Put no limits on Clemens
Roger Clemens bashing is all the rage, and maybe for good reason. Despise his parachuting into a major-league roster in June. Write him off for his burnt orange blood. Indict him in your mind because he’s probably skating free on some foreign substance while the Barry Bonds crowd gets all the slings and arrows.
But you’ve got to give Clemens credit. He’s walking in awfully tall cotton.
The Rocket is back, getting major-league victory Number 349 Saturday night. Clemens is cruising into serious history. He’s only 12 wins behind Kid Nichols, 14 behind Warren Spahn, 15 behind Pud Galvin.
After that comes only the holy names of pitching. Grover Cleveland Alexander and Christy Mathewson at 373 wins, Walter Johnson at 417 and Cy Young at 511.
Who would have thought a modern pitcher could catch Pud Galvin, who was born in 1856 and pitched in the century when guys would throw every other day? Who would have thought a modern pitcher could catch Spahn, who is the one modern-era player whose stats are most out of date from his contemporaries?
All those other guys on the list, sans Spahn, are from the dead-ball era or the 19th century. But Clemens is set to join them in the 350-win club, and who knows how high he could go. Clemens will win 15-20 more games if he comes back again next season. Put no limits on what Clemens might achieve.
Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel.
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