Retirement can be a funny thing. When a plastic surgeon retires, for example, that’s it. No more boob jobs, facelifts, or tummy tucks. They sit home, collect some money and dedicate hours to become crossword puzzle aficionados.
Yet when many star athletes announce their retirement, it’s like a Georgetown student saying they aren’t going to drink for a while after spring break because they need to recover … right. Their attempt might work briefly, but for elite superstar athletes, they really don’t mean “I retire” at all when they say it. What they should say instead is, “I am going to go spend more time with my family, play some extra golf, open a business or two, until my love for the game calls me back.”
For Roger Clemens, that occurred three months after what was supposed to be his final pitch. As the Rocket strolled off the mound after blowing a third strike by Luis Castillo in the seventh inning of Game four of the World Series, he said he was done. The Florida fans gave him a standing ovation as did the Marlins players. For all we knew, the six-time Cy Young winner was leaving the game on his own terms … until his hometown team came knocking.
As soon as Houston signed Andy Pettite, Clemens’ closest bud, rumors started to fly about the Rocket re-launching for the home town ‘stros. As a New York fan, I was just getting over the loss of Pettite, who was to the Yanks what Phil Simms was to the Giants. I, as I suppose most Yankee fans would have agreed at the time, didn’t think (or want to believe) he was coming back. The time just seemed right for him to leave the game-in Yankee pinstripes.
Still, there was never a doubt that the fire and talent was still in him. His fastball consistently hit 94 and 95 miles per hour last year at the ripe age of 41 and he still instilled fear in hitters who crowd the plate. Just ask Manny Ramirez who ridiculously objected to a high fastball over the inside corner of the plate in the ALCS. If Ramirez charged, my bets were on the Rocket.
So Clemens had another great year, going 17-9 while collecting his 300th career victory. The simple question is: what more does he have to prove? The answer: nothing. But Roger being Roger, he simply couldn’t turn down an ideal situation. Pitching home games a mere eight miles from his family’s house, headlining a staff with his best friend, and collecting another cool $five mill was just too good to turn down. On any given game day, Clemens can play a round of 18 in the morning, watch his sons play youth ball in the afternoon, head to the ballpark around 5 and throw an absolute masterpiece, and get home in time to spend some between-the-sheets time with the beautiful Mrs. Clemens. Not too shabby.
The fear though is that this year will not turn out as hoped-and Roger will exit with a whimper. The ‘stros starting four of Clemens, Pettite, Oswalt, and Miller is pretty good, but injuries do happen. Could Clemens carry Houston to a World Series appearance? Possibly … but most likely not. We all know too well what happened to MJ after his second return to the game. The same Bryon Russell who got shook out of his shorts as Jordan knocked down the winning jumper for the Bulls’ sixth championship in the ‘90s, was now dribbling circles around No. 45. That’s like Roger Cedeno hitting three homers off of Clemens in one game. No one wants to see that.
