or are comparisons to old school bulldog types rendered moot b/c the rocket hasn't really had to bat?
― j.q. higgins, Monday, 3 May 2004 20:59 (nineteen years ago) link
― gygax! (gygax!), Monday, 3 May 2004 21:12 (nineteen years ago) link
― dyson (dyson), Monday, 3 May 2004 22:52 (nineteen years ago) link
clemens is a sociopath, and therefore a dud.
― John (jdahlem), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 02:08 (nineteen years ago) link
― David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 12:11 (nineteen years ago) link
― boldbury (boldbury), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 15:44 (nineteen years ago) link
One has to admire a future hall of famer that can find common ground between Red Sox, Mets and Yankees fans by their mutual hating of him.
― earlnash, Thursday, 6 May 2004 01:43 (nineteen years ago) link
― John (jdahlem), Thursday, 6 May 2004 01:53 (nineteen years ago) link
And regarding his batting, he already has 2 rbi and a sac bunt or two. The guy is not bad at handling the bat at all. He seems to get it in play most of the time.
― boldbury (boldbury), Thursday, 6 May 2004 01:55 (nineteen years ago) link
If you hate Clemens, you have to hate every Nolan Ryan-and-before power pitcher, they all did the same things. Has anyone ever been seriously injured by the guy?
― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Thursday, 6 May 2004 06:12 (nineteen years ago) link
― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Thursday, 6 May 2004 06:13 (nineteen years ago) link
i'm not seeing the logic. i hate clemens because he got fat and lazy his last two years in boston, not showing up for spring training then showing up 30 lbs overweight for the last two weeks. he was a middling pitcher his last 4 years in a red sox uni and complained when he was offered a contract that would only mildly overpay him instead of wildly overpay him. then he got himself back in shape and signed with a division rival solely for the cash. two years later he screws the jays over too and signs with the yankees where he suddenly relizes he was meant to be in pinstripes or some such nonsense. after much pomp and circumstance he announces what turns out to be a WWF-style "retirement" that lasted almost a whole off-season.
yeah i hate the guy but it has nothing to do with being a power pitcher. i measure a man by whether or not he does what he says he'll do, the rocket's word isn't worth shit to me.
― otto midnight (otto midnight), Thursday, 6 May 2004 12:10 (nineteen years ago) link
However, as is my custom, when a player comes to my team, all sins are forgiven and judgements are made based on what he does in an Astros uniform.
And what he is doing on the field right now is flat-out amazing.
Pre-2004: Dud2004: Classic
― boldbury (boldbury), Thursday, 6 May 2004 12:36 (nineteen years ago) link
― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Thursday, 6 May 2004 12:45 (nineteen years ago) link
― otto midnight (otto midnight), Thursday, 6 May 2004 13:08 (nineteen years ago) link
Clemens is a FAR better pitcher than Ryan, but he'll not be hanging around long enough to pass him in Ks.
― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 6 May 2004 13:10 (nineteen years ago) link
I wonder if Clemens thanks Dan Duquette for inadvertently putting the foot in his ass following his less-than-glorious departure from Fenway. And didn't Clemens break from his Blue Jay contract specifically to get traded / become a free agent?
Is it just me, or should the reps of Clemens and Bonds be swapped? If Bonds had 1/100th of Clemens' affability when it comes to schmoozing, he'd probably be just as oddly untarnished as the Model Rocket is, despite Clemens' list of wrongs putting Bonds' list to shame.
― David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 6 May 2004 13:16 (nineteen years ago) link
― John (jdahlem), Thursday, 6 May 2004 16:30 (nineteen years ago) link
7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K
7-0
― boldbury (boldbury), Wednesday, 12 May 2004 17:26 (nineteen years ago) link
Astros record pre-6/24*: 38-34 (52.7% win percent)Clemens stats pre-6/24*: 19 Starts, 10-2, 2.73 ERA
Astros record post-6/24*: 54-36 (60.0% win percent)Clemens stats post-6/24*: 14 Starts, 8-2, 3.41 ERA
*date of Beltran 3-way trade between KC, OAK and HOU
― gygax! (gygax!), Monday, 24 January 2005 22:47 (nineteen years ago) link
haha I should be banned from posting on a baseball board.
― bnw (bnw), Monday, 24 January 2005 22:58 (nineteen years ago) link
― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Monday, 24 January 2005 22:59 (nineteen years ago) link
― gygax! (gygax!), Monday, 24 January 2005 23:04 (nineteen years ago) link
2004 - (92-70) Attendance 3087872 --Their highest attendance ever and a big playoff appearance with their first playoff series win in franchise history.
2003 - (87-75) Attendance 2454241 --They finished a game out of first and yet their attendance was a half million tickets down.
The Astros got a great year out of Clemens last year for below what it should have cost for a pitcher of his stature. Take the money that he made last year and add it to what he is making this next season and it most likely evens out. Criminy if I could get a 13 million dollar raise at work, I sure would put in for one.
