Cy Young Profile: Roger Clemens, 1997

Pitcher, Toronto Blue Jays

Age:  35 (Aug. 4)

1^st season with Blue Jays

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’4”    Weight: 205 

Prior to 1997:

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 Boston 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. Clemens led the AL in ERA for three straight years from 1990 to ’92 and won a third Cy Young Award in 1991. 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 Blue Jays in 1997.

1997 Season Summary

Appeared in 34 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Pitching

Games – 34

Games Started – 34 [5, tied with five others]

Complete Games – 9 [1, tied with Pat Hentgen]

Wins – 21 [1]

Losses – 7

PCT - .750 [3]

Saves – 0

Shutouts – 3 [1, tied with Pat Hentgen]

Innings Pitched – 264 [1, tied with Pat Hentgen]

Hits – 204

Runs – 65

Earned Runs – 60

Home Runs – 9

Bases on Balls – 68

Strikeouts – 292 [1]

ERA – 2.05 [1]

Hit Batters – 12 [4]

Balks – 0

Wild Pitches – 4

League-leading wins were +1 ahead of runners-up Randy Johnson & Brad Radke

League-leading strikeouts were +1 ahead of runner-up Randy Johnson

League-leading ERA was -0.23 lower than runner-up Randy Johnson

Midseason Snapshot: 13-3, ERA - 1.69, SO - 140 in 138.1 IP

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Most strikeouts, game – 16 (in 8 IP) at Boston 7/12

10+ strikeout games – 14

Fewest hits allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 2 (in 9 IP) vs. Texas 9/7, (in 7 IP) at Texas 4/19

Batting

PA – 3, AB – 2, R – 1, H – 1, 2B – 1, 3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 0, BB – 1, SO – 0, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG - .500, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF – 0

Fielding

Chances – 51

Put Outs – 11

Assists – 39

Errors – 1

DP – 1

Pct. - .980

Awards & Honors:

AL Cy Young Award: BBWAA

AL Pitcher of the Year: Sporting News

All-Star

10^th in AL MVP voting (56 points, 14% share)

AL Cy Young voting (top 5):

Roger Clemens, Tor.: 134 points – 25 of 28 first place votes, 96% share

Randy Johnson, Sea.: 77 points – 2 first place votes, 55% share

Brad Radke, Min.: 17 points – 12% share

Randy Myers, Balt.: 14 points – 1 first place vote, 10% share

Andy Pettitte, NYY: 9 points – 6% share

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The Blue Jays went 76-86 to finish fifth (last) in the AL Eastern Division, 22 games behind the division-winning Baltimore Orioles. The pitching staff led the league in complete games (19) and shutouts (16). The weak-hitting Blue Jays were fueled by their one-two pitching punch of Clemens and Pat Hentgen. Following a 40-43 first half, the club won five straight to briefly go over .500 at 50-49 on July 26. From there they lost six in a row and were 17 games out of first at the end of July, a deficit from which they could not recover, despite Clemens becoming the first AL pitcher in 52 years to win the pitching version of the Triple Crown.

Aftermath of 1997:

Clemens followed up with another Cy Young-winning season in 1998, when he went 20-6 and topped the circuit again in ERA (2.65) and strikeouts (271). Although the Blue Jays rose to third at 88-74 he requested a trade to a contending team and was dealt to the New York Yankees just prior to the 1999 season. He posted a 14-10 tally for the ’99 Yankees. At age 36 he was showing signs of wear as he completed only one of his 30 starts while dropping to under 200 innings pitched, and his ERA rose to 4.60. He picked up a win in the World Series triumph over Atlanta. Clemens improved in 2000 to 13-8 with a 3.70 ERA and 188 strikeouts in 204.1 innings. The Yankees were again division champs and Clemens pitched a one-hit shutout with 15 strikeouts against Seattle in the ALCS. In the World Series against the cross-town Mets, he pitched 8 shutout innings in a game better remembered for an odd altercation with Mets catcher Mike Piazza who broke his bat on a play in which Clemens threw the barrel of the broken bat at him as he ran toward first as the ball rolled foul, infuriating Piazza and causing the benches to clear. The Yankees won the Series and Clemens was fined $50,000 for the broken bat incident. “The Rocket” won another Cy Young Award in 2001 as he posted a 20-3 tally and 3.51 ERA with 213 strikeouts for the pennant-winning club. Clemens followed up with a 13-6 record in 2002 and a 4.35 ERA and 192 strikeouts while pitching 180 innings. Hinting at retirement in 2003, in which he went 17-9 with a 3.91 ERA, 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 Blue Jays were 41-13 with a 2.33 ERA and 563 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.