Cy Young Profile: Roger Clemens, 1991

Pitcher, Boston Red Sox

Age:  29 (Aug. 4)

8^th season with Red Sox

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’4”    Weight: 205 

Prior to 1991:

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. “The Rocket” broke out with a dominating season in 1986 as he compiled a 24-4 record with an AL-leading 2.48 ERA. His 238 strikeouts included a single-game record 20 against Seattle. Clemens was the league MVP as well as Cy Young Award recipient. He 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 was an All-Star once again 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 in 1990 (1.93) to go along with a 21-6 mark and 209 strikeouts.

1991 Season Summary

Appeared in 35 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Pitching

Games – 35

Games Started – 35 [1, tied with five others]

Complete Games – 13 [2]

Wins – 18 [4, tied with Jack Morris, Jim Abbott & Chuck Finley]

Losses – 10

PCT - .643 [10]

Saves – 0

Shutouts – 4 [1]

Innings Pitched – 271.1 [1]

Hits – 219 [12]

Runs – 93

Earned Runs – 79

Home Runs – 15

Bases on Balls – 65

Strikeouts – 241 [1]

ERA – 2.62 [1]

Hit Batters – 5

Balks – 0

Wild Pitches – 6

League-leading shutouts were +1 ahead of four runners-up

League-leading innings pitched were +17.2 ahead of runner-up Jack McDowell

League-leading strikeouts were +13 ahead of runner-up Randy Johnson

League-leading ERA was -0.03 lower than runner-up Tom Candiotti

Midseason Snapshot: 11-5, ERA - 2.22, SO - 123 in 133.2 IP

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Most strikeouts, game – 11 (in 9 IP) vs. Cleveland 4/13

10+ strikeout games – 7

Fewest hits allowed, game – 2 (in 9 IP) at Detroit 9/10, (in 8 IP) at Oakland 6/8, (in 7 IP) at Chi. White Sox 7/17

Fielding

Chances – 62

Put Outs – 31

Assists – 30

Errors – 1

DP – 1

Pct. - .984 

Awards & Honors:

AL Cy Young Award: BBWAA

AL Pitcher of the Year: Sporting News

All-Star

10^th in AL MVP voting (57 points, 15% share)

AL Cy Young voting (Top 5):

Roger Clemens, BosRS.: 119 points – 21 of 28 first place votes, 85% share

Scott Erickson, Min.: 56 points – 3 first place votes, 40% share

Jim Abbott, Cal.: 26 points – 19% share

Jack Morris, Min.: 17 points – 3 first place votes, 12% share

Bryan Harvey, Cal.: 10 points – 7% share

(1 first place vote cast for Kevin Tapani, Min., who finished seventh)

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Red Sox went 84-78 to finish tied for second with the Detroit Tigers in the AL Eastern Division, 7 games behind the division-winning Toronto Blue Jays. Following back-to-back 11-16 records in June and July, the Red Sox caught fire and won 31 of 41 games from August 9 to Sept. 21 to move from 10 games behind the division-leading Blue Jays to a half-game out. They then lost 11 of their last 14 games to end up in a second-place tie.

Aftermath of ‘91:

Clemens led the AL with a 2.41 ERA in 1992, his third straight ERA title, while also compiling an 18-11 record and 5 shutouts with 208 strikeouts. 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, going 21-7 with a league-best 2.05 ERA and 292 strikeouts with a fifth-place team that went 76-86 and again in 1998, when he was 20-6 and topped the circuit again 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 followed LHP Andy Pettitte, a teammate and friend with the Yankees, 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. He later 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 compiled 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 achieving election to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

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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.