Houston, Andy played his entire career in New York. Yankees’ fans always embraced Pettitte. He was always one of us. Roger Clemens, on the other hand, spent 13 years with the Yankees’ most storied and hated rival the Boston Red Sox. Roger Clemens, who often plays on the edge of insanity, was known as a player who throws inside and occasionally at opposing batters. We remember him dusting off Derek Jeter and other Yankees. Most Yankee fans just hated the guy.
When David “Boomer” Wells was traded along with Homer Bush and Graeme Lloyd to the Toronto Blue Jays for Clemens on February 18, 1999 the Yankee nation howled in disbelief. How could George Steinbrenner sign this guy? The same guy we’ve hated for 15 years. How could the Yankees trade our beloved Boomer? Plus, isn’t this the guy who signed with the Blue Jays, because he didn’t like New York? We don’t want this guy. Let’s face it. Roger Clemens was entering hostile territory. Not only were the fans wary of his entry into Yankee Land, but what about his teammates? He was now sitting on the same bench with the guys he’d been terrorizing for some or all of the past 15 seasons.
What Roger did was nothing short of miraculous. Over the next 5 seasons in pinstripes the Rocket won over his teammates, his manager and coaches and more importantly the fans. In 5 years Clemens turned himself into “a Yankee.” He won two championships, another Cy Young, his 300th game and struck out his 4,000th batter. He made everyone around him better. He turned Andy Pettitte into a workout-aholic with his workout program. Andy added speed to his fastball and stamina to his body. Who do you think taught him that intimidating look from just under the bill of his cap? Roger Clemens made about 99.99% of the fans forget about David Wells.
When the 2003 season rolled around Clemens made it clear to the 2003 campaign would be his last. He was going home to be a full-time father. We saw vintage Roger all season long. He won his 299th game in Boston, much to the chagrin of the Red Sox nation. Then it took him 4 tries to finally get over the hump and win his 300th game. Personally, I was happy it took him that long, because I was privileged to see him win it at Yankee Stadium. The game also marked the return of Tino Martinez, the ever-popular first baseman, who left the Yankees for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2002 when the team didn’t tender him an offer. The game was also important to Roger as not only did he win his 300th in front of the Yankee faithful, but he also recorded his 4,000th career strikeout. He became only the third player in major league history to reach that pinnacle.
Roger continued to roll the rest of the season. On his final regular season appearance at Fenway Park the Red Sox nation did what no one thought they would ever do. They cheered Roger Clemens. As the Rocket walked off the mound, in what was thought was Rocket’s final regular season game, the fans gave him a standing ovation. They kept standing and kept cheering until Clemens came out of the Yankees dugout and tipped his cap to them. It was very special," he said. "It gave me the opportunity to say thank you."
With each game the end of the season was getting closer and Yankee fans knew the window of opportunity of seeing the Rocket pitch was growing smaller. The Yankees rolled into the division playoffs and dusted off the Minnesota Twins in 4 games. It set up one of the all-time classic playoff series in baseball history. A 7-game marathon with the Bombers most hated rival, the Boston Red Sox.
It was the kind of stuff that makes baseball lore. Boston versus New York. Awesome. Could it have happened any other way? Not on your life. Plus, Game 3 set up a duel between the Rocket and Pedro Martinez. As everyone remembers Game 3 turned into a melee. At the center of it all was Pedro Martinez who somehow intentionally threw at a batter, threatened with words and gestures to hit another batter, threw a 72 year old guy on his ear and managed to stay in the game.
What impressed me the most was how Roger Clemens handled it. He went out after the all the craziness to pitch the 5th inning and kept his emotions in check. We all know Roger gets pumped up at times and has a hard time overcoming an emotional surge. In this case he was able to stay within himself and keep pitching well. He beat Martinez and the Sox in what was now believed to be his last ever game at Fenway Park. It was a gutsy performance and once again Roger Clemens prevailed. The Yankees finally dusted off the Red Sox in Game 7 of the AL championship and moved on to the World Series to face the Florida Marlins.
Clemens pitched Game 4 of the World Series for the Yanks. After a very rocky first inning where he gave up 5 hits and 3 runs Roger settled down and completely dominated the Marlins. Over the next 6 innings Roger only game up 3 hits and no runs.
In one of the most memorable moments in the history of baseball flashbulbs all over Pro Player Park started going off as Roger faced the last batter of the 7th inning. The flashes increased with intensity on each pitch as Clemens did what he has always done. He struck out his final batter to end the inning. As he walked off the field the cheers started, fans got to their feet and the crescendo increased as Clemens went into the Yankees dugout. And as it happened in Boston the fans wouldn’t let the Rocket go quietly into the night. They kept up the noise until Roger emerged and acknowledged the fans’ tribute. Not only that, every player on the Marlins’ bench walked out in front of their dugout and tipped their hat to the pitching legend. Roger pointed to the Marlins’ bench and thanked them. The moment belonged to Roger, but the evening belonged to the Marlins. They went on to beat the Yankees in 12 innings to tie the series 2-2.
