"I appreciate hard work"
no matter what else is said of Clemens, no one can deny his work ethic. He's always been that way.
Incidentally, there's a little something personal where Clemens' longevity is concerned -- he's the last guy I played with or against that's not retired. Odd though it may be, psychologically there's just a little bit of me that will feel put out to pasture when he hangs 'em up. :-)
While we're on Clemens, I'm overdue to set the record straight on vicocala's bogus claim that "Roger has always been about the MONEY".
Clemens has had basically 6 times in his career to make "money" decisions.
(1) when he was first drafted out of San Jac JC -- Rather than taking the money, he honored his mother's wish that he go on to the Unversity of Texas. No doubt he hoped to improve his draft position, but if it was all about the money, he'd have cashed in immediately.
(2) when he was drafted by the Red Sox out of UT -- although he had been on most draft boards as a Top 5 pick all year, rumors got floated that he had a "tired arm" and he fell to the 18th pick overall. He could have fought for Top 5 slotting, play hardball and hold out, etc. (Note that #1 overall pick that year Tim Belcher not only held out on the Twins, but snubbed them all together and waited 6 months and re-entered the Jan. supplemental draft). He didn't. If it was "all about the money", he'd have held out.
(3) when his first contract with the Red Sox ran out in 1991 -- he was the biggest young gun in the game, certainly could have held out or played bigger hardball had it been "all about the money". It wasn't. He signed a deal that left money on the table but got his fanny into camp.
(4) when his second contract with the Sox ran out in 1996 -- there's no question he would have taken less than he was being offered elsewhere to stay with the Sox. Only Dan Duquette's idiocy drove him from Boston. Not "the money". The 2-yr deal he accepted from the Blue Jays was NOT the largest on the table. He passed on extra money in order to keep the length of the deal short.
(5) when his contract with the Blue Jays ran, he did NOT take the highest offer -- he actually took a pay CUT because he valued a chance to play for a possible World Championship as more important to than maximum money, so signed with the Yankees.
(6) when he retired after his contract with the Yankees expired, then realized he wanted to keep playing, again he passed up bigger money, placing greater value on the extra family time playing for the hometown Astros would give him. In addition, in order to help the franchise, he signed an unusual, back-loaded deal, with no guarantee. Had his performance flagged, had he gotten injured, or just worn out, the sacrifice was entirely his.
Saying Clemens "has always been about the money" is just about 180 degrees backwards.
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