[Astros] Roger Clemens Appreciation Thread

[emjohn]

Giving it up to Clemens - loses game 2, looks really shaky in the loss, the comes in and guts it out to be our Game 4 winning pitcher. Dominated in those 3 innings. Forget first-ballot HOF, this guy goes into the sacred room of legends.

Evan

[TMac640]

definitely gotta give credit where credit is certainly due :D

was worried with clemens the way he pitched in game 2

but what a damn fine job by clemens in relief

hats off :)

[MadMax]

What can you say? The man is a legend. A living legend.

[candlegreen]

That must have been one for the ages, especially for Clemens. I heard in the postgame interviews that he actually pulled his son to the bullpen to help him warm up. How special is THAT for Roger and Kyle(I think that's the one he pulled down to catch). I thought that was one of the stories that the major sports sites and newspapers didn't recognize. That extra special dramatic clip to what I consider as the best game in Playoff history that didn't happen in the World Series. Having Roger, at 43 years old, spending that extra time with his son before he jogs out from the bullpen for only the second time in his career. For Roger to come back on 2 days rest (I think ESPN says 3, but it's 2, isn't it?) I have to imagine that if his son will become anything successful in the major leagues, this will be one of the moments that he'll never forget!


Thank you, Roger Clemens. That game literally brought tears to my eyes.

[Mr. Brightside]

Iced Out Eskimos would be proud.

[DaDakota]

We won the series 3-1...Andy, Roy and Roger all won......not a coincidence if you ask me.

DD

[topfive]

I don't know if you guys in Houston were getting the national broadcast, but a great Roger moment happened AFTER the game:

Immediately after Burke's homer, the network's interviewer (blonde, tight green sweater :) ) was seen trying to get Roger for a quick interview. Roger agreed, but grabbed Burke by the jersey and dragged him over to be part of it. The interviewer asked Roger a question, and he answered very quickly, then turned and walked away -- leaving Burke as the sole focus of the interview. Burke ended up answering several questions on national TV.

Roger knew that Burke may NEVER have another moment in the spotlight as big as this one and graciously manipulated the situation to ensure that Burke got most of the attention.

Now THAT is class. I'm a UT alum and have followed Roger since his college days, but I've never been more proud of him than I was after this game.

[akperez]

I don't know if you guys in Houston were getting the national broadcast, but a great Roger moment happened AFTER the game:

Immediately after Burke's homer, the network's interviewer (blonde, tight green sweater :) ) was seen trying to get Roger for a quick interview. Roger agreed, but grabbed Burke by the jersey and dragged him over to be part of it. The interviewer asked Roger a question, and he answered very quickly, then turned and walked away -- leaving Burke as the sole focus of the interview. Burke ended up answering several questions on national TV.

Roger knew that Burke may NEVER have another moment in the spotlight as big as this one and graciously manipulated the situation to ensure that Burke got most of the attention.

Now THAT is class. I'm a UT alum and have followed Roger since his college days, but I've never been more proud of him than I was after this game.

I saw that. He's definitely a class act.

[FrontRowJoe]

Interesting thing: Roger was quoted after the game saying that games like this stoked "the fire in your belly". If I were on another team, I would be very worried about facing a fired-up Roger Clemens for the rest of these playoffs. The man is a legend, plain and simple. I thought so before he came to Houston, and now I'm CERTAIN of it.

[topfive]

Interesting thing: Roger was quoted after the game saying that games like this stoked "the fire in your belly". If I were on another team, I would be very worried about facing a fired-up Roger Clemens for the rest of these playoffs.

I thought about that. Roger's been in a bazillion playoffs and may not have that fire automatically there every time. But a dominant relief appearance in a critical game is the kind of thing that could shake him out of any complacency he may have had. I expect Roger to be at his best from here on out.

[Harrisment]

If Roger Clemens ever starts a cult I'm following him all the way to the kool-aid stand!! :D

[across110thstreet]

where is the Brad Ausmus appreciation thread?

[Xerobull]

The only thing that would have topped his relief would have been him hitting a game-winning HR...

The man is friggin incredible.

[topfive]

where is the Brad Ausmus appreciation thread?

Good question. And don't forget we came *this* close to needing a Luke Scott appreciation thread.

What if Scott's ball had been fair -- a walkoff division-title-winning homer. That might have gone a long way toward solving that lack-of-confidence problem.

[tim562]

I don't know if you guys in Houston were getting the national broadcast, but a great Roger moment happened AFTER the game:

Immediately after Burke's homer, the network's interviewer (blonde, tight green sweater :) ) was seen trying to get Roger for a quick interview. Roger agreed, but grabbed Burke by the jersey and dragged him over to be part of it. The interviewer asked Roger a question, and he answered very quickly, then turned and walked away -- leaving Burke as the sole focus of the interview. Burke ended up answering several questions on national TV.

