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Sports

Rocket should splash down in New York before retirement

Duke of Orleans

Ben Gegenheimer 

When Roger Clemens takes the mound tonight for the Houston Astros, there is a good possibility that at some point during the game he will find himself in a jam. As he scratches his head and contemplates what his next move will be, one would have to assume that he is also thinking about the move he shouldn't have made two months ago.

Clemens, who will turn 44 on Aug. 4, made the wrong decision this past spring when he decided to return to the Astros for his 23rd season of major league baseball. In early May, along with Houston, the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers were all in the running to land "The Rocket". 

The Astros were the favorite to acquire Clemens since he had spent the last two seasons with Houston, winning his seventh Cy Young award in 2004 and helping lead the team to its first World Series appearance in 2005.

Despite the Astros' 27-27 record when he signed with the team on May 31, Clemens felt there were other important reasons to strongly consider returning to the team.

Clemens, a Houston native, and his wife, Debbie, have raised their four children in Houston for some time now. His oldest son Kody is also a prospect in the club's minor league system. In addition, during the past two seasons, the Astros have given Clemens a lot of leeway regarding spending time with his children and family.

However, Clemens and his family should have looked at all of these reasons back in May, when Clemens should have signed with the Yankees to finish out the final five months of the 2006 season and possibly his career.

Before joining the Astros in 2004, Clemens pitched five seasons with the Yankees. He won two World Series titles with New York and also picked up his sixth Cy Young award in 2001. 

Clemens has said that he wants to enter the Hall of Fame as a Yankee and that he will not attend his induction ceremony if he is enshrined in Cooperstown in any other uniform. The Hall of Fame committee reserves its right to select which team a player will be identified with. Clemens played the first 13 seasons of his career with the Red Sox before a two-year stint with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Now look at the situation he's in. Clemens enters tonight's game with a 2-3 record. The Astros, who are second to last in the National League in runs scored, have been outscored by a 23-16 margin in Clemens' six starts this season. Meanwhile, Clemens has maintained a solid 2.43 earned run average. 

Clemens should have brought his 2.43 ERA to the Yankees, who are fourth in the American League in runs scored and would have been able to give him the run support he is missing along with a more productive pitching staff and bullpen.

We want to see "The Rocket" go out on top. This is probably Clemens' last big league season. He would have had a much better shot at returning and possibly winning another World Series title as a member of the Yankees, who are currently 2.5 games behind the Red Sox in the A.L. East. Following their 8-4 win over the Mets on Sunday, the Astros are now 9.5 games out of first place in the N.L. Central and tied for the fourth spot in the N.L. Wildcard race.

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