Clemens a welcome throwback
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Jun 16, 2007 
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At some point in the last 10 years, it became acceptable for a starting pitcher to go six innings, throw 100 pitches and pat himself on the back for keeping his team in the game.
The sports psychologists taught pitchers to “execute a quality pitch” and not to worry about what happens after the ball leaves their hands. It’s all quite pleasant.
Quite aggravating, too. I’m not that old and I can remember quite vividly covering college pitchers who threw 120 pitches and considered it a moral failing to leave a game before the eighth inning.
That’s what makes Roger Clemens fun to watch. Clemens pitched very well last night and was annoyed with himself after the game. Television reporters lobbed him softball questions and he swatted them back.
“The idea is to win,” he said at one point. “Not keep it close.”
Clemens was at 104 pitches after six innings and went out for the seventh to get another out. That doesn’t make him Superman. But at 44, he’s tougher than pitchers 10 or 20 years younger. The Yankees can use some of that. Clemens all but rolls his eyes when the pitch count is mentioned.
A quality start is when you win the game. Hopefully Tyler Clippard was listening as Clemens was talking last night.
That’s what makes Clemens worth every dime of the money they are paying him.
This is a soft baseball team. Has been soft since they choked away the ALCS in 2004.
Its not coincidence they are playing better since he arrived.
Clemens brings a toughness to the job. It was GREAT to hear him talk last night. Its not only great for the team, its great for the younger pitchers to see because that’s what it takes to be great.
In other words, he is the kind of “tough guy” they thought they were getting when they got Randy Johnson, only to find out Johnson was softer than first day snow.
Roger is going to be just fine. The way he is going, I hope he is back next year.
You can’t have enough guys like Roger Clemens on your team.
SJ44 –
There is a line from the movie “Mary Poppins” regarding Mrs. Banks’ hiring of nannies. She says she thought the previous nanny would be good for children because she was solemn and cross. He says, “Never confuse efficiency with a liver complaint.” That’s pretty much what the Yankees got with RJ – a surly guy, not a tough guy. He wasn’t “soft” so much as he was not approachable and not really a mentor or a leader.
Roger is Mary Poppins – practically perfect in every way.
(Forgive my references. I have a daughter who has loved MP her whole life!)
I was wrong about Clemens. I thought the Yankees getting him was more about placating a fan base than a practical move to help the staff. My concerns was his endurance that he wouldnt’ be able to go deep into games, taxing a bullpen that frequently gets taxed because of the Yankees SP inability (up until relatively recently) to go deep into games and Torre’s quick pull mentality.
Clemens may still break down. I agree though he adds a dimension that cannot be easily quantified, he is a gamer, and a no-compromise kind of guy. Win or die trying. Got to respect that.
Doreen,
I think the its an apt description of the two guys.
You see so many differences in Clemens and Johnson.
If Johnson was pitching last night, he would have melted down in the first inning if the first two guys reached base and he didn’t get a couple of calls from the home plate umpire. We saw it for two years here.
Clemens? No meltdown in him. He’s also much more accountable than Johnson re: his outings. Plainly put, he’s a better pitcher and has been his entire career.
Now, before the statheads come back with, “Johnson won 34 games in two years”, a little perspective.
The Yankees averaged 7 runs a game in his wins. If they averaged 4 runs a game (Clemens run support in his time in Houston), he would have had less than half of those wins (16).
He couldn’t/wouldn’t adjust to no longer being a power pitcher and dealing with AL hitters. He had an ERA of over 5 (including his post-season starts) with the Yankees. That’s not good.
As you so aptly describe, he was surly but, he wasn’t tough.
Clemens is tough. That toughness rubs off on the team. You can see it already.
Its why last night’s loss, while frustrating, is not disappointing.
They need Damon to get healthy to keep Phelps out of the lineup. You can have one or two guys who aren’t hitting in the lineup. You add a third, then its a NL lineup and that’s not good enough to win (long term) in the AL.
They also need to find another RH bat somewhere. Doesn’t have to be an all star. Just a guy who can hit lefties. Its a real weakness with this team right now and last night was another example of it.
My job is to keep my team in the game. – R. Johnson
I love the guy’s attitude, but really, there was nothing he could do last night, unless he could come to the plate and slug a homer. I hope he’s not too hard on himself.
SJ44-
Agreed. I never really understood the Phelps acquisition in the first place, but if he was always meant to be a platoon player, meaning he’d have to be effective while playing inconsistently, then he has failed miserably. He had a great ST and a few good hits early in the season. Recently, he’s not only been hurting the team at the plate, but in the field he’s a liability. They absolutely need a right-handed bat, and that was evident last night. For whatever reasons, they are not as good against lefties this year as they’ve been in the past, and instead of saying, well, this team has always been good against lefties and there’s no real reason why they aren’t this year, you have to address THIS YEAR’s issue.
Overall, I liked watching Clemens work and the bullpen did a good job. They’re still a long way from making you feel that a game is a lock, but they’re not self-destructing, either. Each scoreless outing adds confidence so I look for things to get better — of course, they still need to stop walking people so much.
It was one of those nights where the breaks didn’t go the Yankees’ way, combined with a lack of timely hitting. Nothing earth-shattering. But, hopefully Damon will come around, and someone really needs to get it into Cano’s head that if a pitcher is having control problems, he needs to take a few pitches.
They don’t need a RH bat, they just need a bonafide hitter at 1B, i.e., not Mientkiewicz-like.
What I don’t understand about Phelps is, his rep was as a guy who understood the strikezone and worked counts.
Yet, in NY, he has done the exact opposite. Only Cano and Melky swing at more pitches out of the zone than Phelps.
The biggest play of the game last night was him swinging at
that 1-0 pitch, which was two feet out of the strikezone, with 2 on and 0 outs in the 5th or 6th (I forget which one) inning.
That was HUGE. Perez had walked the first two guys and was beginning to meltdown. Work the count, draw the walk, and its bases loaded, 0 outs.
The count ends up going to 3-2 (he would have walked had he taken that pitch) and he swings at ANOTHER pitch out of the strikezone and flies out weakly to right.
Cairo then hits the flyball to Gomez, who made that great play, got the DP, and the game changed.
He doesn’t hit a lick when you need him to hit.
As far as “getting a bonafide first baseman”, they don’t grow on trees and teams aren’t going to just give the Yankees a player.
Its a matter of who you want to give up and what calibur player you are getting in return.
Pete, I know exactly what you’re talkin about, especially with college pitchers.
A couple years ago, a Quinnipiac pitcher threw a 1 hitter in the NEC Tournament…
He happened to throw 151 pitches. I asked him about it afterwards, he said “It’s the playoffs. Pitchcount doesn’t matter.”
Re: A bonafide 1Bman
Obviously, cost is determinative, but with Damon likely uncertain for the the season (and beyond?), and Melky’s bat inconsistent and devoid of SLG, it’s going to be tough to win consistently without one.
I certainly appreciate what Clemens have said more than what Johnson have said (the keeping the team in the game stuff). Clemens’ words can make your blood boils.
But let’s face it. A pitcher can pitch to “not to lose.” He cannot pitch to win. You have to have run(s) to win. Look at Dice-K and Cain today and you are reconfirmed with this. I remember last year Clemens pitched three games without any allowed run in 6 innings in each of the games. But he got no win out of those three games. I remember that’s also why Johnson left Seattle. Perhaps the citation was only half what Johnson had said. If I were him, I would say that:
“My job is to keep my team in the game. My team’s job is to win it for me.”