Joe in Philly
Mar 8 2006, 08:42 PM
QUOTE
Roger Clemens said Monday that he plans to retire after the World Baseball Classic ends later this month, according to a story in Tuesday's edition of USA Today.
\"Right now, I don't see myself playing,\" Clemens told the newspaper on Monday. \"I'm not going to start the season with anyone. I made my mind up. And when I do shut it down, I'll be walking away with a smile on my face. There will be no regrets, because I feel like I've done it the right way.\"
Clemens, who turns 44 in August, left himself an out, however. He could sign with a team -- most likely a contender -- later this summer.
Dear Roger,
Please retire. Or don't. Whatever. Just MAKE UP YOUR MIND already, you big drama queen!
Sincerely,
JIP
buccoman
Mar 8 2006, 08:49 PM
Dear Roger,
Retire. I want the Astros to suck this year.
Thanks,
Bucco
Cajun
Mar 9 2006, 08:02 AM
QUOTE
buccoman:
Dear Roger,
Retire. I want the Astros to suck this year.
Thanks,
Bucco
That's not very nice bucco - you KNOW how much JoeBob in San Antone likes the 'stros.......
You mean the same 'Stros who got spanked by the Chicago White Sox in the 2005 World Series?
Gaga4Gaby
Mar 9 2006, 08:35 AM
Hitting batters purposely, tossing half a broken bat at Mike Piazza, "retiring" from the Yankees to get out of his contract only to almost immediately sign with the Astros ... oh, yeah, Roger Clemens has done it "the right way."
What a jerk.
buccoman
Mar 9 2006, 08:53 AM
QUOTE
Cajun:
QUOTE
buccoman:
Dear Roger,
Retire. I want the Astros to suck this year.
Thanks,
Bucco
That's not very nice bucco - you KNOW how much JoeBob in San Antone likes the 'stros.......
Cajun, Nice to see you over here, man...The 'Stros are hard to hate, but I just want desperately for my Buccos to win this year....
Adam
Mar 9 2006, 11:31 AM
QUOTE
Joe in Philly:
QUOTE
Roger Clemens said Monday that he plans to retire after the World Baseball Classic ends later this month, according to a story in Tuesday's edition of USA Today.
\"Right now, I don't see myself playing,\" Clemens told the newspaper on Monday. \"I'm not going to start the season with anyone. I made my mind up. And when I do shut it down, I'll be walking away with a smile on my face. There will be no regrets, because I feel like I've done it the right way.\"
Clemens, who turns 44 in August, left himself an out, however. He could sign with a team -- most likely a contender -- later this summer.
Dear Roger,
Please retire. Or don't. Whatever. Just MAKE UP YOUR MIND already, you big drama queen!
Sincerely,
JIP
Let's also send this same letter to Brett Favre. I'm tired of athletes playing Hamlet in public.
~Adam
Falconpride
Mar 9 2006, 01:10 PM
MY version of the letter:
Dear Roger,
Please retire...then you can be my sex toy...and still get to be a pitcher. Thanks!
Love,
Your Secret Admirer
fantomas
Mar 14 2006, 01:49 PM
Dear Roger,
Please keep pitching as long as you can. Julio Franco is now 46 going on 47. Phil Niekro made it to 48. Minnie Minoso made comebacks at the age of 53 and 57. So you've got a ways to go. We can even get you a little chair to sit on, like Met Opera conductor James Levine. Just don't give up, Rocket. Keep hurling. The ball, that is.
Sincerely,
Fantomas
Gilbert
Mar 18 2006, 10:57 AM
Dear Roger
I respect you alot...but I'm still piss off you told the Yankees you were retiring then you went to the Astros and pretty much had the best season you ever had in a long time and yet we never saw that over here in NY!!!!
With that being said your still one hell of a pitcher,,,and sexy as hell!!
so stay a few more years....why dont you..
-gilbert
Chill-Trick
Apr 4 2006, 07:21 AM
Was Petitte also going to go to Houston, or did he go just because Roger did?
[ April 04, 2006, 07:24 AM: Message edited by: Chill-Trick ]
UCLAfan
May 31 2006, 11:02 AM
HE'S BAAAAAACK!
Joe in Philly
May 31 2006, 02:04 PM
QUOTE
When he is added to the major league roster, he gets a one-year contract worth $22,000,022 -- his uniform number is 22.
Once an attention whore, always an attention whore.
Adam
May 31 2006, 05:50 PM
Does anyone else think we're going to see other players try to extend their playing careers by shortening their seasons, a la Clemens? I can envision Barry Bonds or Curt Schilling doing this in coming years.
And, Clemens' press conference--"I don't know if I'm ready for this or if it's a good idea but I committed to it..."--wouldn't inspire a lot of faith in me if I were an Astro fan!
~Adam
[ May 31, 2006, 05:53 PM: Message edited by: Adam ]
J eddie
May 31 2006, 05:57 PM
To me this says far more about the Astro's management than it does about Clemens.
Thomas
May 31 2006, 08:22 PM
I usually try to be objective and lenient toward old veterans like Johnson, Clemens, and Maddux, but what Clemens did by strong-arming the Stros to shorten his pitching time this year (plus she also gets to work the minors before coming back) was just plain selfish. But I do like the Stros though.