― Earl Nash (earlnash), Tuesday, 25 January 2005 00:37 (nineteen years ago) link
― Earl Nash (earlnash), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 01:43 (eighteen years ago) link
― mattbot (mattbot), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 01:49 (eighteen years ago) link
― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 04:44 (eighteen years ago) link
― David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 12:27 (eighteen years ago) link
― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Thursday, 25 January 2007 21:08 (seventeen years ago) link
― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 26 January 2007 14:38 (seventeen years ago) link
Kinda hard to argue now that he's not the best pitcher of the last 60 years.
― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Friday, 26 January 2007 14:45 (seventeen years ago) link
― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 26 January 2007 16:26 (seventeen years ago) link
-- gygax!
if only gygax! was still around to see how right he was in the end. ; (
― roger goodell (gear), Friday, 26 January 2007 18:16 (seventeen years ago) link
― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Friday, 26 January 2007 18:46 (seventeen years ago) link
Dude, as a Cubs fan you should remember that you have Wood/Prior/Zambrano/Clement... I'd take those 4
― milo z (mlp), Friday, 26 January 2007 18:47 (seventeen years ago) link
― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 26 January 2007 19:37 (seventeen years ago) link
5.09 ERA 1.42 WHIP
― Steve Shasta, Monday, 25 June 2007 18:40 (sixteen years ago) link
But he took one for the team yesterday! On the road! That's veteran leadership! I'd love to see Captain Pistfump try that shit!
― David R., Monday, 25 June 2007 18:50 (sixteen years ago) link
Also: lol @ his numbers before actually seeing an AL team.
― David R., Monday, 25 June 2007 18:53 (sixteen years ago) link
5.32 ERA
― Steve Shasta, Thursday, 28 June 2007 01:19 (sixteen years ago) link
no k vs. the orioles potent AND patient lineup.
yeah, the lineup w/ mel mora, jay gibbons and corey patterson.
HA!
― j.q higgins, Thursday, 28 June 2007 13:22 (sixteen years ago) link
HE MINIMIZED DAMAGE AND KEPT US IN THE GAME AND THAT IS ALL WE ASK OF HIM
― Andy K, Thursday, 28 June 2007 13:38 (sixteen years ago) link
HAHA
― jhøshea, Thursday, 28 June 2007 13:41 (sixteen years ago) link
Andy, I didn't know you were stumping for Torre's job!
― David R., Thursday, 28 June 2007 13:49 (sixteen years ago) link
I still think Yanks will win 85-88 in spite of Rog.
― Dr Morbius, Thursday, 28 June 2007 13:50 (sixteen years ago) link
They were on pace for that w/out Rajah, after their spurtable spurt against the lowest of the low in the AL & NL (and, um, Boston) (&, yeah, Clemens "helped" during that stretch, but minimally) - problem is, 88 wins will leave them at least 5 GB of the wildcard, & 10+ in back of the Red Sox.
(go O's!)
― David R., Thursday, 28 June 2007 14:06 (sixteen years ago) link
yes, this is the year Fistpump gets to be Fox playoff analyst.
― Dr Morbius, Thursday, 28 June 2007 14:11 (sixteen years ago) link
They're gonna need to separate Jeter & McCarver w/ some Popemobile-strength bullet-proof plastic.
― David R., Thursday, 28 June 2007 14:23 (sixteen years ago) link
why would they need to do that? to stop mccarver from planting giant sloppy kisses on jeter?
― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 28 June 2007 18:01 (sixteen years ago) link
Who in tarnation is captain pistfump?
― Will M., Thursday, 28 June 2007 18:05 (sixteen years ago) link
they're not way down at all! they're down a little bit but still way up compared to the 80s and early 90s.
― ciderpress, Friday, 20 August 2010 02:37 (thirteen years ago) link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MLB_HR_and_SB_rates.png
the little spike in 1987 is attributed to a juiced ball iirc, but other than that year we're still way above the rest of pre-steroid-era history
― ciderpress, Friday, 20 August 2010 02:39 (thirteen years ago) link
I guess I'm just looking at the HR leaderboards and wondering where the 50 homer guys are.
Also isn't this the year of the pitcher? ;-)
― no gut busting joke can change history (polyphonic), Friday, 20 August 2010 02:54 (thirteen years ago) link
That graph doesn't include 2010:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/bat.shtml
This year is the lowest HR/G since 1993. Also lowest TB since '93.
Probably a bit fluky though.
― no gut busting joke can change history (polyphonic), Friday, 20 August 2010 02:58 (thirteen years ago) link
CLEMENS RULES SNITCHES
http://natnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/opposition/roger_clemens_wife.jpg
― sanskrit, Friday, 20 August 2010 03:36 (thirteen years ago) link
-- acted like a dick to management and fans on the way out of Boston-- acted like a dick to management and fans on the way out of Toronto-- "retired" more times than Brett Favre, made a big drama out of it every time-- used his "retirements" an excuse to switch teams, and to come back on his terms, on his schedule
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Friday, 20 August 2010 10:19 (thirteen years ago) link
He better hope his case is more persuasive than the rug on his lawyer's head
― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Friday, 20 August 2010 11:23 (thirteen years ago) link
Stay strong, Clemens.
http://twitter.com/KFUCKINGP/status/21607687499
― Andy K, Monday, 23 August 2010 17:08 (thirteen years ago) link
last-ditch effort to push the hof clock back five years, eh?
