Fifteen years ago this week, headlines blared: "Latest Insult: Clemens a Yankee." Already down in the estimation of Sox fans, Roger committed the worst indignity possible- defecting to the Evil Empire. Bad enough that he went to Toronto and won two more Cy Youngs. Now he was contributing another chapter to the Curse.
The Jays got David Wells, reliever Graeme Lloyd and infielder Homer Bush for the Rocket. Apparently, Clemens had a handshake agreement with Toronto that he could request a move to a contender anytime. What better place than New York, whose team had won 114 games the previous season on the way to a World Championship?
Some quotes from Globe writers: Dan Shaughnessy- "Is there no end to the indignity of being a Boston professional sports fan? Clemens to the Yankees is like Bobby Orr to Montreal or Larry Bird to the Lakers or (gulp) Bill Parcells to the Jets." Michael Holley: "To Dan Duquette. Come on, man…When all the cameras are not focused on your mug, do you admit to yourself that the Sox are not a good team? I know you do. You have to. You know your team is still going to be terrible this season, right? If they…eat all their Minnesotas, Kansas Citys and Tampa Bays like they are supposed to, the Sox could reach 80 wins. Maybe." Gordon Edes: "Not satisfied to return a team that won …their 24th World Series title, the New York Yankees yesterday traded for Clemens in perhaps their most sensational acquisition since buying Babe Ruth." Even some Sox players and coaches expressed disgust. "Might as well pack my stuff and go home," Jeff Frye stated sarcastically.
Normally niceguy Johnny Pesky sputtered angrily "I just don't understand him." Only Roger-hater Will McDonough wrote that it was "no big deal" and predicted that the Texas Con Man (as he called Roger) would disappoint in New York.
Steroids or not, Roger did achieve in the Big Apple, though not as much as you may think. In five seasons there, he went 83-42, but his 4.01 ERA was far from his best. He did add another Cy Young in 01 with a 20-3 mark, but his other four seasons do not rival his glory days in Boston and Toronto. Rocket did help the Yanks to two more championships in 99 and 00, but the titles stopped there. As always,
his postseason performances were erratic. For example, his five ALDS's featured ERA's of 8.18, 5.40, and 6.35, though his World Series performances were much better.
The reaction the day of the trade implied that the Yanks would run and hide from the Red Sox, but that did not happen. In Roger's time in NY, the Townies had a creditable .555 percentage, including the down year of 2001, when Pedro Martinez missed much of the season. Three times they won 90-plus games and twice made it to the postseason. One more thing- give Dan D a break. His oft-quoted description of the 1996 Roger being "in the twilight of his career" is a bit less of a mistake when steroids enter the picture. This reporter feels they have to when dealing with a man like Clemens.
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