But it was kinda nice to know that Steinbrenner can't buy everyone. The Yankees can now look to the Marlins for pitching help, but the Marlins aren't likely to settle for just money either. The Yankees should do what other teams do and redirect their efforts toward developing a better farm system.
[ May 31, 2006, 08:32 PM: Message edited by: Thomas ]
JR in TX
Jun 5 2006, 05:23 PM
There's a lot of snotty comments all over the net about Clemens coming back. Whatever, haters! No one in Houston is complaining.
Thomas
Jun 6 2006, 05:12 PM
QUOTE
JR in TX:
There's a lot of snotty comments all over the net about Clemens coming back. Whatever, haters! No one in Houston is complaining.
Well, I wouldn't expect anyone in Houston to complain about Clemens, just like I wouldn't expect anyone in Frisco to complain about Barry Bonds (and I am NOT comparing what Clemens did to what Bonds allegedly did with PEDs), but at least Bonds presence is probably enough to get the Giants into the playoffs this year whereas Clemens return to the Stros isn't likely going to be enough to repair the damage the Stros woeful hitting and pitching has already done to their playoff chances. They are not playing well at all right now; mediocre pitching, poor hitting, and way too many errors.
The Stros are huge here in Louisiana, but this year's team is nowhere near as efficient as the one we watched over the last couple years.
[ June 06, 2006, 05:15 PM: Message edited by: Thomas ]
Joe in Philly
Jun 6 2006, 05:40 PM
The latest conspiracy theory: why did Clemens take so long to sign?
QUOTE
Then, later on Saturday, we picked up the Inquirer and read that day's column by Phil Sheridan, an award-winning journalist and non tin-foil hat wearer, as far as we know. Buried in a column mainly about the unending Lance Armstrong doping controversy, he dropped this bomb:
It's probably important to say right up front that I want very much to believe in Armstrong, that I truly hope Albert Pujols' stunning power numbers this year are completely legitimate, and that I'm trying to ignore suspicions about the timing of Roger Clemens' return to the Houston Astros.
He comes back and notes:
Just as you have to choose to believe it's a coincidence that Clemens sat out almost exactly the length of a 50-game suspension before signing with the Astros.
Indeed -- this whole Clemens dance the last two months made no sense to us. By not re-signing with the Astros in the off-season, he couldn't join a new team until May 1. Fair enough, but then he diddles around for another month for no logically good reason, and then signs with the Astros anyway, who were free to sign him in March when he was still in shape from the World Baseball Classic. The salary that the 'Strohs are paying for three months about what he could or should command for a full season. And while they waited for their ace, Houston has played under .500 ball and dropped to the brink of out of contention.
Can you tell us anything in that scenario that makes more sense that Phil Sheridan's \"conspiracy theory\"? In fact, there were widespread \"rumors on the Internets\" late last season that two big-name players -- a future Hall of Famer (hint: Clemens) and an \"unlikely\" star (hint: the non-slugging Johnny Damon) -- had been nailed in drug tests and that MLB was trying to figure out what the heck to do about it after the Rafael Palmeiro fiasco.
And tonight, as Clemens makes his first minor league appearance, Roy Oswalt goes on the disabled list.
Methinks the Astros will be practically eliminated by the time Clemens gets to the majors.
Adam
Jun 6 2006, 06:09 PM
There are other reports--this time from the NY papers--that Clemens may be traded (!!!) by the Astros before making it back to Houston, perhaps to the Yankees or the Rangers.
I've long accepted that he's desperate for attention and adulation (as are most all-star athletes) but this round of "I'm back....isn't it wonderful of me?" has gone one step too far--though I do like the fact he bought a plasma tv for the Lexington clubhouse, sort of like when Michael Jordan bout his Birmingham baseball team a fully-quipped bus. And, to tie two conspiracy theories together, as Clemens' absence equals the amount of time a suspended player would miss (see FireCharlieManuelNow above) there has long been the rumor that MJ's time in baseball matched the amount of time the NBA was going to suspend him for gambling charges, but a quiet deal was arranged.
~Adam
fantomas
Jun 7 2006, 10:10 AM
I would seriously doubt the likelihood of Clemens secretly enduring a suspension for steroids, just as I seriously doubt Albert Pujols is roided up. I mean, is Jim Thome also on roids? Is Alfonso Soriano, who is still as skinny as he was 3 years ago, even though he's now up to 22 home runs? Clemens is a superstar future Hall of Famer who is able to set his own terms, and the Astros were and are willing to accommodate him. Some conspiracy theories just are a bit nutty. Clemens is not on steroids. Nor is Pujols!
Bill W
Jun 7 2006, 02:47 PM
QUOTE
fantomas:
Clemens is not on steroids. Nor is Pujols!
There is no proof they are; you cannot prove they aren't.
JR in TX
Jun 7 2006, 05:13 PM
Is it that hard to believe Clemens' would fart around so much before finally making a decision about coming back?
A) He doesn't exactly need the money.
He's already got championships.
C) His arrival in no way guarantees the Astros will even come close to the playoffs.
D) He's 43, with a trick back and balky hamstrings (accent on the "ham").
Put all that together, and it doesn't exactly spell "motivation." Who can blame him for struggling with whether or not to even bother? As Astros fans have seen this year (and last) with Jeff Bagwell, there generally is no giant sign that lights up when it's time to quit. You usually have to guess.
Yes, it must be
a secret suspension! 
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