The fact that roger Clemens has announced his return to the Yankees further cements his reputation as one of the most selfish, disingenuous, phony players of all time. After the 2003 season, after Clemens’ teary farewell tour, he swore up and down that he was not going to return, that he wanted to end his legacy as a New York Yankee, a team he claimed to have always wanted to play for. (Despite the fact that in 1997 roger could have easily played for the Yankees but took the slightly higher offer from Toronto) six months after the 2003 season however, rogers story changed when Houston gave him 14 million, plus the privilege to stay at his nearby home during non-starts, not travel with the team on road trips, only flying in on his pitching day, then leaving. Plus Houston, as a gesture of good will, drafted rogers son, Cody to play in Houston’s minor league system. All the while Clemens claiming “family time”, proximity to home, more time off as his reasons for pitching in Houston. And he also stated again (as with the Yankees), the history of Houston with stars such as Nolan Ryan and Mike Scott have always made playing in Houston a dream come true. Roger has now retired after each of the last 4 seasons and has delivered the same tired cliches each time: ‘I want to spend more time with my family, i dont need the money, the fire is gone. I want to retire in my home-state of Texas’, blah, blah, blah. But roger, like ducks in the spring, returns. But only after his offer has grown to about 18 million.
18 million to pitch from June to September. Roughly 1 million per start. But remember, roger has stated a dozen times (just off the top of my head) that its not about the money. This statement in the sports world guarantees one thing: Its exactly about the money, thats all its about. A player of clemens calibur making this comment guarantees one thing: That the contract offer will go up. And go up significantly. Heres an example of that happening. After retiring again after the 2004 season, roger said (as other athletes have said before him. most notably Michael Jordan) that he would play for free if it was just a matter of playing ball. When the cash strapped Houston Astros made an offer of a meager $7 million; primarily b/c Houston was trying desperately to sign Carlos Beltran (whom they offered 100 million to at that time). Roger made his annual remarks, calling press conference after press conference denying that he was going to play again, then saying he was on the fence, then saying he wanted to play again if the ‘circumstances were right’. Those “circumstances” turned out to be 18 million dollars, more than double Houston’s original offer. Thankfully for Met fans Houston gave clemens that amount. Had he not signed for the 18 million, Houston could have tacked that money onto Beltrans contract and he could be playing for Houston right now. But remember roger saying ‘ill play for free’? of course, no one took it literally, but couldnt he have signed for just a few million? Allowing Houston to spend money on other free agents. Giving them a better chance to win. Plus have all these little perks that Houston allows him to have,. Like playing ball with his son during spring training and pitching only once every fifth day for FUN. Of course he could have, of course he could have done all of these things. But he didnt do any of these things. Because hes greedy. Hes manipulative. Hes phony bologna. He held up Houston management like a bank robber. Knowing that they couldnt afford Beltran and himself, yet bullying owner Drayton McClain into anteing up more cash for himself. the greedy pig that he is.
Clemens is a despicable human being who should be ashamed of himself. How much money does this guy actually need? How many millions can he actually spend? And how are Yankee fans going to react? Like blind mules being led to acidic water, the Yankee fans will drink him up and cheer this phony scumbag because what else are they going to do. They’ll welcome him back as if he didn’t burn them after 3 previous retirements. As if he wasn’t a former Red Sox. As if he cared about Yankee tradition. As if he cared about winning. As if it wasn’t the few million more the Yankees offered him than the Astros that brought him back to New York. As if he actually cared about the fans, the city and the glory of pitching for New York. He proved the opposite is true back in 1997, then again in 2003 and again in 2004 and yet again in 2005. Yankee fans will once again feel spurned after he retires again this off season, only to re-unretire to Boston or Houston next year. Or for the team that gives him the most money. Thats all this guy has ever cared about. Just look at his track record, which speaks volumes and this man may be a Hall of Famer but he has no dignity, no self-respect, no remorse and no conscience.
Money = awesomeness. Give the poor guy a break, or I’ll tell him to throw a 100mph fastball into your living room window.