Rockets Red Glare....

Terry O'Keefe · Jun 9, 2007

Summary: Roger Clemens ended his long-awaited season debut with a victory, and the Yankees extended their win streak to five games with a 9-3 triumph over the Pirates on Saturday.

Clemens

• Hero: Clemens of course! His season debut was everything Yankee fans could ask for. His line was good enough (6 innings, 5 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks and 7 strikeouts) but it was the heroes' welcome and playoff atmosphere his presence created in Yankee Stadium that made the day truly special.

• Fantastic finish: Clemens finished his day with a flourish: He retired his last seven hitters, and ended the sixth with a dramatic strikeout of Ryan Doumit before walking-off to Elton John's "Rocket Man" being played through the stadium P.A.

• Figure this: The Yankees five-game winning streak is the longest since September 9-14 when they won six in a row.

• Quotable: "My biggest hurdle was my legs today. I just don't want to go backward with that. I expect to get stronger each time from here out." -- Clemens

-- ESPN.com news services
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Terry O'Keefe · Jun 10, 2007

Required reading for Yankee and Red Sox Fans!!

June 10, 2007, 12:22AM
Rocket reminds us he's special
Clemens pitches six innings in 2007 debut with Yankees and earns his 349th career victory

By RICHARD JUSTICE
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

His stuff was average, his control terrible. Another pitcher would have been gone by the third inning.

If nothing else, this game was a reminder of why Roger Clemens is special and why the Astros are going to miss him. They could use some of his competitive fire, some of that mean streak, too.

Sure his ego is monumental, and his agent is obnoxious. If the Astros focused on those things last winter, shame on them.

In the things that are really important, no one is better. No one ever. When it counts, Clemens shows up. On a day when he had so little, he still fought through six ragged innings at New York and got his 349th career victory Saturday as the Yankees pounded the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-3.

He did it with large doses of grit and determination and by moving the ball around, changing speeds, refusing to give in. Take notes, young pitchers.

"It's great to be back," he said. "It felt like old times."

Sure, you say you're sick of Roger Clemens. You say you're glad he's gone, that you didn't like the way he separated himself from his teammates. You thought his $17.4 million salary was ridiculously large.

You're right on many levels. Admit something else. You're mainly angry that he decided to pitch for a team other than your Astros. You feel jilted.

I feel your pain. I wish he'd stayed. I miss the big guy, too. I loved that he cared so much, that he always expected to win. That attitude is contagious.

"I've played with emotion my entire career, 24 years," he said. "I'm excited about what I do. It's part of my game."

A natural leader
It's no coincidence that the Astros had their two greatest seasons when Clemens was here. At Minute Maid Park, teammates would hear him screaming at himself between innings in the dugout. They'd see something akin to rage on the mound.

"You see how much he cares," Jeff Bagwell once said, "and you don't want to be the one who lets him down."

Clemens' first start of the season was a reminder why he'd had enough of the Astros. Had he allowed three runs in the first four innings the last two seasons, he would have been beaten.

No pitcher wasted more quality innings. The Astros scored three runs or less in 19 of his 51 starts in 2005-06. He failed to win 17 quality starts. All those low-scoring games wore on him, drained him physically as well as mentally. In the end, his decision to return to the Yankees probably wasn't all that difficult.

He wanted to be back with a team willing to spend whatever it took to win. He wanted days like Saturday when a roaring crowd of 54,296 showed up at Yankee Stadium to give the place a World Series atmosphere.

He huffed and puffed through the early innings, but retired the final seven Pirates in order and pumped his fist as he walked off the mound to a standing ovation to end the sixth. Teammates waited in the dugout to congratulate him.

"I'm going to savor this moment," he said. "I know what's ahead of us. It's a lot of hard work."

He turned a 4-3 lead over to the bullpen and watched as his new/old teammates padded the lead. Don't look now, but the Yankees have won five in a row and trail the Detroit Tigers by 5 1/2 games in the American League wild-card race.

Center of attention
Some of you resent how he called attention to himself by announcing his return on the public-address system at Yankee Stadium. That's exactly why you ought to like him.

He did what only the great ones do. He put the pressure squarely on his own shoulders.

He knows that if the Yankees don't make the playoffs, he'll look silly. He also knows that after calling attention to himself, he must continue to perform at a high level.

"I think all 24 guys were a little bit in awe," Alex Rodriguez said.

This pressure might be the incentive he needs to push himself through those grueling workouts. Say what you want about Roger Clemens, but he'll never be average.

"This is the start of something we hope will be very special for us the rest of the way, at a point in our season where we think we're making a statement about who we are," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.

Clemens made the usual statement about himself Saturday. Same as it ever was.
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Rockets Red Glare....

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