Clemens Getting Ahead of Himself

Boston General Manager Dan Duquette said Roger Clemens was “in the twilight of his career” when the Red Sox allowed the right-hander to leave as a free agent after the 1996 season.

Three Cy Young Awards, three 20-victory seasons and two World Series rings later, darkness still has not fallen on the future Hall of Fame pitcher.

Clemens, 39, won the 2001 American League Cy Young Award on Thursday, the sixth time the New York Yankee ace has won pitching’s most prestigious honor and the third time he has won since leaving Boston after a 10-13 season in ’96.

Does Clemens hold a grudge against the Red Sox? One comment during a conference call spoke volumes.

“I hope to get my 300th win in pinstripes, and I’m still leaning toward wearing a Yankee cap into the Hall of Fame,” said Clemens, who has played three seasons in New York but spent 13 years in Boston. “[Yankee owner] George Steinbrenner gave me the opportunity to pitch in some extremely exciting games.”

They don’t get any more exciting than Clemens’ last game. Squaring off against Arizona right-hander Curt Schilling in Game 7 of the World Series on Nov. 4, Clemens held the Diamondbacks to one run on seven hits in 61/3 innings, striking out 10 and walking one.

The game was tied, 1-1, when Clemens left. New York took a 2-1 lead on Alfonso Soriano’s eighth-inning homer, but Arizona rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth off closer Mariano Rivera for a thrilling 3-2 victory that closed one of the most dramatic World Series in recent history.

“Sometimes you get spoiled and you expect it to happen,” said Clemens, who helped the Yankees win World Series titles in 1999 and 2000. “When [Rivera] struck out the side in the eighth inning, I thought we’d do it again. Cy Young Awards are great, but they don’t compare to winning those championships and the memories you have from those times.”

Clemens, who went 20-3 with a 3.51 earned run average and 213 strikeouts this season, is the only pitcher to have won more than four Cy Young Awards and to have won it with three teams. Arizona’s Randy Johnson won his fourth Cy Young on Tuesday, matching Steve Carlton and Greg Maddux.

Clemens received 21 of 28 first-place votes, five second-place votes and two third-place votes from a panel of the Baseball Writers Assn. of America for 122 points.

Oakland’s Mark Mulder finished second with 60 points, and Seattle’s Freddy Garcia was third with 55 points.

At 39 years 31/2 months, Clemens is the third-oldest Cy Young winner behind Early Wynn and Gaylord Perry. Wynn was 39 years 10 months when he won the AL honor for the White Sox in 1959, and Perry was 40 years 2 months when he won the NL honor for the Padres in 1978.

“It’s definitely an ongoing battle every spring training, pushing your body to do the things you do,” said Clemens, whose fastball still hits 96 mph and is complemented by a nasty split-fingered fastball. “If you asked me 10 years ago, I wouldn’t have known I’d still be a power pitcher at this stage of my career.”

Clemens went 20 consecutive games without a loss, from May 26 to Sept. 25, going 16-0 during that span, and the Yankees were 28-5 in his 33 starts. But the moment Clemens will remember most occurred on the night his streak ended, a 4-0 loss to Tampa Bay on Sept. 25. It was New York’s first home game after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“I didn’t realize there would be so many [police] officers in the tunnel, and as I walked out of the clubhouse [before the game] I ran into all of them,” Clemens said. “They embraced me, shook my hand ... it kind of overwhelmed me. That’s something I’ll always remember, the hugs and how tight they shook my hand.”

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A Rocket Science

Pitchers who have won the Cy Young Award three or more times, led by Roger Clemens, who won his sixth Thursday:

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No. Pitcher Years 6 Roger Clemens 1986-87, 1991, 1997-98, 2001 4 Steve Carlton 1972, 1977, 1980, 1982 4 Greg Maddux 1992-95 4 Randy Johnson 1995, 1999-2001 3 Sandy Koufax 1963, 1965-66 3 Tom Seaver 1969, 1973, 1975 3 Jim Palmer 1973, 1975-76 3 Pedro Martinez 1997, 1999-2000

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AL Cy Young Voting

Voting for the 2001 American League Cy Young Award, with pitchers receiving five points for each first-place vote, three points for second and one point for third:

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Player 1st 2nd 3rd Total Roger Clemens, New York Yankees 21 5 2 122 Mark Mulder, Oakland Athletics 2 13 11 60 Freddy Garcia, Seattle Mariners 4 8 11 55 Jamie Moyer, Seattle Mariners 1 2 1 12 Mike Mussina, New York Yankees -- -- 2 2 Tim Hudson, Oakland Athletics -- -- 1 1

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