Any chances of seeing Roger pitch one last time was squashed by the Marlins’ as they beat the Yankees in both Game 5 and Game 6 to win the World Series. Roger Clemens, the 310 game winner, the 4,099 strikeout legend was through. He was going home to his family, never to pitch another major league game again. It was a perfect ending or so we thought.
The Yankees believing Roger, was indeed, finished as a major league performer didn’t offer him arbitration. As negotiations between Andy Pettitte, Roger’s best friend, and the Yankees began to break down Rocket’s thinking began to change. Andy Pettitte signed with the Houston Astros and rumors began to surface that the Astros and Pettitte wanted Clemens to pitch for the Astros in 2004. A pair of Houston disc-jockeys implored someone to give Roger a Hummer to show that the City of Houston was serious about having him pitch for the Astros. A local dealer bit and the disc-jockeys delivered a burnt-orange Hummer to Roger’s door. He told him to keep it as “of right now I’m retired.”
On thing I learned a long time ago is that one should not utter the words “always” and “never.” Roger should learn to do the same. After Andy signed a contract with the Astros he contacted Roger and told him he still had a lot to offer baseball. He could still pitch and be at home with his family if he signed to pitch for the Astros. The Clemens and Pettitte families took a vacation together in Hawaii and on Christmas day the Rocket received a Houston Astros hat from his family. Roger talked to his mother about it and she gave him her blessing. At that point the dye was cast. Roger Clemens who, in actuality, never officially retired was going to pitch again. This time for the Houston Astros.
On January 12, 2004 the Houston Astros and Roger Clemens made it official at a press conference at Minute Maid Park. They announced Clemens had signed a $5 million, one-year deal. Not only that, it was also announced the Rocket had also signed a 10-year personal services agreement with Astros’ owner Drayton Lane. The guy who rubbed his sweat on the plaque of Babe Ruth in Monument Park for luck was going to pitch in a park named after orange juice. The New York media called Roger Clemens a “traitor.” The knee jerk fans, who for 5 years called Roger one of their own, suddenly turned on him and echoed the media’s sentiment. The man who professed he wanted to enter the Hall of Fame as a New York Yankee had stabbed the Yankees in the back.
Now, I will admit to you all that I was very unhappy with Roger’s decision. In many ways I still am. However, I know that my feelings are due to my selfishness. For much of Roger’s career I followed him and wanted him to someday pitch for the Yankees. I was highly disappointed when he chose to pitch for the Toronto Blue Jays rather than the Yankees in 1997, because he had a misinformed opinion of New York City.
Thankfully, George Steinbrenner still wanted him two years later and signed him to a deal. I was overjoyed at the thought of watching this guy pitch for the New York Yankees. As I said at the beginning of this story, Roger spent the next 5 years building up a rapport with the fans and media of the New York Yankees. Now in one fell swoop it appears that all that fence mending has been undone. Our Roger Clemens is now the Houston Astros’ Roger Clemens. This is where my disappointment comes in. I don’t want to share in what we had. What I thought was going to be our final year of milestones and accomplishments is now going to be someone else’s. Suddenly, all those things I witnessed are not as priceless as I thought they were going to be. I feel cheated. It’s natural to feel that way.
Let me make something clear here. No matter what happened this year or in the future Roger Clemens was never going to pitch another game in a Yankees’ uniform. I honestly believe when he walked out the back doors of Yankee Stadium after the World Series Roger Clemens was a retired man. I also believe that if the Yankees had managed to re-sign Andy Pettitte to stay in New York Roger Clemens would have remained a retired man. Well, situations change and so do minds when those situations present opportunities.
With his best friend pitching in his backyard and Roger being the competitor he is the opportunity to keep his career going was too much. No other team in the major leagues could present Roger the opportunity to pitch at home where he could see his wife and kids every home stand. He can also leave the team any time his family has events he doesn’t and shouldn’t miss as a father. It’s the only situation that no one would have even thought about. For a man of Roger Clemens makeup the circumstance he now finds himself in is the best of all worlds. He can continue to pitch; continue to reach milestones and he can be at home with his family when it matters most.
If Yankee fans can get past their disappointment and frustration and put themselves in Roger Clemens shoes maybe they can understand him a little better. If Roger Clemens can take a step back and see what this whole situation with he, Andy and Astros looks like maybe he can understand the negative reaction to his decision.
One more thing. Roger Clemens is no traitor. Please, no death threats. He gave it his all every time he stepped on the mound for the Yankees. He honored his contracts. Financially, he owes the Yankees nothing. Morally, that’s between him and his conscience. Only the future knows what cap he wears into the Hall Fame. Will he get a “day” at the stadium or his number retired? Only time will tell. Let’s be happy somebody else didn’t have his services and commitment for the past 5 years. Otherwise, the Yankees might be a couple of championships short. It’s time to move on Yankee fans and let the healing begin.
PLAY BALL!
(c) 2004 Yankees Talk Shop @ ezboard.com
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