I will be interested to see the terms of the deal when they come out. I have read that Houston were making provisions for Clemens not having to travel with the team if he is not pitching in a certain series etc. etc.

I can see some clubhouse drama ahead...

I've heard 1 year $5M. No details on perks though.

He's very arguably the best pitcher of the last 50 years, but in many ways I'll never really understand Roger Clemens. After noisily and repeatedly assuring the baseball world that he was retiring, Clemens suddenly changes his mind (for a one-year contract that sure appears to be an incredibly cheap $5 million). As Mike says, the story is that the Astros' signing of Pettitte was what convinced the Rocket to take down his spikes -- call me skeptical, but if Andy has re-upped with the Yankees, I'm pretty sure Roger wouldn't have come back to the Bronx.

Clemens clearly wasn't ready to quit, and in that respect, he's no different from countless other pro athletes who, despite all their records, awards and rings (and Clemens has plenty of all three), can't bring themsalves to admit when it's over. Roger should keep in mind that few un-retiring athletes have ever found more success and satisfaction simply by delaying the inevitable. The Astros should keep that in mind too, before they start print playoff tickets.

Aside from the remarkable fact that Wade Miller is now a #4 starter, this decision also means that Clemens-haters (and they are legion) will at least have the satisfaction of knowing that in one respect, one of their lifelong dreams about Roger Clemens is about to come true. He's going to have to come to the plate.

The bete noire of Batter's Box

In the Rocket's Last Glare? thread, I thought Roger would wrap himself in the Olympic flag this year. Give Richard Griffin credit; he called this shot.

Despite the migration of superstars to the AL, there are going to be some dandy divisional races in the NL next year, and the Central just got a lot more interesting.

The score will have the news conference at 3pm ET.

I can see some clubhouse drama ahead...

I don't. It's Roger Clemens, not some scrub. His preparation is considered among the best in baseball. I don't see anyone having a problem with it on that team. When the choice is between a HOF pitcher for part of the season, and potentially the postseason, or not having that pitcher at all the choice is pretty easy.

can't bring themsalves to admit when it's over

Well, he's still highly effective and a lot of people wondered why he would retire if he was pitching so well. He's still probably one of the 20 best starting pitchers, and will benefit nicely from the upgrade from Jeter to Everett.

He's going to have to come to the plate

I've never bought into this. Sure he might get hit, but I don't think he'd pitch any differently because of it. He'll just take his base and move on if he is hit.

I thought Roger would wrap himself in the Olympic flag this year

Perhaps he would have, but with the US out we won't know.

I do admire the pitcher a lot, but Clemens the person, is someone in my no-respect, zero admiration trash bin.
The secret clause in his toronto contract is at the top of " i can stomach this " list ( together with Bush-Blair WMD fiasco ).
And this unretirement somehow looks like cheating, or letting down his last team...
but prostitutes do that all the time don't they?

And this unretirement somehow looks like cheating, or letting down his last team

I'm certainly no Clemens apologist, but he was a free agent and entitled to sign wherever he wanted. It's not like he somehow used a loophole to escape from an existing contract.

I can't say I'm really surprised to see Clemens come back another year. The guy can still pitch better than 90% of major league starters out there and he's in his home state. And $5 million may seem like peanuts compared to his last contract but it's nothing to sneeze at, even for Roger Clemens. I don't the Astros are expecting a Cy Young season but they are expecting a solidified rotation and a good marketing draw. If nothing else this should be a lot of fun for fans of the Astros...now if only their offence was just a bit better.

Hmm...now Clemens has to bat at least twice every five days? Can't wait for the first Astros-Mets series at Shea. Heads up, Roger!

He's very arguably the best pitcher of the last 50 years, but in many ways I'll never really understand Roger Clemens. After noisily and repeatedly assuring the baseball world that he was retiring, Clemens suddenly changes his mind (for a one-year contract that sure appears to be an incredibly cheap $5 million). As Mike says, the story is that the Astros' signing of Pettitte was what convinced the Rocket to take down his spikes -- call me skeptical, but if Andy has re-upped with the Yankees, I'm pretty sure Roger wouldn't have come back to the Bronx


Jordan,

The oft repeated story I heard about Clemens last year was that he wanted to pitch in the 2004 Summer Olympics. Which he would not have been able to do if under contract to a MLB team. So he retired, with an eye on coming back to organized baseball after playing in Athens.

