Clemens Can Call Them His Four Cy Youngsters

Roger Clemens really felt the pressure.

Not from teammates.

Not from fans.

Not from Boston General Manager Dan Duquette.

Nope, the pressure was from Clemens’ kids. He needed a Cy Young Award for each of them.

“I got one for Koby and Kory. I got one for Kasy, and I needed one for Kody,” he said after winning Cy Young No. 4 Monday. “It kind of takes the pressure off dad a little bit.”

Clemens, who in his first season with Toronto became the first pitcher to lead the AL in wins, earned-run average and strikeouts since Detroit’s Hal Newhouser in 1945, became the first AL pitcher to win four Cy Youngs. He got 25 of 28 first-place votes and three seconds for 134 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Clemens went 21-7 with a 2.05 ERA and a career-high 292 strikeouts in 264 innings, topping 11 wins for the first time since 1992 and reaching 20 for the fourth time. His ERA was the lowest among AL starters who won the Cy Young since Ron Guidry’s 1.74 in 1978.

He didn’t gloat that the Red Sox made a bad decision in allowing him to leave, saying again that Duquette was the cause of his departure but not the motivation for his season.

“That’s one guy I don’t want assessing my baseball abilities, especially sitting in front of a computer,” Clemens said.

Randy Johnson was second with two first-place votes and 77 points after returning from back surgery to lead Seattle back to the AL playoffs.

Clemens also won the award with the Boston Red Sox in 1986, 1987 and 1991. The only other pitchers to win four Cy Youngs were in the National League: Steve Carlton and Greg Maddux.

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AL Cy Young Voting

Voting for the 1997 American League Cy Young Award, with pitchers receiving five points for each first-place vote, three points for second and one point for third: *--*

Player 1st 2nd 3rd Tot Roger Clemens, Tor 25 3 - 134 Randy Johnson, Sea 2 21 4 77 Brad Radke, Min - 2 11 17 Randy Myers, Bal 1 1 6 14 Andy Pettitte, NY - 1 6 9 Mike Mussina, Bal - - 1 1

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