Red Sox Discover the Reason Clemens Is the ‘Rocket Man’

At the end, after he had struck out a club record 16 and given up only four hits in eight blazing innings of his return to sold out Fenway Park, a crowd of 33,106 chanted “Roger, Roger, Roger” and booed the decision of Toronto Blue Jay Manager Cito Gaston not to let Roger Clemens work the final inning of a 3-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday.

Pumping his fist at times and displaying the overpowering mix of fastball and forkball with which he is producing his greatest season, Clemens turned a mixed reception to appreciative applause as the 13-year bellwether of the Red Sox staff made his first start in Fenway since his controversial departure as a free agent last winter.

Clemens, 35 on Aug. 4 and now 14-3 as the major leagues’ winningest pitcher, treated it casually later, but maybe the speed guns provided a measure of his emotions and adrenaline.

They had his fastball at 98 mph in the first inning and 97 in the eighth, when he struck out the side, including Nomar Garciaparra and Mo Vaughn for the third time. He walked off with his eyes cast in the direction of the Fenway skybox belonging to Red Sox chairman John Harrington, who had conducted the futile negotiations with Clemens last winter, offering no more than a two-year contract until the competition forced him to four.

By that time, the insulted Clemens was out the door, rejecting the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians in favor of a three-year, $24.75-million deal with the Blue Jays, including a $9.75-million signing bonus and a fourth-year option that could make the package worth $31.1 million.

“I never had a problem with the fans here, it was only management,” he said Saturday, adding it wasn’t Harrington he was looking at but his family.

He called it a special day but said, “I feel like I feel after every game. I was excited, but my level of play never changes. I make my next start in Texas, and I’ll feel the same way then.”

This one started in the late-afternoon shadows, but Vaughn said his former teammate didn’t need the twilight.

“I don’t think it mattered,” the Boston first baseman said.

“It could have started at 5 o’clock, 12 o’clock or 1 o’clock and it would have still been the same.

“It was like a super bout. Unbelievable. I lost the fight, but it was just fun stepping into the box and competing against him.

“This was a war I’ll always remember.”

As the conscience of Boston the clubhouse, Vaughn has seldom missed a chance to remind the front office it made a mistake in letting Clemens get away.

General Manager Dan Duquette watched from his private box Saturday and said the Red Sox made a legitimate offer but that length of contract was a definite concern.

“The industry experience with multiyear contracts for pitchers of that age isn’t terrific,” he said. “Roger is probably pitching better now than he ever has, but the last couple of years he didn’t approach this form.

“He’s motivated to have a great year and he’s in great shape. The question our fans have is why did he average only 10 wins a year over the last three or four years, and it looks to me like his simply in much better shape. The numbers speak for themselves, but there’s no guarantee he would have had those kind of numbers in Boston.”

Clemens was 40-39 since 1993 and 10-13 last year, but he also struck out 257 batters, the second highest total of his career, and was 6-2 with a 2.09 earned-run average over his last 10 starts, including 20 strikeouts in one start against Detroit, tying his major league record.

The evidence was there, but the Red Sox weren’t convinced. Toronto was. Clemens now has a league leading 1.66 ERA and is second to Randy Johnson in strikeouts. This was the sixth time in 1997 he had struck out 10 or more, and it bettered his own club record by one.

Boston starter Aaron Sele struck out 11, but came up a loser when Shawn Green hit a two-run homer in the seventh.

Clemens threw 114 pitches and said his adrenaline was fading and that he agreed with Gaston’s decision to quit after eight.

Said one Boston player: “Pretty smart, huh? Let your best pitcher leave, comes back, sells out the place, sticks it to you. Great.”

At one point during his last few seasons with the Red Sox, Clemens weighed 30 pounds more than he does now, but Bret Saberhagen, a former Cy Young Award winner in a long rehabilitation with the Red Sox after shoulder surgery, said:

“I don’t care how well you prepare or what kind of shape you get in over the winter, you still have to deliver, and he has.”

Said Toronto’s Pat Hentgen, the 1996 Cy Young winner:

“I’ve been fortunate to play with guys like Jimmy Key, Dave Stieb, Juan Guzman, but I’ve never seen anyone like [Clemens].

“What sets him apart is his approach from the neck up, the way he goes about his business. He takes pitching to a level I’ve never seen.”

In the process, Clemens seems headed for his fourth Cy Young Award. No one in Fenway’s first sellout of the season would disagree.

Was his game face a little tighter for his return?

“It’s the same every time he goes out there,” Hentgen said. “He’s an icon, an all-timer. He’s going to go down as one of best pitchers ever.”

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Rocket Booster

One of the reasons the Boston Red Sox did not re-sign Roger Clemens was they believed he was past his prime. But he is off to what is arguably the best start of his career. A look at Clemens’ totals this season with a game-by-game recap, compared to his totals after the first half in each full season of his career:

1997

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Date, Opp. IP H ER BB SO W/L April 2, Chi. 9 6 1 1 9 W April 9, at Chi. 5 2/3 2 0 2 7 W April 19, Texas 7 2 0 4 4 W April 25, Sea. 7 9 6 2 2 ND April 30, at K.C. 8 3 0 2 7 W May 5, Det. 9 5 1 0 10 W May 10, Minn. 7 8 4 0 14 W May 16, Cle. 7 6 1 3 4 W May 21, at N.Y. 8 4 1 3 12 W May 26, Texas 7 4 1 4 7 W May 31, at Oak. 8 8 2 3 4 W June 6, Oak. 8 5 0 2 8 W June 11, Sea. 7 7 4 3 5 L June 16, Atl. 9 8 3 0 12 L June 21, Balt. 7 4 0 2 8 ND June 26, at. Balt. 7 1/3 5 0 2 9 W July 1, Mon. 8 1/3 10 2 2 8 L July 6, N.Y. 9 4 0 1 10 W July 12, at Bos. 8 4 1 0 16 W

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YEAR-BY-YEAR, FIRST HALF

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Year IP H BB SO W-L ERA 1997 146 1/3 104 36 156 14-3 1.66 1996 131 1/3 123 61 134 3-8 4.04 1995 48 2/3 46 18 43 2-1 4.25 1994 126 90 47 131 7-4 2.86 1993 104 88 32 98 7-6 3.63 1992 140 109 37 120 9-6 2.31 1991 133 2/3 105 29 123 11-5 2.22 1990 135 2/3 114 35 120 12-4 2.59 1989 138 2/3 117 48 125 9-6 3.05 1988 152 122 28 186 12-5 2.42 1987 136 120 50 111 7-6 3.64 1986 136 2/3 97 35 146 15-2 2.48 1985 87 1/3 77 31 68 6-4 3.50

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NOTE: Clemens won the Cy Young Award in 1986, 1987 and 1991.