Bobby Pope: Roger Clemens is latest big name for Mercer event
Mercer baseball head coach Craig Gibson's acumen as a recruiter is evidenced by the success his teams have had during the past half-dozen years. During that time, the Bears have won two regular-season conference championships and two conference tournament titles and have made three NCAA tournament trips.
Equally as impressive is his ability to attract big names to come to Macon for Mercer's First Pitch Classic, an event to benefit Mercer's baseball program. This year, Roger Clemens, who has a major league record seven Cy Young Awards to his credit, will be the guest speaker Feb. 1 at Hawkins Arena. Clemens joins an impressive list from previous years that includes Chipper Jones, Darryl Strawberry, John Smoltz, Pete Rose, Dale Murphy, Gordon Beckham and Jeff Francouer.
Clemens, a two-time All-American at Texas where he was on the mound for the Longhorns when they won the 1983 College World Series, spent 24 seasons in the major leagues. He was one of the most dominant pitchers in the history of the game while playing for the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees and Houston Astros. He was an 11-time All-Star and played on World Series-winning teams at Toronto in 1999 and with the Yankees in 2000. He recorded 354 wins with a 3.12 ERA and had 4,672 strikeouts.
Clemens has four sons who were all given K names -- Koby, Kory, Kacy and Kody -- to honor his strikeouts (Ks).
"The Rocket" was known for his fiery disposition. After Clemens won the AL MVP Award in 1986, when he also captured his first Cy Young, Atlanta Braves all-time great Hank Aaron said that pitchers should not be eligible for that honor. Clemens responded by saying, "I'd probably crack his head open to show him how valuable I was."
Clemens had a reputation for throwing pitches high and tight to batters, and in 2000, he hit New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza in the head during a regular-season game. When the teams met in the World Series that fall, Piazza faced Clemens again, and while batting, he shattered a bat, and Clemens responded by picking up the bat shard and throwing it at the All-Star catcher. Benches cleared, but there were no fist-cuffs, and that was probably the highlight of that World Series. Clemens reportedly was fined $50,000 for his actions.
His statistics are more than Hall of Fame worthy, but the second half of his stellar career came during Major League Baseball's performance enhancing drug era, and he is one of many players implicated. In his first three years of eligibility for the Hall of Fame, he garnered less than 40 percent of the votes to gain admission (75 percent are needed). His vote total went up slightly for the 2016 class when voting totals were announced earlier this month. His figure this year was 45 percent.
If you take his first 12 years in Major League Baseball, prior to the PED era, his statistics would be enough for him to gain Hall of Fame admission. During that period, he recorded 192 wins, with a 3.06 ERA and won three Cy Young Awards.
Clemens has denied allegations that he used PEDs and did so under oath before the United States Congress. That led to the Justice Department indicting him on six felony counts involving perjury, false statements and contempt of Congress. He was tried and found not guilty on all six counts.
Clemens was never shy about speaking his mind and complained about having to carry his bags through airports, and he also criticized Fenway Park for being a subpar facility. A number of his teammates claimed that he received preferential treatment from management through the years. While playing for Houston, he was not required to travel with the team when he was not scheduled to pitch.
His treatment was not an issue for some. Yankees teammate Jason Giambi said, "I'd carry his bags for him, just as long as he is on the mound."
I'm sure Clemens will have some interesting comments during his First Pitch appearance. Tickets are available by contacting Bears assistant Alex Duhaime at 301-2738 or by email at firstpitchclassic@mercer.edu.
Contact Bobby Pope at bobbypope428@gmail.com
This story was originally published January 25, 2016 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Bobby Pope: Roger Clemens is latest big name for Mercer event ."