IMO, he's still got plenty of gas left in the tank. Them power pitchers age like fine wine.

jc

Wasn't there some sort of an expensive car (Hummer?) that Rocket man was presented with by the Yanks? I hope they ask for it back.

Hmm...now Clemens has to bat at least twice every five days? Can't wait for the first Astros-Mets series at Shea. Heads up, Roger!

As a Yankee, he played a series at Shea every year.

Al: Clemens went out of his way, as I recall, to try and make sure he DIDN'T pitch in any Yankees-Mets series.
August 10-12 is the tentative scheduling for the Astros in Shea and even if there aren't any fireworks, it would be interesting to see him pitch in NY for the first time.
The All-Star Game is also in Houston this year, wonder if he will pitch in it...

didn't shawn estes throw behind him at a series at shea a couple of years ago, or did he miss someone else? my mind fails me at times ...

Yes, it was Estes, I think in 2001, the year after the Subway Series when he plunked Piazza. Estes had one shot at Roger and he missed.

I'm gonna agree with some comments here that dissed Clemens the guy and not the player. He is an amazing athlete and pitcher, no question. I'm just tired of guys going through the fanfare of retiring, getting standing o's and all of that drama as they wind down the season, just to come back the very next year, and do this process a couple more times before it's finally over. It just doesn't seem dignified, and i feel that we as fans just get jerked around. All I ask is that you don't say you're retiring until you're absolutely sure, then I'll be the first to congratulate you on your accomplishments. i don't know, maybe this is making a mountain out of a molehill kind of thing, but it really bugs me.

All I ask is that you don't say you're retiring until you're absolutely sure, then I'll be the first to congratulate you on your accomplishments.

Once again, I don't want to sound like a Clemens apologist. I think Plan A was pitching in the Olympics and Plan B was entertaining the idea of pitching in Houston.

There was almost no way that Plan A was going to fall through... except that it did.

Plan B became more enticing when (a) his buddy Milhouse signed with the Astros and (b) the Astros seemed to (though it's all speculation at this point) make some concessions on when he'd have to travel and when he could stay home.

I do agree that these pretend retirements are kind of cheesy, but his retirement announcement carried with it a huge unspoken cautionary asterisk and basically everyone knew it.

Well, I'm among the folks who actually likes Clemens. I don't like him playing for the Yanks any more than I liked it when Cone or Key played for them but the whole contract deal in Toronto was bigger than just him...there was a lot of blame to go around.

Anyway, I'm sort of skeptical about the Mets thing. I figure the media will be way more intrested in it than the Mets will be. How mad can you be about something which happended 3-4 years ago and for which you already had one shot to get payback on. Plus, you have to remember, you may get an AB or two to throw at Roger, but he gets 6 innings or so to throw at your guys. Best to let it go, IMO.

I'm with Cluck on this one, it's reasonale that roger couldn't have been expected to say "I'm retiring UNLESS we miss the Olympics and my good bud signs with my hometown team"...I don't really figure that for dishonesty.

Oh, and there's no way he's done...he'll be better than half the pitchers in the game 2 years from now.

http://bbfl.scottlucas.com
For what little it's worth, Clemens has never been hit by a pitch in 34 career plate appearances (regular and post-season). He has plunked 141 batters in his career, 13th all time, but that's a function of his longevity. He's never led the Majors in hit batsmen in any season.

Unless there's an incident during a game, I can't see any pitcher gunning for him, for the purely mundane reason that you don't needlessly put a bad hitter on base.

If you blame Roger for inciting 'goodbye' ovations, then you have to do the same for Edgar Martinez, who has been 'probably retiring' for about three Septembers in a row now. As Chuck said, everyone knew the fires were still burning, we just didn't know whether he'd listen to them.
I don't mind being a Clemens apologist - the guy is an amazing pitcher, and while he certainly doesn't seem like the greatest guy in the world, I can be selfish and arrogant sometimes too (can't we all?)