Star trek: the Rocket fuels Hall trip with his 3,000th K

Sporting News, The, July 13, 1998 by Peter Schmuck

Roger Clemens doesn't have to strike out another 1,000 batters or win another 78 games to put his name on a plaque at Cooperstown, but his Hall of Fame career remains a work in progress.

Clemens recorded his 3,000th career strikeout last Sunday against the Devil Rays, passing another important marker on the road to baseball immortality. If he were to retire tomorrow, he likely would be a first ballot Hall of Famer, but he still has milestones to go before he sleeps. Chief among them is 300 victories; he had 222 at the All-Star break.

His contract with the Blue Jays stretches at least through next season and he soon will satisfy the conditions necessary to force the dub to guarantee the option year on the rich contract that temporarily made him the highest-paid pitcher in baseball history two years ago

The Blue Jays agreed to a complicated vesting option that kicks in if Clemens pitches a total of 360 innings in the first two years of the contract with at least 190 innings in 1998-or makes a total of 55 starts. He already has satisfied the 360-inning requirement and seems likely to pitch well over 190 innings this year. And he should lock in his option year when he makes his 55th start in a Toronto uniform later this month.

If Clemens continues to pitch the way he has through the first 1 1/2 seasons of that contract, the $6.5 million salary the Blue Jays would have to pay him in 2000 will be a huge bargain. He already has 30 victories with Toronto and should finish the '98 season with about 230 career wins.

The question is, does he have enough time left to go for 300?

The Rocket, 9-6 this season, will turn 36 on August 4. Good health permitting, he probably would have to pitch until he's at least 41 to reach baseball's signature pitching accomplishment. No one doubts that he has the talent or the physical durability to remain a marquee pitcher for several more years, but there is some question whether he wants to keep grinding into his 40s. He recently raised that question himself.

"Every year I get closer, my wife (Debra) has mentioned she'd like me to take a chance at it, if my body can do it," Clemens says. "It's an attainable goal if I pitched until I was 40, 41, but I don't want to blink, come home and my two oldest boys are headed to college."

Clemens has four sons--Koby, Kory, Kacy and Kody The fact that their names begin with a "K" is not a coincidence, but he doesn't want to take a chance on striking out as a father.

I went to Nolan Ryans retirement dinner and he had one bay in college and another going in," Clemens says. "Koby and Kory like having their dad around and I like going to their football games."

The Rocket--for all his overpowering fastballs and intimidating glares--wants to be a family man more than a baseball icon. Fortunately he already has accomplished enough on the mound to be both.

He won his fourth Cy Young Award in 1997, realizing a goal dud will not be found in any of the usual baseball statistical volumes He wanted to win four so that he could give one plaque to each son. Mission accomplished.

No pitcher has won more of them, but that could change this year Braves ace Greg Madduz, who has 196 career victories, is having another spectacular season and could be on his way to his fifth Cy Young

Clemens and Maddux, 32, are still a long way from 300 victories, but neither to get there to cement his Hall of Fame status. Clemens was the most overpowering pitcher in baseball from 1986 through 1992, and he re-emerged last year after injuries and inconsistent offensive support limited him to an average of 10 victories per year with the Red Sox from '93 through '96.

The Blue lays caused some eyebrows to arch when they disregarded his declining numbers and guaranteed him a record $24.75 million over three years, but he promptly dismissed any doubt about his supposedly eroding skills--and punctuated last year's outstanding performance with his fourth 20-victory season.

Clemens won't challenge Ryan's all-time strikeout mark (5,714). That record may never be broken. Also, he has never pitched a no-hitter, and home-state hero Ryan threw seven. But Clemens, a man who had two 20-strikeout games with the Red Sox, owns five earned-run average titles and has collected one Most Valuable Player trophy, is a Hall of Famer no matter what he does with the rest of his life.

Future shock

The Dodgers used to guard their best minor league prospects jealously, keeping a steady stream of young talent flowing into their major league clubhouse. But nothing is the same since the club was sold to Fox this spring.

The Dodgers continued a frantic reshuffling effort last week when interim general manager Tommy Lasorda dealt top offensive prospect Paul Konerko and pitcher Dennis Reyes to the Reds for reliever Jeff Shaw.

The deal makes perfect sense in the short term. The Dodgers needed to solidify their bullpen, and Shaw is one of the top closers in the league. The long-term impact may not be so positive, but the new ownership appears more interested in immediate gratification.