Roger knew that Burke may NEVER have another moment in the spotlight as big as this one and graciously manipulated the situation to ensure that Burke got most of the attention.

Now THAT is class. I'm a UT alum and have followed Roger since his college days, but I've never been more proud of him than I was after this game.


Yeah, I saw that. Completely a classy move. They grabbed Roger and asked him something (I forget) then as soon as he answered, he pointed at Burke and said "How bout that kid" and directed all the attention to Burke. Man, that was awesome.

[rockets-#1]

Iced Out Eskimos would be proud.

haha How do you know about IOE? I went to the same high school as them.

Roger Clemens is the man. I could give a s*** about the Asstros, but I like seeing Rocket suceed.

[Svpernaut]

Don't forget Dan Wheeler guys... bases loaded with 1 out and he gets us out of it. By far the gutsiest pitching performance of the day. The looked like he was going to vomit when he got the K for the second out, and I was right there with him.

[No Worries]

where is the Brad Ausmus appreciation thread?
Well I think we can find a Brad Ausmus over- or under- appreciation thread somewhere in the not too distant past.

[Furious Jam]

Where would you rank Rocket on this list?

Michael Jordan
Babe Ruth
Muhammad Ali
Jim Brown
Wayne Gretzky
Willie Mays
Carl Lewis
Wilt Chamberlain
Hank Aaron
Jackie Robinson
Ted Williams
Magic Johnson
Bill Russell
Joe DiMaggio
Joe Montana
Larry Bird
Lou Gehrig
Mickey Mantle
Sandy Koufax
Julius Erving
Nolan Ryan

[msn]

Where would you rank Rocket on this list?

Behind:
Michael Jordan
Babe Ruth
Muhammad Ali
Wayne Gretzky
Willie Mays
Magic Johnson
Bill Russell
Joe DiMaggio
Joe Montana
Larry Bird
Lou Gehrig
Mickey Mantle
Sandy Koufax

Ahead of:
Julius Erving
Nolan Ryan
Jim Brown
Carl Lewis
Wilt Chamberlain
Hank Aaron
Jackie Robinson
Ted Williams

...but I'm admittedly guessing on some of these. Additionally, I'm thinking only in terms of postseason or "big events".

[MadMax]

on your list..i'd have him behind Jackie Robinson and Ted Williams.

but i'd have him ahead of Sandy Koufax

[Furious Jam]

i'd have him ahead of Sandy Koufax

You're obviously not Jewish. :)

[Blatz]

haha How do you know about IOE? I went to the same high school as them.

Roger Clemens is the man. I could give a s*** about the Asstros, but I like seeing Rocket suceed.



http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?p=1965246#post1965246

Clever, you put an extra s in Astros

[MadMax]

You're obviously not Jewish. :)

no..but my favorite person ever is. does that count? ;)

[NJRocket]

Best pitcher of all time......period.

Can't compare him to basketball players....thats a sport where 1 guy can carry an entire team....or to a boxer where there is no team.

He is just simply the best pitcher of all time.

[msn]

no..but my favorite person ever is.
Mine, too.

[Groogrux]

no..but my favorite person ever is. does that count? ;)

Rod Carew? ;)

[solid]

What an honor to witness anything Roger Clemons does on a baseball field. One of the great baseball pitchers of all time and a class person. One of the few pitchers in the same league as Nolan Ryan. And the Astros had them both.

[candlegreen]

I don't know if you guys in Houston were getting the national broadcast, but a great Roger moment happened AFTER the game:

Immediately after Burke's homer, the network's interviewer (blonde, tight green sweater :) ) was seen trying to get Roger for a quick interview. Roger agreed, but grabbed Burke by the jersey and dragged him over to be part of it. The interviewer asked Roger a question, and he answered very quickly, then turned and walked away -- leaving Burke as the sole focus of the interview. Burke ended up answering several questions on national TV.

Roger knew that Burke may NEVER have another moment in the spotlight as big as this one and graciously manipulated the situation to ensure that Burke got most of the attention.

Now THAT is class. I'm a UT alum and have followed Roger since his college days, but I've never been more proud of him than I was after this game.


Anyone have a video clip of that?

[Deckard]

Yeah, I saw that. Completely a classy move. They grabbed Roger and asked him something (I forget) then as soon as he answered, he pointed at Burke and said "How bout that kid" and directed all the attention to Burke. Man, that was awesome.
I saw that as well. Total class. I hope we see a bronze statue of Roger, someday in the future, at the Juice. He's already earned it.

