He got an awesome ovation after he finished the seventh ... with Miceli working in the bullpen, and his spot leading off the bottom of the inning, most of us fans knew that this was probably it. Had he gotten outta the 7th in maybe 3 pitches, he might have come back out... but he finished with close to 100. The ONLY time I'll be mad at Jimy for taking out a pitcher in that situation is if the pitcher has a chance to go for a no hitter/perfect game/20K. Overall... atmosphere at Minute maid was ELECTRIC.... as soon as Clemens got to 2 strikes on any batter, everybody was just salivating for the next K. Reminded me a lot of Randy Johnson's first start here. It will only get better as the season carries on....
Yeah, I was there. Like I said, I was about as far away from the action as I could be. Section 432, Row 17. Tickets were free though, so I can't complain. I loved how the crowd was into his every pitch. I just wish it was like that all the time.
I know it is early, but does anybody else have visions of Clemens starting in the All Star game? At least for tonight, he was dominant. While those called strike 3s on Bonds looked low, the Astros finally have a SP that has a rep that umpires have to respect. I have no problem with Clemens getting those calls after years of seeing pitchers like Maddux and Kevin Brown get theirs. Plus Ausmus and Clemens were smart enough to call the same pitch location on the second K to Bonds as the first. Very exciting night for the Astros organization and the fans, even those sitting in section 423, row 3.
Clemens pitched a hell of a game. I wasn't there, but this game just made you have that good feeling about being an Astros fan. Something I thought was interesting about the location of those pitches had to do with something I saw on tv the day before. I think it was on ESPN, one of the commentators sat and talked to Bonds(interview wasn't shown) and said that Bonds told him there was one spot that would get him everytime and it was the only spot he really had trouble getting to the pitch or seeing it well, and that spot was down and away just like both out pitches. It was most likely a coincidence that I saw that then watched Clemens mow Bonds down. I'm sure thats in the scouting report though too. Anyways....just thought I would share.
man, the best pitcher of this generation with 6 cy young's (though it should only be 5) versus the best hitter of this generation with 6 mvp's (though it could be 7 or 8). awesome. the two pitches weren't strikes but damn they were located nicely (and ausmus made them look good) so i'll take it.
