Boston Red Sox (1984-96)

Clemens was drafted 19th overall by the Boston Red Sox in 1983 and quickly rose through the minor league system, making his major league debut on May 15, 1984. In 1986 his 24 wins helped guide the Sox to the World Series and earned Clemens the American League Most Valuable Player award for the regular season. He also won the first of his seven Cy Young Awards.

Hall of Fame slugger Hank Aaron angered the pitcher by saying that pitchers should not be eligible for the MVP. "I wish he were still playing," Clemens responded. "I'd probably crack his head open to show him how valuable I was." Clemens remains the only starting pitcher since Vida Blue in 1971 to win a league MVP award.

On April 29, 1986, Clemens became the first pitcher in history to strike out 20 batters in a nine-inning major league game, against the Seattle Mariners at Fenway Park. Only Kerry Wood and Randy Johnson have matched the total. (Johnson's 20-strikeout performance was originally catalogued separately by MLB because it occurred in the first nine innings of an extra-inning game, but has since been accepted. Tom Cheney holds the record for any game: 21 strikeouts in 16 innings.)

Clemens accomplished the 20-strikeout feat twice, the only player ever to do so. The second performance came more than 10 years later, on September 18, 1996 against the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium. Clemens's second 20-K day occurred in his second-to-last game as a member of the Boston Red Sox. In each of his 20-strikeout games, he did not walk any batters.

Clemens recorded 192 wins for the Red Sox, tied with Cy Young for the franchise record. No Red Sox player has worn his # 21 since Clemens left the team in 1996.

 

Toronto Blue Jays (1997-98)

Notoriously, Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette said Clemens was in the "twilight of his career" following four consecutive seasons, 1993-96, in which the pitcher was a mediocre 40-39 with few of the eye-popping statistics that had become his norm. The Red Sox opted not to re-sign him following the 1996 season. However, the full quote from which "twilight" is excerpted was not entirely negative, and also referred to Red Sox management's hopes that Clemens would spend his entire career with Boston.

Clemens signed with the Toronto Blue Jays after the 1996 season, and won the Cy Young Award in both his seasons with the Blue Jays, also winning the pitching Triple Crown twice. Some consider Clemens's tenure with the Blue Jays as his best individual seasons of his career, despite the lackluster records the Blue Jays had as a team.

In Clemens's first start in Fenway Park as a member of the Blue Jays (July 12, 1997) he pitched an inspired game, giving up only 4 hits and 1 run in 8 innings. 16 of his 24 outs were strikeouts, and every batter who faced him struck out at least once.  The emphasis on the 1996 "twilight" quote took on a life of its own following Clemens's post-Boston successes, and Duquette was vilified for letting the star pitcher go.  As of the end of the 2006 season, Clemens's record since he left Boston is 156-67.

 

New York Yankees (1999-2003)

Clemens was traded to the New York Yankees before the 1999 season for David Wells, Homer Bush, and Graeme Lloyd. In 1999 and 2000, he won World Series titles with the Yankees. Since his longtime uniform number # 21 was in use by teammate Paul O'Neill, Clemens initially wore #12, before switching mid-season to # 22.

Clemens's 2000 season was punctuated by a pair of notorious moments involving New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza. During a July 8, 2000, game between the Mets and the Yankees, Clemens threw a high inside fastball to Piazza which bounced off Piazza's hand and hit him squarely in the head. Piazza had previously enjoyed great success as a hitter against Clemens (including a grand slam against Clemens one month earlier), which was widely seen as Clemens's motivation. The incident and its aftermath received intense media coverage. Piazza bitterly criticized Clemens, while the Mets were assailed for not "protecting" their star catcher (retaliating by hitting an important Yankee batter). And when both the Yankees and the Mets reached that year's World Series, there was great anticipation regarding the two men's first confrontation since the beaning.

In Piazza's first at-bat of Game 2, his bat shattered, sending a large piece of the broken bat shard flying in Clemens' direction. Clemens picked it up and threw the broken bat down toward the first base line, missing Piazza but clearing the benches of both teams.  Clemens was not ejected from the game, although he was later fined $50,000. Following the bizarre incident, he proceeded to shut down the Mets with 8 innings of 2-hit, no-walk, 9-strikeout pitching.

In his previous start, in Game 4 of the 2000 ALCS against the Seattle Mariners, Clemens threw a 1-hit shutout while striking out 15. This contest was also marked by gamesmanship, as Clemens knocked down the Mariners' star hitter Alex Rodriguez twice during his first at-bat. (Rodríguez eventually walked, the only baserunner allowed by Clemens through the game's first six innings.)

