You can snark all you want about his private jets, afternoons off, baggage handlers, personal chefs and open invitation to Steinbrenner family reunions; Roger Clemens is all about the team. Why else would the dude make a rare relief appearance -- his first in the regular season since 1984 -- during yesterday's loss to the Giants? Against Barry Bonds, no less? Because he cares.
Sensing the Yankees' pen stretched thin after Saturday night's 13-inning extravaganza, Clemens made himself available for relief work, according to Lisa Olson in today's Daily News.
Roger Clemens stuck his head into the visiting manager's office yesterday morning and told Joe Torre he had at least 50 pitches in him. Clemens was (and still is) meant to start Wednesday's game against the Orioles, but the Yankees had lost in 13 innings here one day earlier and barely made it out Colorado earlier in the week with their arms still attached. So Torre said, "Fine, I'll take 20."
So Clemens got the nod in the seventh to face Bonds. But what could have been a highlight clip for the ages -- I admit to wondering aloud if Roger would knock him on his ass -- turned out to be less riveting than a game of "Clue" at the local retirement home. Bonds walked on five pitches.
Anticlimactic, yes. But like Dante Hicks in Clerks, Clemens wasn't even supposed to be there, as his contract allows him to skip road trips on which he's not scheduled to start. That's dedication to the cause, my friends.
