MVP & Cy Young Profile: Roger Clemens, 1986

Pitcher, Boston Red Sox

Age:  24 (Aug. 4)

3^rd season in major leagues & with Red Sox

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’4”    Weight: 205

Prior to 1986:

A native of Ohio who moved to Texas in high school, Clemens attended San Jacinto Junior College, which had a strong baseball program, before moving on to the University of Texas, passing up a contract offer from the New York Mets, who drafted him as an amateur in 1981. He was a power-pitching member of the Texas squad that won the 1983 College World Series before signing with the Red Sox, who made him a first round draft pick that year. The highly driven Clemens climbed readily through Boston’s minor league system and joined the parent club in 1984. Somewhat unsteady as a rookie, Clemens compiled a 9-4 record with a 4.32 ERA and was shut down in September due to a tendon injury in his pitching arm. Several injuries marred his 1985 season that concluded with surgery on his right shoulder after posting a 7-5 record with 3.29 ERA in just 15 starts.

1986 Season Summary

Appeared in 33 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Pitching

Games – 33

Games Started – 33 [15, tied with ten others]

Complete Games – 10 [8, tied with Kirk McCaskill & Dennis Boyd]

Wins – 24 [1]

Losses – 4

PCT - .857 [1]

Saves – 0

Shutouts – 1

Innings Pitched – 254 [5]

Hits – 179

Runs – 77

Earned Runs – 70

Home Runs – 21

Bases on Balls – 67

Strikeouts – 238 [2]

ERA – 2.48 [1]

Hit Batters – 4

Balks – 3 [6, tied with four others]

Wild Pitches – 11 [9]

League-leading wins were +3 ahead of runner-up Jack Morris

League-leading win percentage was +.107 ahead of runner-up Dennis Rasmussen

League-leading ERA was -0.31 lower than runner-up Teddy Higuera

Midseason Snapshot: 15-2, ERA - 2.48, SO - 146 in 145 IP

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Most strikeouts, game – 20 (in 9 IP) vs. Seattle 4/29 (set MLB record)

10+ strikeout games – 8

Fewest hits allowed, game – 2 (in 9 IP) at Texas 5/25, (in 9 IP) at California 7/25, (in 9 IP) at Minnesota 8/20

Fielding

Chances – 52

Put Outs – 27

Assists – 21

Errors – 4

DP – 0

Pct. - .923

Postseason Pitching:

G – 5 GS – 5 (ALCS vs. California – 3G; World Series vs. NY Mets – 2G)

CG – 0, Record – 1-1, PCT – .500, SV – 0, ShO – 0, IP – 34, H – 31, R – 17, ER – 15, HR – 1, BB – 13, SO – 28, ERA – 3.97, HB – 2, BLK – 0, WP – 0

Awards & Honors:

AL MVP: BBWAA

AL Cy Young Award: BBWAA

MLB Player of the Year: Sporting News

AL Pitcher of the Year: Sporting News

All-Star (Starting P for AL)

Top 5 in AL MVP Voting:

Roger Clemens, Bos. 339 pts. – 19 of 28 first place votes, 86% share

Don Mattingly, NYY: 258 pts. – 5 first place votes, 66% share

Jim Rice, Bos.: 241 pts. – 4 first place votes, 61% share

George Bell, Tor: 125 pts. – 32% share

Jesse Barfield, Tor.: 107 pts. – 27% share

AL Cy Young voting:

Roger Clemens, Bos.: 140 pts. – 28 of 28 first place votes, 100% share

Teddy Higuera, Mil.: 42 pts. – 30% share

Mike Witt, Cal.: 35 pts. – 25% share

Dave Righetti, NYY: 20 pts. – 14% share

Jack Morris, Det.: 13 pts. – 9% share

Mark Eichhorn, Tor.: 2 pts. – 1% share

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Red Sox went 95-66 to finish first in the AL Eastern Division by 5.5 games over the New York Yankees. Won ALCS over California Angels, 4 games to 3, overcoming a 3-1 deficit. Lost World Series to New York Mets, 4 games to 3, facilitated by a dramatic sixth-game collapse in the tenth inning.

Aftermath of ‘86:

“The Rocket” spent ten more seasons with the Red Sox, often highlighted by controversy. He briefly walked out during spring training in 1987 over a contract dispute and overcame a slow 4-6 start to end up with another Cy Young Award-winning season, ultimately posting a 20-9 record with the fifth place Red Sox. In 1988 he returned to the All-Star Game and compiled an 18-12 tally and topped the AL in complete games (18) and shutouts (7). Boston returned to the top of the AL East. Clemens led the AL in ERA for three straight years from 1990 to ’92 and won a third Cy Young Award in 1991. His performance slipped thereafter as his record dropped to 11-14 with a 4.46 ERA in 1993, and after a fair year in 1994, he slipped badly again in ’95. Clemens had another 20-strikeout single-game performance in 1996 on his way to a 10-13 record with a league-leading 257 strikeouts. “The Rocket” signed a three-year free agent contract worth $24.75 million with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1997 and won the AL Cy Young Award that year with a fifth-place team that went 76-86 and again in 1998, when he was 20-6 and topped the circuit in ERA (2.65) and strikeouts (271). The Blue Jays rose to third at 88-74 and Clemens requested a trade to a contending team and was dealt to the New York Yankees just prior to the ’99 season. Clemens spent five years with the Yanks, who won three AL pennants and two World Series titles during that time. “The Rocket” won another Cy Young Award in 2001 and compiled 77 wins in all during that period. Hinting at retirement in 2003, he moved on to the Houston Astros as a free agent in 2004 and had an 18-4 record with a 2.98 ERA and received a seventh Cy Young Award. At age 43 in 2005, he led the NL with a 1.87 ERA as the Astros won the league pennant for the first time in franchise history. Clemens re-signed with Houston in ’06 and ended up with a 7-6 record and 2.30 ERA while the club failed to reach the postseason. Clemens returned to the Yankees for one final year in 2007. Clemens returned to organized baseball in 2012 at the age of 50, appearing with the Sugar Land Skeeters of the independent Atlantic League. He started two games and had no decisions.  Overall in the major leagues, he had a 354-184 record and 3.12 ERA with 4672 strikeouts over the course of 4916.2 innings. In the postseason he was 12-8 with a 3.75 ERA and 173 strikeouts. His numbers with Boston alone were 192-111 with a 3.06 ERA and 2590 strikeouts. Controversy erupted over his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs during the later stages of his career, thus far keeping him from gaining election to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

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MVP Profiles feature players in the National or American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award (1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present) as Most Valuable Player.

Cy Young Profiles feature pitchers who were recipients of the Cy Young Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1956 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its inception through 1966 and from 1967 on to one recipient from each major league.