In 2001, Roger Clemens became the first pitcher in history to start a season 20-1. He finished at 20-3 and won his sixth Cy Young Award.

Early in 2003, Clemens announced his retirement, effective at the end of that season. On June 13, 2003, pitching against the St. Louis Cardinals in Yankee Stadium, Clemens recorded his 300th career win and 4,000th career strikeout, the only player in history to record both milestones in the same game. The 300th win came on his fourth try; the Yankee bullpen had blown his chance of a win in his previous two attempts. He became the 21st pitcher ever to record 300 wins and the third ever to record 4,000 strikeouts, joining Nolan Ryan (5,714) and Steve Carlton (4,136). His career record upon reaching the milestones was 300-155; his record at the end of the season was 310-160 with 4,099 strikeouts. Clemens finished the season with a 17-9 record and a 3.91 ERA.

The end of Clemens's 2003 season became a series of public farewells in which the great righthander was met with appreciative cheering. His last games in each AL park were given extra attention, particularly his final regular season appearance in Fenway Park (a spectacle which was repeated when the Yankees ended up playing the Red Sox in that year's ALCS and Clemens got a second "final start" in his original stadium). Though wearing the uniform of the hated arch rival, the Fenway Faithful gave him a standing ovation as he left the field. Clemens was permitted to manage the Yankees' last game of the regular season. Clemens made one start in the World Series against the Florida Marlins; when he left trailing 3-1 after seven innings, even the Marlins left their dugout to give him a standing ovation.

 

Houston Astros (2004-06)

He chose to un-retire, signing a one-year deal with his adopted hometown Houston Astros on January 12, 2004, joining close friend and former Yankees teammate Andy Pettitte. On May 5, 2004, Clemens recorded his 4,137th career strikeout to place him second on the all-time list behind Nolan Ryan. He finished the season with 4,317 career strikeouts, and his 18-4 record gave him a career record of 328-164. After the season, he won his seventh Cy Young Award, extending his record number of awards. He became the oldest player ever to win this award, at age 42. This also made him the fourth pitcher to win the award in both leagues, after Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martínez, and Randy Johnson. In Houston, Clemens wore # 22, his number with the Yankees, partially because Pettitte chose # 21, in Clemens' honor.

Clemens again decided to put off retirement before the 2005 season after the Houston Astros offered salary arbitration. The Astros submitted an offer of $13.5 million, and Clemens countered with a record $22 million demand. On January 21, 2005, both sides agreed on a one-year, $18,000,022 contract, thus avoiding arbitration. The deal gave Clemens the highest yearly salary earned by a pitcher in MLB history. It also made him the sixth-highest paid player in baseball that year.

Clemens's 2005 season ended as one of the finest he had ever posted. His 1.87 ERA was the lowest in the major leagues, the lowest of his 22-season career, and the lowest by any National Leaguer since pitching great and contemporary rival Greg Maddux in 1995. He finished with a 13-8 record despite ranking near 30th in run support, with the Astros scoring an average of only about 3.5 runs per game in games in which he was the pitcher of record. The Astros were shut out nine times in Clemens's 32 starts, and failed to score in a 10th until after Clemens was out of the game. The Astros lost five Clemens starts by scores of 1-0, including three consecutively in April.

He has more career wins than any other right-handed pitcher of the live-ball era. On April 8, 2005, Clemens won his first start of the season against the Cincinnati Reds, which tied him with Steve Carlton for second in wins for live-ball pitchers, and first among pitchers whose career began after World War II. However, it took him a month to surpass Carlton, as he was victimized by horrendous run support in a string of five starts that produced one loss and four no-decisions. On May 9, he finally got his second win of the season against the Florida Marlins, giving him 330 for his career. Only left-hander Warren Spahn is ahead of Clemens in wins among live-ball pitchers. Passing Carlton also gave Clemens more wins than any pitcher alive. The only current pitcher with a reasonable chance of passing Clemens is Maddux, who now has 333 wins to Clemens's 348 and is nearly four years younger. On the morning of September 15th Clemens' mother Bess died, Clemens took the mound later that night and pitched well to earn a win in front an energetic Houston crowd.

In his final start of the 2005 season, Clemens got his 4,500th strikeout. On October 9, 2005, Clemens made his first relief appearance since 1984, entering as a pinch hitter in the 15th, then pitching three innings to help the Astros defeat the Atlanta Braves in the longest postseason game in MLB history. The game ran 18 innings, and Clemens was awarded the win.

After the NLCS victory, Clemens's 2005 season ended disappointingly, as he lasted only two innings in Game 1 of the 2005 World Series. The Astros went on to lose all four games of the franchise's first World Series. A hamstring pull had hampered Clemens's performance since at least September.

The Astros declined arbitration to Clemens on December 7, 2005, which prevented them from re-signing him before May 1, 2006. The Astros, Rangers, Red Sox, and Yankees expressed an interest in signing him, but Clemens implied that he was finally retiring after his Team USA was eliminated by Mexico in the second round from the 2006 World Baseball Classic on March 16, 2006. However, there was no formal retirement announcement.

On May 31, 2006, following another extended period of speculation, it was announced that Clemens was coming out of retirement for the third time to pitch for the Astros for the remainder of the 2006 season. Clemens signed a contract worth $22,000,022 (his uniform number is # 22), which would have been the highest one-year deal in MLB history. But since Clemens did not play a full season, he received a prorated percentage of that: approximately $12.25 million. Clemens made his return on June 22, 2006, against the Minnesota Twins, losing to their rookie phenom, Francisco Liriano, 4-2. For the second year in a row, his win total did not match his performance, as he finished the season with a 7-6 record, a 2.30 ERA, and a 1.04 WHIP. However, Clemens averaged just under 6 innings in his starts and never pitched into the eighth.

 

New York Yankees (2007)

On May 6, 2007, Clemens announced from the owner's box at Yankee Stadium that he has rejoined the Yankees roster. Clemens agreed to a one year deal worth $28,000,022, or about $4.5 million per month between June and September.  Roger ended 2007 with a 6-6 record and a 4.18 era.

 

Postseason performance

In the 1986 ALCS, Clemens pitched poorly in the opening game, watched the Boston bullpen blow his 3-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 4, and then pitched a strong Game 7 to wrap up the series for Boston. The 1986 ALCS clincher was Clemens' first postseason career victory. He did not win his second until 13 years later.

After a bad start in Game 2 of the 1986 World Series, Clemens returned to the mound for Game 6, which would have clinched the World Series for the Boston Red Sox. Clemens left the game after 7 innings leading 3-2, but the Red Sox infamously went on to lose the game in the 10th inning, and subsequently, the championship. Clemens's departure was highly debated and remains a bone of contention among the participants. Red Sox manager John McNamara claimed Clemens took himself out due to a blister, though Clemens strongly denies that.

Clemens most explosive postseason failure came in the second inning of the final game of the 1990 ALCS against the Oakland Athletics, when he was ejected for arguing with an umpire, putting a dismal stamp on an A's sweep. He was suspended for the first five games of the 1991 season and fined $10,00o. Clemens had two other playoff no-decisions, in 1988 and 1995, both occurring while Boston was being swept. These games did no favors for Clemens reputation as the Red Sox ace between April and September. Clemens's overall postseason record with Boston was 1-2 with a 3.88 ERA, and 45 strikeouts and 19 walks in 56 innings.

After surrendering the New York Yankees' only loss in the 1999 playoffs in a much-hyped contest with Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez, Clemens began improving his postseason numbers. His 3-0 record in the World Series includes a must-win performance with New York down 2-0 in the 2001 series; then, in Game 7, it was Clemens who matched Curt Schilling; his start (6 innings, 1 run, 10 strikeouts) was forgotten in the wake of the Diamondbacks' famous ninth-inning comeback. In 2000, after losing two division series games to Oakland, Clemens pitched his most spectacular game as a Yankee in the ALCS against the Seattle Mariners: a complete game one-hitter with 15 strikeouts. Clemens's overall postseason record with the Yankees was 7-4 with a 3.17 ERA, and 98 strikeouts and 35 walks in 102 innings.

For the Astros, Clemens was the losing pitcher in game 7 of the 2004 NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals, allowing 4 runs in 6 innings of work. Clemens's 2005 postseason was marked by highs and lows. In Game 4 of the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves, he made a dramatic emergency relief appearance, entering as a pinch-hitter (the first pinch-hitting appearance of his career), then pitching the 16th through 18th innings and collecting the series-ending win. However, during the World Series, a hamstring pull ended Clemens's start after two innings, as his hometown team lost 5-3. It was Clemens's only World Series appearance for the Astros. Clemens's overall postseason record with Houston is 4-2 with a 4.60 ERA, and 29 strikeouts and 15 walks in 41 innings. Through the end of 2006, Clemens's total postseason record is 12-8 in 33 starts, with an ERA more than half a run higher than his career average.