― mookieproof, Monday, 20 August 2012 20:36 (eleven years ago) link
No idea where this is going, but 3.1 excellent innings in a 1-0 win.
http://atlantic.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=78728
― clemenza, Sunday, 26 August 2012 04:12 (eleven years ago) link
Bill Lee yesterday, Clemens today; I'd like to put in a request for either Luis Tiant or Ray Culp tomorrow.
― clemenza, Sunday, 26 August 2012 04:18 (eleven years ago) link
“Yes, that is sad news. I had heard over time that she was trying to get peace and direction in her life,” the 50-year-old Rocket’s statement read.“The few times that I had met her and her manager/agent they were extremely nice.”
Clemens had an extramarital affair with McCready for 10 years, from when she was age 15 to 25.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Tuesday, 19 February 2013 05:00 (eleven years ago) link
laws in Texas are kinda liberal, eh
― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 19 February 2013 15:13 (eleven years ago) link
he will be appearing on a college baseball panel at the Houston SABR convention. The "gahhhhh cheaters!" septuagenarians will not be pleased.
― images of war violence and historical smoking (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 3 June 2014 19:56 (nine years ago) link
I used to really like Clemens as I just love watching that style of power pitching but boy he seems like a dirt bag.
You are better off not knowing I suppose...
― earlnash, Wednesday, 4 June 2014 00:08 (nine years ago) link
Pinning down the Boyhood game:
https://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/which-astros-game-did-the--boyhood--characters-attend-164003306.html
I may be way off here, but I think the movie may rehabilitate Clemens somewhat in the public eye. Clemens, at this point, has been reduced to a symbol and a caricature. I know as I watched the scene myself, he was just Clemens again--it was the person, and it felt immediate.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 6 August 2014 21:43 (nine years ago) link
i saw clemens pitch against the chisox at a spring training game in 1986. he signed my baseball. other people who signed that baseball that day: jim rice & johnny pesky. it's in a cardboard box, slowly dwindling in value.
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 6 August 2014 22:59 (nine years ago) link
I would think in terms of Boston baseball lore, that would be a pretty desirable baseball. (I don't know--is Clemens still a villain there, or has enough time passed?)
― clemenza, Thursday, 7 August 2014 00:04 (nine years ago) link
enough time has passed. no i think you're probably right. and it's That Team, too - Rich Gedman's on there. Steve Lyons. Marty fucking Barrett.
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 7 August 2014 09:12 (nine years ago) link
reading this thread for the first time and, damn, y'all are harsh.
― Mr. Snrub, Thursday, 7 August 2014 17:26 (nine years ago) link
I have no beef with the Rocket though to be fair I was not a baseball fan in the 80s-90s so maybe it was different then. He made a good chicken in the Simpsons.
― Mr. Snrub, Thursday, 7 August 2014 17:28 (nine years ago) link
A comment by Bill James today--"I think (Teddy Higuera) probably had as many really great games as anybody in our lifetime did in a five-year period, not including the 1960s where you have Gibson and Koufax and Drysdale and others"--prompted me to look him up. I remember him as good, but I don't get this at all:
In '86, Clemens' breakthrough season, Clemens threw more innings than Higuera, gave up fewer runs, fewer earned runs, 50 fewer hits, fewer walks, fewer HR, and struck out 30 more batters. Higuera led in bWAR, though, 9.4 to Clemens' 8.8. I find this baffling. I mean, Clemens had one more HBP, three more balks, and eight more wild pitches, but how much does that count for? And Clemens pitched in Fenway.
― clemenza, Saturday, 19 November 2022 03:53 (one year ago) link
Sent this in (big surprise) as an "Ask Bill," which in turn ended up as a Tom Tango tweet.
So, @baseball_ref does an OUTSTANDING job in laying out WHY their WAR numbers are what they are. You may disagree as to the individual components, but they are extremely transparent about it.cc: @billjamesonline So, let's take it, step by step...https://t.co/ipZtAEsuaB pic.twitter.com/QA6Eqbh5l8— Tangotiger (@tangotiger) November 21, 2022
― clemenza, Saturday, 26 November 2022 20:41 (one year ago) link
"Tom Tango tweet"--will one day rival "toy boat" as a tongue twister.
― clemenza, Saturday, 26 November 2022 20:43 (one year ago) link
Clemons will always have the headwind of being a total asshole.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Saturday, 26 November 2022 20:44 (one year ago) link
*Clemens. Fuck.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Saturday, 26 November 2022 20:47 (one year ago) link
Read “Clemons” in the voice of Cajun man
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Sunday, 27 November 2022 05:00 (one year ago) link