What a game!!

[JunkyardDwg]

Behind:
Michael Jordan
Babe Ruth
Muhammad Ali
Wayne Gretzky
Willie Mays
Magic Johnson
Bill Russell
Joe DiMaggio
Joe Montana
Larry Bird
Lou Gehrig
Mickey Mantle
Sandy Koufax

Ahead of:
Julius Erving
Nolan Ryan
Jim Brown
Carl Lewis
Wilt Chamberlain
Hank Aaron
Jackie Robinson
Ted Williams

...but I'm admittedly guessing on some of these. Additionally, I'm thinking only in terms of postseason or "big events".

I don't think you can put Clemens behind anybody on that list for the same reason you can't put him ahead of them. You can't really rank the all-time greats...it's too debatable and indefinite.

[v3.0]

I have to admit, I wasn't a big Roger Clemens fan in the beginning (in his Red Sox, Blue Jay, Yankee days). I recognized the talent and greatness, but something about him rubbed me the wrong way. I thought he was a smug opportunist who looked for himself more then the team yet played the PR game enough to not get criticized on that. I do remember the time when we were trying to get him while he was a Blue Jay and him and Gerry Hunsicker got in a war of words through the media about Clemens' contract extension demands. Hunsicker publicly said that the extension demands were ridiculous or something to that effect and Clemens blasted back through his agents that he will never deal with that current Astros management or something to that effect (time heals all wounds I guess).

I now concede that I was wrong and that the guy is the ultimate gamer. My hat's off to him.

PS. Just wonder what uniform he'll wear when he goes to Cooperstown (I think I remember him saying probably the Yankee pinstripes).

[Zac D]

Asstros

Clever. Think of that yourself, did you?

Roger is pretty awesome.

[rockets-#1]

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?p=1965246#post1965246


Ha, beautiful!! Too bad I missed that thread. To the posters dissing IOE in that thread: it's mostly a joke; they're obviously not serious. Go IOE. Go MHS. Go Roger Clemens.

[HayesStreet]

I have to admit, I wasn't a big Roger Clemens fan in the beginning (in his Red Sox, Blue Jay, Yankee days). I recognized the talent and greatness, but something about him rubbed me the wrong way. I thought he was a smug opportunist who looked for himself more then the team yet played the PR game enough to not get criticized on that. I do remember the time when we were trying to get him while he was a Blue Jay and him and Gerry Hunsicker got in a war of words through the media about Clemens' contract extension demands. Hunsicker publicly said that the extension demands were ridiculous or something to that effect and Clemens blasted back through his agents that he will never deal with that current Astros management or something to that effect (time heals all wounds I guess).

I now concede that I was wrong and that the guy is the ultimate gamer. My hat's off to him.

To put that all in perspective:

Clemens was a unanimous selection for his second straight Cy Young Award. He was named first on all 28 ballots after going 20-6 with a 2.65 earned run average and 271 strikeouts. The ERA, win and strikeout totals led the league as he joined Sandy Koufax, Lefty Grove and Grover Alexander as the only hurlers to win the pitching "Triple Crown'' in back-to-back years. Clemens was unbeaten in his last 22 starts and was the biggest reason that the Blue Jays made a late-season run at a wild card berth. He earned his sixth ERA title -- second-most in history to Grove's nine -- and went over the 3,000 mark in career strikeouts.

The Astros complained at the time that he wanted more than Kevin Brown, who was three years younger. Looking back that was kinda funny considering Brown since vs Clemens since.

[Austin70]

He showed total class after the game and that reporter pulled his shirt to come over for an interview, he pulled Burke with him. Then he said a couple of sentences and told her to talk to the kid, class.

It reminded me of Hakeem when the won the first title, he sat on the scorer's table and watched everyone celebrate.

[Miguel]

I just saw the Clemens/Burke moment at the end of the game. Clemens totally pulled a fast one on Erin Andrews. Hah.

[The Ming Dynasty]

Where would you rank Rocket on this list?

Michael Jordan
Babe Ruth
Muhammad Ali
Jim Brown
Wayne Gretzky
Willie Mays
Carl Lewis
Wilt Chamberlain
Hank Aaron
Jackie Robinson
Ted Williams
Magic Johnson
Bill Russell
Joe DiMaggio
Joe Montana
Larry Bird
Lou Gehrig
Mickey Mantle
Sandy Koufax
Julius Erving
Nolan Ryan

Forget Clemens, Where The F*** is Hakeem?

JK about Clemens (he definitely should be on the list), but seriously...where's Hakeem? :confused: