Why MLB’s All-Time Cy Young Leader Is NOT In the Hall of Fame

how do you define Roger Clemens Clemens was extreme he threw harder than everyone else he was bigger than everyone else he won more Sai Young Awards than everyone else Clemens was explosive he hit opposing batters on purpose he fought his managers he once threatened to assault Hank Aaron yes that Hank Aaron even his nickname rocket was a reference to both his pitch speed and his propensity for outbursts he could be intimidating volatile and aggressive he was also one of the most dominant pitchers of his era if not all time however in spite of his success

on the field clemens's career has been overshadowed by controversy and Scandal turning what was once a Surefire Hall of Famer into an outcast from the game you might think you know Roger Clemens but do you know the whole story let's get into it [Music] as an adult Roger Clemens would call Houston his home you might even be forgiven for thinking that Texas is where Clemens was born and raised but that's not where the Story begins Roger Clemens was born in Ohio in 1962 the youngest child born to Bill and Bess Clemens Bill Clemens a truck

driver wasn't around often going on road trips that could last for weeks at a time it was during one of these trips that Bess packed her children into the car and left bill for good r Roger was just 3 months old 2 years later best married a mechanic named Woody booer it was Woody who Roger saw as his dad they went on motorcycle rides ate ice cream and watched the TV show Bonanza together in the fall of 1970 however tragedy struck when Woody died of a heart attack at just 9 years old Roger Clemens had

lost a father for the second time with his mother working Roger turned to his older brother Randy for guidance it was Randy who instilled Roger the philosophy of winning Above All Else Roger took this advice to Heart promising friends and family that he would one day start the M Mo allstar game appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated and win the final game of the World Series when Clemens was 15 he moved to Houston with Randy under his brother's eye Roger became fully devoted to Athletics he ran Sprints and started weightlifting just like his Mo

Idol Nolan Ryan by the time he finished high school Clemens had yet to find a college team that would take him he dreamed of pitching for the University of Texas but settled for San jento a local Junior College it was at San Jack where Clemens bloomed his fastball climbed to the mid99s and he finished his freshman year with a 9-2 record in the 12th round of the 1981 draft he was selected by the New York Mets a few days later Clemens found himself at the Astrodome throwing in front of met Skipper Joe Tori and pitching

coach Bob Gibson New York offered him $20,000 but he turned them down see just before the draft Clemens had been contacted by Cliff gustofson longtime head coach for the University of Texas gustofson offered Roger a scholarship access to the LongHorn's worldclass facilities and a chance to play at his dream School Clemens took the offer in a heartbeat as the number two starter behind Calvin chaldi Clemens went 12-2 his first spring as a longhorn he entered the next season with high expectations MLB Scouts dotted the sidelines at his starts to see if this 20-year-old was the

real deal that June he was picked 19th overall by the Boston Red Sox Roger Clemens was going pro through his first few games in the miners Roger Clemens was not as good as expected he was better he dominated Class A and was just as great in double A that winter he met Debbie the woman who had become his wife on May 11th 1984 he was called up to the majors he wore the number 21 his brother Randy old high school number fans in the media alike were buzzing with excitement over the young righty for all

the hype however Roger clemens's debut was less than Stellar at a frigid Cleveland Municipal Stadium Clemens lasted 5 and 2/3 allowing 11 hits and striking out just four as he walked off the field the 4,000 fans and attendance showered him with insults he rebounded quickly his next start a seven-inning effort in Minnesota that Boston won 5 to4 for the rest rest of his rookie year Clemens was a solid starter he became a favorite of team leaders like Jim Rice and Dwight Evans as well as fellow pitcher Dennis oilcan Boyd Clemens and the socks entered 1985

with High Hopes with a strong starting rotation batting champion Wade bogs and a new manager in John mcnamer many assumed Boston would compete for the AL pennon instead they finished in fifth place while Clemens battled pain in his pitching shoulder that August he underwent a season-ending operation to repair a torn laborum come 1986 nobody knew what to expect from Roger he showed up to spring training and was pummeled in game after game he then proceeded to start the regular season with a win versus the white socks then a complete game against the Royals by April

29th he was sitting on a 3-0 record with 19 strikeouts that night though he took it to another level it was a home game against the Seattle Marin in the crowd sat 13,000 fans less than half of Fenway Park's capacity as he climbed the mound for the top of the first Clemen stared down leadoff hitter Spike Owen Owen had been Roger teammate in Texas a role model for the young pitcher tonight though they were enemies gripping the ball tightly Clemens reared back and fired it in for strike one the next pitch was high and inside

sending Owen to the dirt seven pitches later with the count full he struck him out swinging he did the same with the next two batters punching out the side and bringing Fenway to its feet he struck out two more in the second one in the third and three in the fourth by the top of the seventh he had racked up 14 KS by the top of the ninth he had 18 one away from tying the M Mo record standing in his way once again was Spike Owen after a called strike in a foul ball Owen

whiffed at a 96 mph fast ball Clemens 129th pitch of the night for strike three he was now one strike out away from history facing left fielder Phil Bradley Clemens worked the count to two and two then Unleashed a fast ball a no record Clemens has set a Major League record for strikeouts in a game 20 the congratulations came pouring in his teammates mobbed him on the field Nolan Ryan sent him a telegram he received a phone call from Massachusetts senator Ted Kennedy and another from Governor Michael Dukakis Sports Illustrated put him on the cover

the dominance didn't stop there he won one start after another becoming just the fifth pitcher ever to begin a season 14-0 the Red Sox for their part entered the allstar break with a seven-game division lead Clemens was picked to start the 86 All-Star Game held in the Houston Astrodome he tossed three scoreless Innings striking out two as the al1 3 to2 after the game Clemens was was given the All-Star game MVP in the span of a few months he had accomplished two of his biggest childhood dreams soon he'd get his chance at the third the

Athens and Sparta of baseball that's how Sports Illustrated describe the Red Sox and the Mets entering the 86 World Series boasting All Stars like Gary Carter Daryl strawberry and Keith Hernandez the 108 win Mets were the odds on favorite Boston meanwhile hadn't won a championship since 1918 tickets for this series were hard to come by this was a problem for fans especially because they didn't have access to today's sponsor game time has this ever happened to you you're sitting at home bored wishing you were somewhere anywhere else somewhere like a baseball game for example and

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two start taking them out for the Mets would be 21-year-old Dwight Gooden Gooden was a generational Talent having posted a 24 and4 record the year before alongside 268 strikeouts and a minuscule 153 erra he and Clemens were easily the most exciting young pitchers of the 1980s it was the matchup everyone had been waiting for Dr K versus the rocket 55,000 fans packed into a soldout sha Stadium to watch the aces do battle instead what they got was a blowout as Clemens and Gooden allowed a combined nine runs neither of them lasted past the fifth and

Boston won 9 to3 the Mets took the next two games tying the series at two a piece the Red Sox answered in game five with a 4-2 Victory the series returned to New York with Boston one win away from their first title in 68 years Roger Clemens was given the ball for game six and with it the chance to win the final game of the World Series he wasted no time getting to work tossing four hitless Innings while the offense pulled ahead two nothing the Mets tagged him for two runs in the fifth but the

Red Sox scored again to go up 3-2 following a scoreless seventh Clemens was pulled aside by manager John mcamera what was said between the two remains disputed to this day whatever it was though Clement was pulled and Calvin chaldi his former University of Texas teammate was put in what happened next is the stuff of baseball Legend chaldi gave up the tying run in the eighth Dave Henderson hit a solo shot in extras followed by an RBI single for Marty Barrett to put the socks up 5 to3 chaldi retired the first two hitters in the bottom

of the 10th before allowing three straight singles and a run he was replaced with Bob Stanley who let the tying run score on a wild p pitch Stanley then got mie Wilson to roll over on one sending a weak ground ball to first baseman Bill Buckner and well you can feel in little roller up along first behind the bag it gets through Buckner Here Comes Knight and the Met win it after the game mcnamer was asked by reporters about the decision to remove Clemens he told them that he had wanted to leave him in but

Roger begged out of the game upon hearing what his manager said said Clemens had to be restrained from charging into mca's office two nights later the Mets won game seven and the series New York fans began tossing beer bottles onto the field and one of them hit a Red Sox employee on the head Roger Clemens screamed into the stands this place sucks they ought to blow the whole place [Music] up despite its ending the 1986 season had been historically great for Roger Clemens across 33 starts he racked up 24 wins posted a 248 ER and

struck out 238 batters his winning percentage erra and whip were all first in the league and he was the unanimous vote for the AL sa young Clemens had been so good in fact that the writers decided to name him the American League MVP making him the first starting pitcher to win the award since V blue in 1971 although not everyone thought he was worthy of the honor Hank Aaron a Hall of Famer in MVP in his own right was of the opinion that since position players couldn't win a sa young pitchers shouldn't be able to

win the MVP now this isn't an uncommon argument and it didn't really have anything to do with Clemens so much as the principle of the awards nevertheless Roger took it personally he said that he wished Aaron were still playing so he could quote crack his head open to show him how valuable he was this would have been controversial to say about anyone but to threaten Hank Aaron a man who was for all intents and purposes a baseball saint that was unforgivable the Press lit into Clemens and his role as a heel was firmly cemented if

the negativity affected him he didn't seem to show it at least on the field he went 20 and9 in 1987 struck out 256 and won a second sa young the Red Sox on the other hand finished fifth in the division by a long shot as the legend of Roger Clemens grew so did the ego he handed out signed photos of himself he insisted that people call him the Rocket Man even his kids names were a reference to his strikeouts all starting with the letter k he started the 88th season strong but imploded down the home

stretch Boston won the division by a game but lost the ALCS to an Oakland Squad led by Jose cono and Mark Maguire Clemen struggles continued in ' 89 the fans criticized him for complaining about having to carry his own bags his teammates criticized him for his Mei first attitude he even fought with groundskeepers Roger was still one of the best pitchers in the league but a fan favorite he was not he missed time in 1990 with a shoulder injury but returned in time for the ALCS a rematch with the Oakland A's taking the mound for

game four he sported a go ey black and Ninja Turtles cleats it was an unusual look for the typically clean cut pitcher after a spotless first Clemens ran into trouble in the second inning following a walk to Willie Randolph he was ejected for arguing with homeplay umpire Terry Cooney an enraged Clemens charged the UMP hurling insult after insult before being ushered off the field he was suspended five games for threatening to kill Cooney commissioner Fay Vincent would later clarify quote you can't kill umpires it's just not allowed that off season Clemens signed a record $21

million contract with Boston on the mound he was Untouchable he won a third sa young in 1991 with the help of a new splitter that he called appropriately Mr splitty despite a last place finish for Boston Clemens was an All-Star in '92 the 93 season was the worst of Roger clemens's career by far he went 11 and 14 his first sub 500 record while his ER jumped to 446 he pitched better during the strike shorten 94 campaign but with GM Dan duette looking to revamp the club with young Talent it was clear that Roger days

in Boston were numbered he was diagnosed with a shoulder strain in early 1995 and lost his only start that postseason he still had moments of Brilliance like when he tied his own record with 20 strikeouts first of the Tigers but Clemens now 34 was far from the ace he'd once been he made his last start of 1996 on September 28th as he walked off the field in the eth Fenway Park showered him with Applause he ended his Red Sox career with 192 wins 38 shutouts and 2,590 strikeouts all franchise highs Dan duket offered him a

four-year deal that off season more of a courtesy than anything else behind the scenes he told a different story Clemens was lazy spoiled and in the quote Twilight of his career in December 1996 Roger Clemens signed a three-year deal with the Toronto Blue jads worth $24 million making him the highest paid pitcher in history I'm going to be a while desperate to prove duette wrong Roger Clemens didn't just return to Forum with the Blue Jays he was better than ever he won 21 games in 1997 posting a 205 ra and striking out 292 on route

to another sa young in his first start back at Fenway he struck out 16 Red Sox over eight Innings and left the field glaring angrily at the Boston owner's box the message had been [Music] sent Roger Clemens was back just a year or two earlier his fast ball had topped out at 92 m an hour while his physique looked like that of a well 34-year-old now though he was throwing in the high 9s again with the body of a prize fighter something had changed it's not known exactly when Roger Clemens first took steroids some say

it was the mid99s when Jose cono joined the Red Sox the two had been golfing buddies and had regular conversations about the pros and cons of peuse after the 97 season Clemens pressured the blue jay to sign cono most evidence however points to 1998 the year Roger first met Brian mnam mnam was the strength and conditioning coach for the Blue Jays but had spent the years before that as a bullpen catcher for the Yankees and before that as an officer for the NYPD which is how in the summer of '98 he found himself on the

receiving end of a strange request Roger Clemens the 35-year-old Toronto Ace and Surefire Hall of Famer wanted to know if m would inject him with steroids the trainer agreed a few days later he administered an injection of wistw an anabolic steroid which Roger had obtained himself it wasn't long before Clemens was taking steroids on a regular basis every 4 days at first then every three it was almost always at his apartment and it was always away from his teammates and coaches by seasons's end his fast ball was hitting 100 mph he'd won 20 games and

received a record f fifth sa Young Award still he wasn't satisfied the Blue Jays were toiling away in third place and he wanted to be on a winning team that winter Roger Clemens was traded to the Yankees the winningest team in baseball in exchange for Graham Lloyd Homer Bush and David Wells clemens's first season in New York was inconsistent he struggled to find his footing and by the All-Star break he was sporting a 470 ER owner George steinbrener blasted him to the press and lamented the loss of Wells to the public the reason for Clement's

decline was a mystery for Roger though it was obvious he missed Brian mamy he was still using peeds but without the guidance of his personal trainer he was lost he was trounced in the ALCS by the Red Sox in Pedro Martinez his spiritual replacement in Boston despite that loss the Yankees won the ALCS and the first three World Series games against the Atlanta Braves Clemens who by then had been moved to the back of the rotation got the ball for game four this time he delivered and New York won 4 to1 it may have taken

him 15 years but Roger Clemens finally had a ring prior to the 2000 season Roger Clemens persuaded the Yankees to hire Brian mnam the pitcher paid the trainer out of his own pocket soon enough the pair were back to their old habits with mnam making regular visits to clemens's apartment injecting him with testosterone and human growth hormone he had a rough start to that Year's postseason losing both starts in the division series versus the A's he bounced back in the next series striking out an ALCS record 15 Seattle Mariners a few days later the Yankees

would advance to yet another World Series this time against the cross town Mets the subway series wasn't clemens's first encounter with the Mets they add drafted him all the way back in ' 81 then of course there was the 86 World Series lately however there was one met in particular who had gotten on his nerves Mike Piaza faced Roger Clemens 22 times in his career over that span he possessed a 421 batting average a605 Ops and four home runs it's a small sample size for sure but if there's any hitter who had rogers's number it

was Piaza perhaps that's why on July 8th 2000 Clemens threw a fast ball straight at Pat's head the Mets were outraged while the Yankees struggled to defend their pitcher actions to hit somebody in the head you don't do that said Joe Tori Piaza was diagnosed with a concussion and missed the All-Star Game unsurprisingly by the time the World Series came around many wondered what would happen in the Clemens Piaza rematch they didn't have to wait long to find out in the first Inning on a one-w count Clemens jammed Piaza with an inside fast ball Pat's

bat snapped sending the barrel toward the mound any normal person would have left it at that and moved on to the next pitch unfortunately Roger Clemens is not a normal person the barrel of the bat comes back at Roger Clemens and he fires the bat back toward piau who is going down the first Baseline for whatever reason Clemens wasn't ejected for throwing a baseball bat at another human being he told told the UMP that he thought it was the ball a claim so laughable you could be excused for thinking he was joking in a career

full of hit batters media feuds and onfield blowups this was easily the biggest Scandal Roger Clemens had faced so [Music] far it's easy to look back today and wonder wonder how nobody figured out what was really going on with Roger Clemens how was it possible that a 38-year-old a decade and a half into his career was still hurling fast balls in the high 90s still winning Sai Youngs still packing on pound after pound of pure muscle at the time though most fans and media members were more than happy not to know in an article published

in July 2001 USA Today described the pitcher's daily workout routine longdistance running Sprints heavy leg work and up to 2,000 stomach crunches in September Newsday wrote that Brian mnam was clemens's quote secret weapon mnam however was beginning to worry although Roger continued to dominate in 2001 winning a six sa young mnam decided he needed some insurance in case things turned South he stashed steroid vials needles and Gauze he had used to wipe up Clem's blood into a ziplock bag and saved it in a box in his basement in the months following the 2002 campaign Clemens

now 40 years old announced that 2003 would be his final season thus began the Roger Clemens farewell tour gallons of ink were spilled talking about his legacy hours of broadcasts were spent discussing his accomplishments he and debie were featured in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue when he made his final regular season start at Fenway the Boston faithful gave the New York Yankee a standing ovation Clemens finished the season with 310 career wins six S Young and the admiration of the baseball world that November he reiterated that he was done for good 3 months later however he

changed his mind signing a one-year $5 million contract with the Astros houstonians were elated to have one of their own wearing an Astros uniform New Yorkers felt Bamboozled tearing into the pitch for his betrayal off the field Clemens relished the hype on the field he was electric becoming the oldest player ever to win the say Young award yet again Roger Clemens decided to postpone his retirement he signed another one-year deal with Houston this time for $18 million it was the highest annual salary earned by an MLB pitcher in history in February of 2005 Jose Cano

published his tell all book Juiced in which he accused Clemens his former teammate of steroid use when asked about it Roger told reporters that quote when you're under house arrest and have ankle bracelets on you have a lot of time to write a book although he finished the season with a career low 187 erra 2005 was touched by tragedy for Roger Clemens that September in the midst of the playoff race his mother best passed away in a statement to the New York Post Clemens said that his mother's dying wish was that he retire after the

season this retirement however lasted only a bit longer than the previous one in May 2006 he signed another one-year deal with the Astros he pitched well enough but people were starting to Tire of his selfishness unreliability and seemingly insatiable desire for attention that off season despite his insistence that he was once again done with baseball he was offered deals by the Astros the Red Sox and the Yankees on May 6th 2007 he made his decision in the most Roger Clemens way possible Roger Clemens is in George's box and Roger Clemens is coming back oh my

my good goodness gracious of all the dramatic things of all the dramatic things I've ever seen Roger kemman standing right in George sty breer's box announcing he is back Roger Clemens is a New York if you had told any baseball fan 10 years earlier that Clemens would still be pitching at age 45 let alone as one of the highest paid players in the league they would have said you were crazy and yet there he was was taking the mound at Yankee Stadium for his 24th MLB season he was undeniably mediocre in ' 07 going 6-6

with a 418 ra following his last start in which he lasted just two and a third against Cleveland in the ALDS he hinted that he'd return for yet another season eventually though the fairy tale would have to come to an end one way or another [Music] for as obvious as it seems in hindsight Roger Clemens had been able to avoid the worst of the steroid allegations that haunted ml at the time sure there had been rumors like when former Yankees pitcher Jason Grimley accused Clemens of using peeds but he wasn't Mark Maguire who'd been called

to appear in front of Congress alongside Sammy Sosa rapael Palo and others he wasn't Barry Bonds who'd been indicted for lying about his use of steroids and he definitely wasn't Jose cono who had been more than willing to publicize his cheating for the right price of course on December 13th 2007 though that would all change with the release of the report of the commissioner of baseball of an independent investigation into the illegal use of steroids and other performance-enhancing substances by players in Major League Baseball you might know it better as the Mitchell report the Mitchell

report was a 409 page document citing phone records canceled checks and written testimony regarding steroids in baseball 89 players were mentioned by name including stars like Andy pedet Eric G and yes Roger Clemens most of the evidence against Clemens came from Brian mnam who also claimed he gave human growth hormone to Andy Pettit in 2002 Clemens firmly denied any wrongdoing but there were two problems with this strategy the first was that mnam had the vials needles and Gauze used by Roger the second was that 2 days after the Mitchell report was released pedit put out

a statement confirming that he had in fact used HGH in January 2008 Clemens appeared on 60 Minutes to address the report he insisted that his longevity was due to his quote hard work not peeds the next day he sued mnam for defamation that February the two men were summoned before Congress they confirmed that Andy Pettit had told them Clemens took HGH in 1999 or 2000 Clemens told them that Pettit must have quote misremembered over the remainder of the 4-Hour hearing he stumbled over his words interrupted others and accused his former trainer of lying at any

point Roger could have admitted wrongdoing and everything probably would have gone away said Earl Ward mn's attorney but he kept digging a deeper and deeper grave it was over Clemens was asked to stay away from the Astros facilities his endorsement deals were cancelled his name was removed from the Roger Clemens Institute for sports medicine in 2010 he was indicted by a grand jury for making false statements to Congress and while he was eventually acquitted it did little to change the minds of the public in 2013 his first year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame

Roger Clemens received 37.6% of the vote far short of the 75% required for induction he would never get more than 65 and fell off the ballot in 2022 Roger Clemens has never publicly admitted to taking steroids even if he did it's not clear that it would do him any good sure he still has his money his cars clothes and house won't be taken away but the respect of his peers the love of his fans his legacy those things have been lost possibly for good