September 14, 2005

Clemens' Mother Dies Today, He Will Pitch Tonight To Honor Her:
Love him or hate him, Roger Clemens is a gamer. His mother passed away earlier today and he will be playing tonight and dedicating the game to her memory.

posted by fenriq to baseball at 05:26 PM - 28 comments

I should note that I'm not a Clemens fanboy but I will be pulling for him tonight.

posted by fenriq at 05:27 PM on September 14, 2005

I'll admit I'm the very last to give Roger any credit. Which is why I saw this and thought, "Let me get this straight. He's going to honor his dead mother by going out and padding his stats? His mom wants him to chase Warren Spahn's wins mark? Alright, then." He won't be 100%, and the Astros are a game and a half out. Switch off with Pettite, and make some funeral arrangements. Be a man, fergodsake. Give little Kody, Karlo, Krusty and Kracky a good example of how to be there for your family. He's going to give 800 interviews tonight, and I'll give the over-under on the number of times he uses the words "we" or "team" at, oh, zero.

posted by chicobangs at 06:02 PM on September 14, 2005

Good for him. The day my mom dies, you can bet whatever passion I'm into will be thoroughly dedicated to her. Save grieving for once you've gotten a monster out of your system.

posted by charlatan at 06:17 PM on September 14, 2005

Give little Kody, Karlo, Krusty and Kracky a good example of how to be there for your family. Christ, chico. It's his mom. He can grieve her however he damn well wants. And yes, I know (in advance), that it's "all about what Roger wants". Is this about padding his stats? Or is it a way to take his mind off his grief? Everybody copes their own way, though it's got to be easy to judge him sitting before your keyboard, using the content of his interviews for evidence.

posted by rocketman at 06:42 PM on September 14, 2005

I know that when I die I would want my kids to take care of their duties to whatever teams they are on, be it sports or business. Roger may not mention the words "we" or "team" tonight in any of those 800 interviews, but I don't think that anyone on the Astros will mind if he doesn't. It's his night to honor the woman that helped him get to where he is, and it's his night when it comes to his teammates doing what teammates do - support each other. Maybe he'll even have an angel in the outfield to help him get a W. Hooray for him, and condolences to the whole Clemens family. Do your Mom proud Roger!

posted by nymutt at 06:49 PM on September 14, 2005

If roger says it's about his mom, I believe him. The man simply does not lie.

posted by justgary at 07:17 PM on September 14, 2005

The day my father died, I made sure my newspaper was put to bed before I left for his house three hours away. I missed his passing by 20 minutes, and I wouldn't change it. My responsibilities were to my community and my staff, and my father would have done the same. I don't like Clemens either, but maybe his momma would've wanted him on the mound instead of crying at home.

posted by wfrazerjr at 07:19 PM on September 14, 2005

The point is, even though mothers are great- love us and support us everyday, we have to go on. Through all the grief, and agony, eventually we have to live our lifes. Of course he isnt doing this in a negative way- if he felt this was disrespectful- im sure he would have the sense not to do it. Besides, you can use Mrs. Clemens death as an inspiration. I wouldnt be suprised to see Roger pitch well, and help get the Astros into the playoffs tonight.

posted by redsoxrgay at 07:55 PM on September 14, 2005

This guy deserves the utmost credit. To go and play a GAME when your mother dies takes strength and dedication. He has a 21 strikeout night in him still I hope he gets it out tonight.

posted by ELWAY_FAN at 08:08 PM on September 14, 2005

Like I said, I'm the last to give that selfish personal-stat-obsessed little manchild credit. But. That said, my sincere condolences go out to the entire Clemens family. Even Roger.

posted by chicobangs at 08:13 PM on September 14, 2005

I'm surprised at some of the responses here. Like Rocketman said, He can grieve her however he damn well wants. Show some class by saving your snide comments for another day.

posted by dusted at 09:20 PM on September 14, 2005

I'm surprised at some of the responses here. Like Rocketman said, He can grieve her however he damn well wants. Show some class by saving your snide comments for another day. For some reason, I was not able to italicize the above response fro dusted. Just wanted to point out that dusted got in his snide comment, lol.

posted by panteeze at 09:32 PM on September 14, 2005

Let Roger grieve how Roger wants to grieve. His mom would probably have wanted him to pitch. Also, what is wrong with being obsessed with your own stats. If you take of your stats, they take care of you. To the tune of 18 million a year.

posted by erkno11 at 09:34 PM on September 14, 2005

6.1IP 5H 1R 4K and his team finally gave him some run support tonight. when roger was trying for his 300th win his mom followed him around the country, with her oxygen tank in tow, so she could be there to see it. unfortunately she was too sick to make it to the stadium when he did finally get it. i know it's rather cliché to say that his mom would have wanted him to pitch tonight but, i think she probably would have.

posted by goddam at 10:07 PM on September 14, 2005

While I undertstand where you are coming from with your comments, Chicobangs. I think its better to offer our prayers and sympathy and leave the matter alone. Each person grieves in his/her own way!.

posted by daddisamm at 11:46 PM on September 14, 2005

On a less emotional note, Roger has no reason to retire now- his whole reason the first time was that he wanted his mom alive to see his actual HoF induction (obviously it was a foregone conclusion he would make it). Now? Well jeez, he's second on the K list to only Nolan Ryan, and has an outside but hardly unimaginable chance to reach 400 wins and 5,000 strikeouts. He's 43 years old, but you could never tell that by watching him- his 1.77 ERA is insanely low for this era, and with more run support he'd be cruising to his eighth Cy Young right now. I wouldn't be surprised if he can still put it up when he's 47; I'm sure he's thinking, "I can pitch until I'm Nolan's age...", and why not? If nothing else, I suspect he wants to keep pitching until Randy Johnson retires or is no longer a threat to take his #2 strikeout position. Sure, a lot can change in a couple of years, but he's more like Nolan Ryan in his strength and longevity than anyone I've ever seen. I can't see any reason besides a fluke injury that he'd be unable to pitch another 3 years. We may hate the guy for a variety of reasons, and he may be dumb as a bag of rocks, but I think we can pretty much say that he is simply the greatest pitcher who ever lived. The numbers he finishes with will be staggering. I'm not even joking when I suggest they may have to rename the Cy Young award after him once he finally retires.

