Betrayed

The worst baseball relating feeling I ever had was watching Roger Clemens put on a Toronto Blue Jay uniform in the 96-97 offseason. It was so surreal. I thought I was dreaming cause not only was Roger not a Red Sox, but the Blue Jays also were introducing new uniforms at the time.

I soon came to realize it actually happened. Even as an 11 year old, I didn't feel Roger screwed the team like others felt he did. I knew the Red Sox were wrong. GM Dan Duquette said Roger was "In the Twilight of His Career." The Boston crowd was rough on him, constantly chanting "RAWWWWWWWWWWW-GAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" every time the opposition scored a run. The media was all over him, and the Boston Herald ran a cartoon in spring training of his last year as a Red Sox, showing him fat, overweight, and eating a huge submarine sandwitch while half heartedly throwing during spring training. The day after Roger signed with Toronto, the Herald had a poll question "Is Roger Clemens a traitor?" I was so mad at them, other Red Sox fans, and Dan Duquette that I called multiple times. After the first, I always started off by saying "I already voted, so don't count this again, but I just remembered another reason why Roger's not a traitor..." The next day my family and I were walking in downtown Boston. I bought a Toronto Blue Jays hat. The guy at the stand asked if I wanted the older design, explaining it would be worth more in a few years. I had none of that, demanding the new logo that Roger would wear. Believe it or not, that Blue Jay hat was on my head every day of Roger was in Toronto.

Long story short, he was traded to the Yankees. Even though he was pitching for the evilest of all evils, I stuck by him. I never rooted for him to win, but I didn't root against him either. I wanted him to pitch 8 shut out innings and have Riveria blow the save every night. The most bitter sweet memory was when Roger won the deciding game of the 99 World Series. Clemens finally had his ring, but it was with the worst of all possible teams.

Fast forward to 2003. Game 7 of the ALCS. Pedro Martinez vs. Roger Clemens. Roger got lit up for four runs in what, 2 or 3 innings. I was watching it in my dorm room and as Torre pulled Roger, I stood and applauded, thanking Roger for everything. Forgiving him for trying to beat the Red Sox, thinking about how different it could have been. I looked around and no one else was, which kinda aggrivated me. "That's the end of the greatest pitching career of all time. Least you could do is give him a hand." (No talking about what happened later that night...not now. We can address that later if you want.)

Clemens retired. Houston wanted him to make a comeback and pitch with them. He said "I don't wanna give back the Hummer the Boss gave me as a retirement gift." A local Houston dealer found out and offered him a Hummer. I put up an away message asking a Boston dealer to give him two hummers. No took me up so Roger went to Houston. This was his pennance. After all, he never wanted to be a Yankee. It was all Toronto's fault for giving him up for David Wells and Homer Bush. Stupid Blue Jays! And now, he was screwing the Yankees over. He told them he was retiring, he took their stupid hummer (never gave it back as far as I know) and was gonna pitch for the Astros. He was in my mind 100% no longer a Yankee.

Fastforward to last year. First sign something wasn't right: on the USA baseball team, Clemens wore 22, not 21. I forgave him for this, thinking it must have been someone elses oversight, and even bought a USA Clemens tee shirt. Roger later said he was gonna come back and pitch for either Boston, New York or Houston; whichever team was the best off. When he came back, the Red Sox were 4 games ahead of the Yankees and the Astros were under 500. But he chose Houston. That's fine. I figured he just wanted to be home, and besides, he still wasn't a Yankee. I wore my Clemens shirt with pride to an Astro-White Sox game Joe and I went to.

This year, same deal. He's going to a competitor, and it will be one of the same three teams. The Red Sox are the only team above .500, and have the second best record in baseball, a half game behind Milwaulkie, 5.5 games ahead of the Yankees. They've taken 5 of 6 from New York and have a much better bullpen.

Yet today, during the seventh inning stretch at Yankee Stadium, according to my sources (Jerry Remy and Don Orsillo of NESN), Roger Clemens announced to the crowd at Yankee Stadium he will pitch for the New York Yankees this year.

I hope you remember the 2004 All Star Game, Roger. I hope you remember how far Manny took you. I hope you remember Ortiz's blast later that night. And more importantly, if you've forgotten, I hope they refresh your memory. This time at Yankee Stadium and Fenway park. Over and over and over again.

I will no longer associate myself with Roger Clemens. I will no longer wear the Clemens tee shirt. And I hope Josh Beckett switches to 21. No. I hope the bat boy switches his number to 21. Or the bullpen catcher. That number is now meaning less and should never be retired. As far as I'm concerned, Babe Ruth is more of a Red Sox than Roger Clemens ever will be.