Grog
Semper Gumby
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It may not happen, but I can dream about it!
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12/13/2003 9:00 PM ET
Clemens still retired, but ...
By Alyson Footer / MLB.com
NEW ORLEANS -- Thursday morning, when the Houston Astros introduced Andy Pettitte as the newest member of their pitching staff, Roger Clemens had just been quoted as saying that he was 99.9 percent sure he would remain a retired player.
That .1 percent chance increased to one percent the next day when Clemens gave the new figure to morning show rock jocks Dean and Rog.
On Saturday, Clemens' agent, Randy Hendricks, suggested that number had risen somewhere just below five percent, or so he told reporters prior to the Baseball America awards dinner at the New Orleans Hilton that honored Clemens for his 300th win.
Loosely calculated, that means that if Clemens increases the chances of a comeback by four percent every day for the next 24 days, the Astros should be ready to call a press conference somewhere around Jan. 6.
It would be "like Christmas every day for about a week" in the city of Houston, Hendricks said of the idea of the right-hander pitching for his hometown Astros.
So the Jan. 6 target date would work out well, since Christmas technically ends on Jan. 5. Houstonians simply would have an excuse to extend the festive season.
But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Nothing has changed in Clemens' camp, other than the estimated percentages. Clemens is retired. He has no plans to throw himself an unretirement party nor is he requesting that his agents to throw him one.
"Nothing has changed with my decision right now," Clemens said. "I'm still retired. I'm getting a lot of phone calls from everybody right now. I'm playing golf with Bags (Jeff Bagwell) on Tuesday and I'm sure everybody will be making a pitch to me.
"There are so many factors involved. You can speculate all you want but I get scenarios all the time. Right now it's the same -- I'm still retired, but there is a percentage."
Said Hendricks: "Roger will be the one to decide. The Astros have made it clear that they're interested, but if Roger wants to pursue this, he'll tell me and I'll call the Astros."
The Astros have already said they'll gladly take that call.
"The Astros have talked to me, and they said that any time he's interested in talking to them, they'd be interested in talking to him as well," Hendricks relayed. "That's where that stands."
It's safe to say that no retired player has ever stolen the spotlight at the annual Baseball Winter Meetings like Clemens has. But then again, there aren't many future Hall of Famers who go on a local radio morning show, hint that a comeback may be possible, and wind up with a new burnt orange Hummer as a bribe for returning to the mound.
But when Dean and Rog offered a brand new Hummer in exchange for unretiring, Clemens commented "this is getting very interesting." Dean and Rog gave Clemens until Monday at 10 a.m. to make a decision.
And that was enough for every news outlet in the country to run with the story. Even baseball executives are joining in the fun.
"Of the seven [members of the 300 win-club], six are officially retired," said Major League Baseball Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Sandy Alderson as he presented Clemens with his award. "We may know by the end of the evening, or by the end of the calendar year, if we have a seventh."
The only assumption that is probably correct is that Clemens will not have reached a decision by Dean and Rog's Monday deadline.
"The Monday timetable that got everybody all excited was over the free Hummer," Hendricks said. "There's no urgency, no timetable. If he (comes out of retirement), it's a big story. If he doesn't, he's still retired. It's still more likely that he stays retired."
But playing in Houston is certainly enticing. Clemens would be reunited with Pettitte, one of his closest friends in baseball. Like Pettitte, Clemens wouldn't have to transport his family to a different city for half the year. He'd only be away from Houston 81 days of the regular season rather than 162. There would be no need to charter a plane to fly home on off days, as he and Pettitte often did during their years with the Yankees.
It's likely that at this point, the only person who knows what Clemens wants to do with his future is Clemens himself. He will have to weigh a lot of issues and he's likely to take input from his family, which includes his wife, Debbie, and four sons.
"Thank you for watching over my dad for the last 40 years -- I mean 20 years," Kacy Clemens said at a press conference following Game 4 of the World Series, after what was supposed to be his dad's final appearance in a Major League uniform. "And we'll take it from here."
Well, maybe not just yet.
Alyson Footer is a reporter for MLB.com. Mark Feinsand and Rich Draper, reporters for MLB.com, contributed to this report. This story was not subject to approval by Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Story link
12/13/2003 9:00 PM ET
Clemens still retired, but ...