posted by hincandenza at 03:34 AM on September 15, 2005

Yes - we have been, uh, privledged?, to witness the careers of two of the biggest jerks - but best players - the game has ever seen: Bonds and Clemens. My feeling is Clemens would pitch on a day that his wife died, but it's hardly important what I think. I'd just as soon enjoy watching a total master at the top of his craft show the younguns how it's done. I see no reason that he can't pitch for another few years - but I also want to see his crash year, the year where he loses it and goes 3-8 with a 5.70 ERA and retires mid-season. Petty schadenfreude is fun. too.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:40 AM on September 15, 2005

but I think we can pretty much say that he is simply the greatest pitcher who ever lived. Whew, that's a tough one to support. I agree that he definitely has to be in the discussion, but I can't immediately say that he's the best of all time. A couple more seasons might make that decision easier, however. Other pitchers in the discussion: (in order of how I rank them) Walter Johnson Pedro Martinez Tom Seaver Cy Young Lefty Grove Pete Alexander Warren Spahn I'd put Clemens between Martinez and Johnson, but Martinez has the potential to catch Clemens after he's passed Johnson. And before anyone says "You forgot [pitcher X]!", I'll just say that I didn't forget Nolan Ryan, Sandy Koufax or Greg Maddux. Ryan - yes, he had a lot of no-hitters, but he also had a lot of walks and his ERA wasn't that great. Koufax - too short of a career to seriously consider as the greatest of all time. Martinez has pitched two more seasons than him and is still going. Maddux - I don't think he's better than Clemens, and they are direct contemporaries. The other ones on the list above (except for Martinez) are from different eras.

posted by grum@work at 09:29 AM on September 15, 2005

Grum, " You forgot Bob Gibson!"

posted by catfish at 09:53 AM on September 15, 2005

I think Pedro's an upper echelon Hall of Famer - but how can you on one hand dismiss Koufax and take Martinez with the other - I find their careers remarkably similar. Really from 1998 - 2002 Martinez was untouchable - rest of the time, better than average. Like Koufax. Pedro has the better individual years - but his career can't really be compared to Clemens. Clemens right now slots in with the others you mentioned for sure, though. I can only think of two other pitchers that I'd put ahead of him right now - Johnson and Young. Maddux is not as good - but still a top ten.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 10:35 AM on September 15, 2005

Grum, " You forgot Bob Gibson!" Okay, that's really funny because I originally had Bob Gibson in my "Player X" list! But I took him out of there because I didn't really think anyone would consider him better than those that I listed above.

posted by grum@work at 12:50 PM on September 15, 2005

I think Pedro's an upper echelon Hall of Famer - but how can you on one hand dismiss Koufax and take Martinez with the other - I find their careers remarkably similar. Really from 1998 - 2002 Martinez was untouchable - rest of the time, better than average. Like Koufax. If you look on the baseball-reference website, they have a stat called "ERA+". This is a measurement of how good the pitcher's ERA was (adjusted for ballpark) compared to the rest of the league. Pedro has 4 seasons over 200 (where 100 is league average). Koufax has 0 seasons. Pedro's career ERA+ (as of 2004) is 167. Koufax's career ERA+ was 131. Pedro also has a better K/9, K/BB and HR/9IP (which is astounding since Koufax pitched all his career on a higher mound AND in one of the most pitcher-friendly parks at that time). Finally, Pedro will end up with a longer career than Koufax, which should definitely be taken into consideration. Don't get me wrong, Koufax is a top 20 pitcher in my mind. But Pedro is, well, just better. He might even be the best someday.

posted by grum@work at 01:02 PM on September 15, 2005

Pedro? Best Ever? High end hall of famer yeah, but I can't put him on the best ever list. Not yet anyway.

posted by tron7 at 01:08 PM on September 15, 2005

Yeah - read the adjusted ERA stuff after I posted - you're right, Pedro's best years are actually statistically better than Koufax's - but damn those strikeout totals are sexy.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 01:38 PM on September 15, 2005

Pedro? Best Ever? High end hall of famer yeah, but I can't put him on the best ever list. Not yet anyway. I will admit that if his career ended after this year, he might actually drop a few slots on my "best-ever" listing. I'm just projecting a normal career (with declining stats at the tail end) and ranking him based on that. It's cheating, but he's the only active young(ish) pitcher who isn't (supposed to be) in their full-decline phase that would even qualify for my top 20 list. Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux are (supposed to be) at the tail-end of their careers and aren't expected to produce anymore HOF quality seasons. Johnson and Maddux are proving that point...freak-boy Clemens just keeps on chugging and ruining that idea.

posted by grum@work at 02:43 PM on September 15, 2005

He's no punk!. I hate baseball but I will be pulling for the man as he represents Houston, which is my stomping ground. South/West .God bless him! .I can't wait for dem ROCKETS To go to war ! T-mac and dem boys are for real!

posted by DemFiyah281 at 07:40 PM on September 15, 2005

What just happened?

posted by yerfatma at 07:06 AM on September 16, 2005

posted by The_Black_Hand at 03:50 PM on September 16, 2005

You're not logged in. Please log in or register.