Clemens pitches in for Yankees
NEW YORK: Baseball's balance of power may have shifted back New York's way when future Hall-of-Fame pitcher Roger Clemens told a crowd of 52,553 fans in the Bronx that the Yankees had taken a bold step in its arms race with Boston.
"They came and got me out of Texas," Clemens said. "It's a privilege to be back."
The scoreboard in center field carried the message "Roger Clemens is now a Yankee!" and the crowd roared at the notion that the 44-year-old Texan fire-baller would ride to the rescue of New York's injury-depleted pitching staff.
Boston boasts the best record in the American League at 20-10, buoyed by a pitching staff that includes Japanese star Daisuke Matsuzaka, who cost the Red Sox $103 million in salary and posting fees this winter as they outbid the Yanks.
"The Rocket" did not come cheaply either.
The burly right-hander with a career mark of 348-178 and second all-time in strikeouts will earn a $28 million salary - the highest in baseball - pro-rated based on the date he joins the major league roster, according to the New York Times.
Clemens threw for the Yankees from 1999 to 2003, appearing in four World Series during that stretch, before announcing his retirement.
He changed his mind and from 2004, played with his hometown Houston Astros after close friend Andy Pettitte left the Yankees to pitch there.
Clemens had announced he would begin the season late, as he did in 2006 for the Astros, if he returned to major league action this year.
He specified Houston, New York and Boston, his original team, as possible destinations.
New York, eager to bolster their depleted rotation, pushed for an early return and he has targeted June 1 as a possible date for his first start.
Agencies
(China Daily 05/08/2007 page24)