By Alyson Footer / MLB.com
NEW ORLEANS -- Thursday morning, when the Houston Astros introduced Andy Pettitte as the newest member of their pitching staff, Roger Clemens had just been quoted as saying that he was 99.9 percent sure he would remain a retired player.
That .1 percent chance increased to one percent the next day when Clemens gave the new figure to morning show rock jocks Dean and Rog.
On Saturday, Clemens' agent, Randy Hendricks, suggested that number had risen somewhere just below five percent, or so he told reporters prior to the Baseball America awards dinner at the New Orleans Hilton that honored Clemens for his 300th win.
Loosely calculated, that means that if Clemens increases the chances of a comeback by four percent every day for the next 24 days, the Astros should be ready to call a press conference somewhere around Jan. 6.
It would be "like Christmas every day for about a week" in the city of Houston, Hendricks said of the idea of the right-hander pitching for his hometown Astros.
So the Jan. 6 target date would work out well, since Christmas technically ends on Jan. 5. Houstonians simply would have an excuse to extend the festive season.
But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Nothing has changed in Clemens' camp, other than the estimated percentages. Clemens is retired. He has no plans to throw himself an unretirement party nor is he requesting that his agents to throw him one.
"Nothing has changed with my decision right now," Clemens said. "I'm still retired. I'm getting a lot of phone calls from everybody right now. I'm playing golf with Bags (Jeff Bagwell) on Tuesday and I'm sure everybody will be making a pitch to me.
"There are so many factors involved. You can speculate all you want but I get scenarios all the time. Right now it's the same -- I'm still retired, but there is a percentage."
Said Hendricks: "Roger will be the one to decide. The Astros have made it clear that they're interested, but if Roger wants to pursue this, he'll tell me and I'll call the Astros."
The Astros have already said they'll gladly take that call.
"The Astros have talked to me, and they said that any time he's interested in talking to them, they'd be interested in talking to him as well," Hendricks relayed. "That's where that stands."
It's safe to say that no retired player has ever stolen the spotlight at the annual Baseball Winter Meetings like Clemens has. But then again, there aren't many future Hall of Famers who go on a local radio morning show, hint that a comeback may be possible, and wind up with a new burnt orange Hummer as a bribe for returning to the mound.
But when Dean and Rog offered a brand new Hummer in exchange for unretiring, Clemens commented "this is getting very interesting." Dean and Rog gave Clemens until Monday at 10 a.m. to make a decision.
And that was enough for every news outlet in the country to run with the story. Even baseball executives are joining in the fun.
"Of the seven [members of the 300 win-club], six are officially retired," said Major League Baseball Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Sandy Alderson as he presented Clemens with his award. "We may know by the end of the evening, or by the end of the calendar year, if we have a seventh."
The only assumption that is probably correct is that Clemens will not have reached a decision by Dean and Rog's Monday deadline.
"The Monday timetable that got everybody all excited was over the free Hummer," Hendricks said. "There's no urgency, no timetable. If he (comes out of retirement), it's a big story. If he doesn't, he's still retired. It's still more likely that he stays retired."
But playing in Houston is certainly enticing. Clemens would be reunited with Pettitte, one of his closest friends in baseball. Like Pettitte, Clemens wouldn't have to transport his family to a different city for half the year. He'd only be away from Houston 81 days of the regular season rather than 162. There would be no need to charter a plane to fly home on off days, as he and Pettitte often did during their years with the Yankees.
It's likely that at this point, the only person who knows what Clemens wants to do with his future is Clemens himself. He will have to weigh a lot of issues and he's likely to take input from his family, which includes his wife, Debbie, and four sons.
"Thank you for watching over my dad for the last 40 years -- I mean 20 years," Kacy Clemens said at a press conference following Game 4 of the World Series, after what was supposed to be his dad's final appearance in a Major League uniform. "And we'll take it from here."
Well, maybe not just yet.
Alyson Footer is a reporter for MLB.com. Mark Feinsand and Rich Draper, reporters for MLB.com, contributed to this report. This story was not subject to approval by Major League Baseball or its clubs.
