Report from Scranton
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on May 28, 2007 
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Here is the e-mail my colleague Kevin Devaney sent to me regarding Clemens:
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My assessment on Clemens is that he’s ready for the majors. Obviously, the Yankees need him. And based on tonight, he’s clearly ready to go.
Clemens said he’ll throw a bullpen on Wednesday at the Stadium and a decision on his future will be made. Gene Michael and Billy Connors were also both sold on his stuff tonight and will recommend he get called up.
When I say that, I’m not just looking at the stat line, either. He was sharp with all four of his pitches, threw his splitter and slider for strikes — which he didn’t do consistently in Trenton — and he did a great job of mixing his curveball in to keep guys off balance. His fastball was around 91, but when you’re secondary pitches are that good, 91 is sufficient.
There was a strange scene at the end of Roger’s press conference.
A local reporter asked what seemed like an innocent question. “With all the negativity out there, how nice is to come to places like Tampa, Trenton and Scranton and get such a great ovation from the fans?” he said.
Roger heard it different, as here was his answer:
“If you want to be negative, be negative. I’m not. I’m not a negative person. You can be negative as much as you want. When I stink and I don’t pitch well out there, I know I stink. I don’t need you to tell me that. I have pride in what I do. I’m going to pour my heart out right there for you to see it. I’ve done that since I was 20. I got that from my mother. So if you want to write, and other people want to write — everything has to be negative these days. It also has to be negative. I’m positive. I’ll always be positive in my mind and it won’t end. I don’t want to be around negative people so I don’t associate with any of them. If it makes you feel good to write negative stuff, then go ahead because you’ve never been in the arena. You’ve never been in this arena to understand what it’s like. So keep that in mind because people read your column and they associate things with me that are not true. I hear you’re answering questions and I’ll answer your questions so the 10-year old out there doesn’t confuse it. And you can tell how passionate I am about it. OK?â€?
Clemens than slammed his fist on the table and left.
WOW
” “.
Hopefully it wasn’t his pitching hand.
Can’t wait for him to say that to some in the NY press – not you Pete – you are a good reporter
Maybe he just wanted to practice the speech he’s going to give to the under-achievers in the clubhouse when he gets there later this week.
That is one hell of a quote!
Finally some PASSION
I wonder how positive he is going to be when the Yankees offense fails to give him any run support whatsoever.
Clemens doesn’t matter right now. He can come to the Yankees and blow away the other team and it just won’t matter. The Yankees don’t know how to hit the ball and get in runs. The offense is dead. If it weren’t for Matsui and a tired pitcher, it would have been a shutout and it should have been a shutout. McGowan shouldn’t have come out to the mound in that inning. His night was done and he did a great job against a sucky team.
See Clemens Clip “Here”:http://tinyurl.com/2uso59
I forgotten how close Rocket was with his moms and how much he respects women. It’s kinda nice, ya know.
* “She was my strength,” Clemens said of his mother. “She was my will.”
* “Mother’s Day brings back a lot of great memories. I’ll be on top of my boys to make sure they take care of their mother. I was raised by great, strong women. That’s how it happened.
* I carry a little photo card in my wallet of my mother throwing out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium. The only other two times I’d seen her smile that big was her meeting with Muhammad Ali and, of course, her favorite of all time was George Strait.
Rocket and Booster “Pix”: http://tinyurl.com/2emdey
Make sure your colleague writes back when clemens gives up 5 runs his first start. He’s going to get shelled at the major league level
If there is any follow up to this — between Roger and the guy I’d like to hear about it.
Wonder if the guy that asked the question realized that the media is responsible for most of the negativity and that was most likely what set Rocket off?
Marius, you always talk about “the dumb” in here, but your statement that the Yankees “don’t know how to hit the ball” is the single dumbest thing I have ever read. Ever. You obviously never played an inning of baseball in your life.
Perhaps Clemens should become player Manager when he joins the team. I am not kidding.
You gotta love the passion, even if his ramblings were a bit nonsensical. Sounds like he is warming up for the NY media and the cloud of negativity hanging over the Yankees right now. Not that I blame much of the media for it, although idiots like Lupica, Wally Matthews, Steve Phillips and others are constantly bashing the Yankees. Good to see we now have someone who will fight back. Maybe this season can be saved after all.
What a colossal blow-hard !
wat an angry man!
its just baseball (oh, and 28 million dollars…)
Clemens or no Clemens.
Yankees 2007 RIP!
“He’s going to get shelled at the major league level”
Yeah, because he’s never had success in the majors before…..
Go back to 38pitches.com please. People need to stop acting like Clemens is some rookie. He’s in the minors to get in shape and to get sharp, basically for his Spring Training…, he’s not some unproven rookie.