On The Occasion Of Roger Clemens’ Retirement

The news broke earlier tonight that Roger’s pitching days are likely over. I wrote more about this over at Babes Love Baseball, but essentially, Roger told the Astros’ front office that he’ll be kicking off the first year of his 10 year personal services contract with the team this coming 2008 season.

Yeah, I know- with Clemens, no retirement is safe. But this time, it feels different. It feels pretty certain. I think starting down the consultancy road is turning a big corner for Roger, and it would take something serious to reverse paths and go back to pitching. (”something serious” = Pettite coming back so the both of them can play in Houston?) After this season, with his injury issues, and his performance issues, I think Roger finally saw the writing on the wall: a power pitcher at the age of 45 is just not going to be able to push through the wall anymore. Curt Schilling reinvented himself as more of a finesse-type pitcher; I don’t see that at all in the cards for Roger.

So now is the part where I get a tad misty-eyed, which will confound most Red Sox fans who hate him. Because… Roger Clemens is a god to me. I’ve written before about how growing up as a baseball fan in Texas, I was raised by my father to revere the twin Texas boys Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens above all else. I was destined to love Roger Clemens, way back before he even played for the Red Sox, because of this:

The burnt orange trumps all- and make no mistake, Roger Clemens is way more burnt orange than he ever was Red Sox red or Yankee blue. He is as big of a Texas Longhorns homer as I am, maybe more– and that’s saying something. Roger pitched for my beloved University of Texas, and not only that, he won us a National Championship. For that, no matter what he has done or will do over the rest of his life, Roger Clemens has my undying devotion. The fact that he’s one of the best pitchers to ever play the game just cements him in my pantheon of sports heroes.

So unlike the vast majority of Red Sox fans who first loved Roger Clemens because he was a Red Sox player, I first started to love the Red Sox because Rogers Clemens was on the team. The love I have for the Red Sox today can be directly traced back to 1984-86, when he first started making waves in Boston. If there had been no Roger Clemens, I likely would never have become a Red Sox fan.

And like Craig Biggio, who I also grew up idolizing as a kid in Houston (and who has been the subject of my mushy ramblings on more than one occasion), I’ve never known baseball without Roger. As long as I can remember, Roger’s been on the pitcher’s mound, and Craig’s been roaming the field. And now I’m waving farewell to both of those guys in the same year. The thought of a new baseball season starting up in the spring without Craig and Roger breaks my heart in a way I don’t think I can even fully contemplate yet. How do you turn the page on an entire life watching baseball? Because Roger Clemens and Craig Biggio ARE baseball to me.

In a way, I guess it’s almost poetic to close this chapter in my life as a baseball fan this year. This summer was the summer of baseball for me- I left a high-stress, high-workload job, and essentially just traveled around going to baseball games all summer (78, to be precise). I was in Houston the weekend Craig hit his 3,000th- missed getting to see that milestone by one game (!), but I got to sit out at Minute Maid for the four games after that enjoy watching my childhood hero play again. And I was in New York, at Yankee Stadium for my first time ever, to see Roger pitch against Josh Beckett– passing the torch from my childhood hero to my adult favorite pitcher. I suppose if they have to exit stage right from the game of baseball, there’s really no better parting gifts I could have asked for than to be a part of their last hurrahs.

So if this is really it, if we never see Roger pitch again, I have to thank him for this:

Texas wins the Natonal Championship

And for this:

Roger gets 20 K’s

And for this:

Roger and Craig celebrate winning the first NL pennant for Houston

And even for this:

Roger Clemens vs. Josh Beckett showdown

I have to thank him for everything- even the Blue Jays years- because without Roger, baseball would not be as sweet for me. He helped me fall in love with the game, and that’s a gift of priceless value.

Thanks, Roger.