I dunno to me this is like Karl Malone signing with the Rockets. I'm not saying that Clemens has had a "dirty" effect on the Astros as Malone has had on the Rockets, it's just a personal thing for me. Clemens, arguably, can be called the dirtiest player in baseball. I can't stand watching this guy pitch, probably cause I hate the Yankees so much too ofcourse. But I still respected Petitte and Orlando and Mussina when they pitched. I just have never respected Clemens. So if Clemens was your Karl Malone, or lets just say your Karl Malone typ eplayer signed with your favorite team, what would you do? Should you cheer for him knowing it's wrong or do you just shun his starts knowing thats bad for the team? Other Karl Malone type players for me: Stockton ofcourse, heck how bout the whole '92-'03 Jazz Roster. Manny Ramirez Bill Romanowski Roger Clemens probably dozens more, this is just my short list
I would love to see Clemens come to Houston for a season (or two...) if he really still has what it takes - I think he does at least for one year. It would certainly help to wash that Yankees grime off the Texas Longhorn image I hold of him from my younger years.
It's called a joke .. If you actually think that he would hinge his coming back from retirement then you are as dumb as the Yankee fans that can't stand to believe that some players would have the audacity to choose to play in Texas over NY. They just can't fathom that idea and so they are using the Hummer joke to bash him. Come on ... It's obvious its a joke .. there have been rumors about him coming back for weeks.
To each their own, but most people in Houston feel differently then you do. If Roger comes here he will generate at least 10,000 more people in the stands every game he pitches at home.
i could really care less how dirty of a player he is if he is playing for us. as long as he wants to play for the right reasons, bring on the rocket!
Clemens to the Astros isn't Malone to the Rockets. Clemens hasn't had a rivalry with the Astros, and he's a local boy. The Hummer thing is about being wanted. Clemens has been playing baseball for a LONG time- you don't think he could afford a $60K Hummer if he really wanted one?
According to ESPN's Jayson Stark: "This deal is going to happen." He's going to play golf with Bagwell this week and take a trip with AP later. "Clemens has indicated to the Astros that it will not take a lot of money." He "will defer payment" if necessary.
Oswalt, Clemens, Pettite, Miller, Redding. Wow. If this goes down, the Astros will have the deepest rotation in the NL, and perhaps the deepest they've ever had. Any one of those first four could win 20. And the Pettite signing looks much, much better with the Rocket added as a bonus.
Kind of reminds me of when the Rockets got Sir Charles. Before he was a Rocket, I hated the Chuckster. Dirty player, classless, cocky. But once he was a Rocket he was our dirty, classless, cocky player. And I also saw firsthand how much he wanted to win more than anything else. Barkley became one of my favorite players. As a Yankee, I can't stand Clemens. But, as a Stro, I have a feeling he might become one of my all-time favorites.
I'm not much of a baseball fan although I always root for the home team (Astros)! All my Yankee co-workers and other baseball friends always tell me that the Astros don't have solid closers. What can I tell them to shut them up since I'm not sure who the closing pitchers are for the Astros?
Your friends must not follow baseball outside of New York either. The astros last year had 3 potential closers. Billy Wagner threw 100 mph consistently and finished with 40 plus saves. Octavio Dotel was the best setup man in baseball and will now be the new closer. Brad Lidge was our 7th inning guy and was lights out as well. The bullpen carried our team last team. They were unbelievable.
LOL. Good one. Man, just imagine Clemens in an Astro uni. That is so sweet. It would be no doubt one of the coolest things ever, and I would become a Clemens fan. Clemens coming to houston is nothing like Malone. Clemens is from the neighborhood. There was never a rivalry with the Yankees. I would love to see him in an Astros Jersey. Pettitte and Clemens! That would be the sweetest deal ever.
http://nypost.com/sports/sports.shtml By KEVIN KERNAN BOSS SOCKED BY ONE-TWO PUNCH December 14, 2003 -- NEW ORLEANS - Roger Clemens isn't sure if he is coming back - although it sure sounds like he could have one last fling with his hometown Astros. But he is sure of one thing. The Yankees blew it big time with his good buddy Andy Pettitte. As he has done throughout his Hall of Fame career, Clemens threw a high, hard one last night - this time at the Yankees and George Steinbrenner. And he didn't back down. Pettitte, he said, is a warrior and will be missed by the Yankees. Clemens said that if the Yankees had been aggressive with Pettitte from the start and showed him just a little love, the 21-game winner would still be in pinstripes today. "I'm really surprised with how [the Yankees] handled this," Clemens said after winning a lifetime achievement award from Baseball America. "They're going out having cheeseburgers with everybody else [a reference to Steinbrenner wooing David Wells], yet didn't do anything with Andy." The Yankees, and particularly Steinbrenner, went out of their way the likes of Gary Sheffield, wining and dining the free agent, yet didn't make a serious keeper offer to their own free agent Pettitte until Pettitte had come to the decision to go home to Houston. Clemens, like most people, was scratching his head at the Yankees' lack of urgency in the matter, adding, "They even gave Wells six and a half million, with incentives." Now, Clemens is being wooed by Pettitte and the Astros, including Jeff Bagwell. "Andy called me yesterday, I'm playing golf with Bags on Tuesday," Clemens said. "I'm sure everybody is going to give me their pitch. Andy is going to be a pitchman now too, but this is his time. "I haven't talked it over with anybody, but there are just so many factors involved right now," Clemens said. "I would have never foreseen this a few months ago at the end of the season, but obviously with Andy not being a Yankee, so in that aspect, things have changed. That's been the big difference." Steinbrenner opened a pitcher's Pandora's box by allowing Pettitte to get away. "When Andy and I talked a month ago, I kept telling him I thought it was going to be an easy decision for him, because I thought the Yankees would come hard after him and it would make it an easy decision for him and no one really called," Clemens said. "I think that's how the Astros got their foot in the door, and they made a couple of nice offers and they got inside the stadium, if you will." Clemens is still outside the stadium, but that could change at any time. He said he might not make a final decision for a while. "He needs some space," said his agent, Randy Hendricks, before looking at the positive aspects of returning to play for the Astros. "How could you not do it? He lives just eight miles from [Minute Maid Park]. And they have a really good team. Could you do it for eight more months at home for maybe a team that could capture a Florida Marlins magical ride?" Clemens and Pettitte have been working out together. As for wiggle room in his "99 percent" retirement plans, Clemens smiled and said, "There's a percent." "Things change," he said. "Andy and I are going on a trip together. I'll talk to him a little bit. I never expected this situation to come up. It's flattering. "This [decision] has a lot to do with circumstances you don't see. That's why you leave that percent open. But it will still come down to talking with my family. ... But this is Andy's time. He deserves this and gets the chance to lead a staff and I get the opportunity to watch him." Sure sounds like the Rocket could be watching again as a teammate.
This is bloody magnificent. Does anybody know that one Yankees board somebody posted links to in a Pettite thread? I would love to hear what they're saying about Clemens over there now.
I just searched through a couple of pages and found it in the Pettitte thread. http://forums.nyyfans.com/
Check this out. They have a thread called 2004 World Series- Astros vs Yankees. LOL. I sure do love seeing this on a Yankee's BBS. Yankee BBS
LOL...thanks a lot Uprising. I guess I overlooked it initially in that megathread; but they seem to have a lot of animosity towards Roger over this... ...and many more first-time experiences with jealousy from various Yankee fans here. I would love to see yet another blow to the confidence of the proudest team in baseball, let alone have Rocket in Houston.
