Anyone else irked by Roger Clemens right now?

[vasprtsfn]

I apologize if this has come up on this forum already, but I am really annoyed with that spoiled piece of garbage right now. He is becoming less and less a team player with his attitude of waiting and only planning to sign with some team half way through the season. The way I see it, if I was a GM, and my team was in contention late in the season, I would NOT want to add Roger Clemens to my team. That means I would have to bump off the roster someone who has been there all season and contributed to the team right from the get go. Sorry for my rant, but I am kind of old school when it comes to sports.

[SoxSon]

On the one hand, I can see why teams might be frustrated with Roger's style of negotiations, but on the other hand, Clemens has absolutely no obligation to anyone, aside from his family. Why wouldn't he want to wait and see? If I were in his position, I'd rather wait until the second half, too. If teams don't want to take him on, I'm fairly sure he's not missing anything; if a team does take him on, well...that would only prove that his wait-and-see perspective is sound.

[ChrisLDuncan]

No I mean he's earned the right to do what he pleases, you don't have to have the Great One on your team, but if the teams interested are willing to accomidate him then more power too him.

[Mattingly]

I'm not too sure that every time a player is replaced, that he's both worthy of being there the entire time and that he's the best option to be on the team.

If the team can do without one bench player or one reliever, and if they feel that Clemens will be the difference maker for their games, as well as helping out with tons of experience for their pitchers, then this may be worthy for them, even if it happens around June or so.

I can understand why people would be frustrated by his seeming "maybe, maybe not" type of attitude. Kind of feels like someone plucking roses and saying that "he/she loves me, he/she loves me not" situation. In the end, he's 44 years old, has a family that he needs to attend to, and he'll have to decide one last time whether he'll be seeing them for one certain 3-4 month period of time this year.

While I'd say that he's earned that right to decide his own fate, the 3 teams ('Stros, Yanks and Red Sox)--or at least their fans--could get into biting nails if they feel that he's actually necessary and he may join them.

Right now, I think that teams should plan their staff upon not needing them. That way, if there's the very large likelihood that he doesn't join them--if any team at all this season--they won't be stuck awaiting the missing piece of the puzzle to be placed upon the table.

I say to just play a good game of ball, regardless of whether or not Clemens joins the other buys in the locker room.

[Spazz]

One of the great things about baseball is the "history in the making" aspect. You could, for example, attend a game that ends up being a certain pitcher's 100th shutout or a certain catcher's 400th career home plate putout tag or whatever. What I hate is when the announcers capitolize on this aspect of the game seemingly because they've run out of things to comment on. Take Joe Morgan for example. In a late season Sunday Night game last season he stressed over and over that "this could very well be Roger's last major league appearance". Okay Joe, we get it.

When Roger was relieved and walked off the mound, he waved his cap at the fans. I thought Morgan was going to need medical attention.

[west coast orange and black]

clemens signing for half a season
v
getting traded just under the deadline to be eligible for postseason play


not that big a gap between the two.

[digglahhh]

Said it before, I'll say it again:

What would people think of Barry Bonds if he acted like Roger Clemens? What would be written about him?

[StanTheMan]

The way I see it, if I was a GM, and my team was in contention late in the season, I would NOT want to add Roger Clemens to my team. .

If a GM makes this statement publicly, then he/she would either be #1 fired soon #2 probably be willing to give Jeff Weaver $ 8 million a year.... or both.

[west coast orange and black]

dirk: What would be written about [Bonds]?

no kiddin', dude.

[hellborn]

Said it before, I'll say it again:

What would people think of Barry Bonds if he acted like Roger Clemens? What would be written about him?

I think that Bonds and Clemens act very much alike, and my opinions of them are very similar. I wish that Clemens faced the wrath of the media as much as Bonds does. But, I doubt that either one of them cares that much about what is written about them, as long as they're getting attention.
Funny, Bonds and Clemens also both have a history of not being at their best in the postseason, with some exceptions.

[digglahhh]

Yeah,

I mean, just take a second to imagine what would be written about Barry Bonds if he decided that he wanted to continue playing but, because he is old and fatigue is an issue, he wasn't going to accompany teams on road trips and play only half the season...

One is a good old boy from Texas, the other is an outspoken black man. I'm not saying that this is media racism, but it is hard to completely dismiss the allegation if somebody makes it when you see things like this.

[west coast orange and black]

play half a season

it has been very important to bonds to keep his dh at-bats to a minimum, and to trot out to left field as much as possible. he did not sign with an american league team when his status was free agent primarily because mays convinced him that his numbers would have more meaning* as a national league player.

*waiting for blowback on this

[iPod]

Yeah,

I mean, just take a second to imagine what would be written about Barry Bonds if he decided that he wanted to continue playing but, because he is old and fatigue is an issue, he wasn't going to accompany teams on road trips and play only half the season...

One is a good old boy from Texas, the other is an outspoken black man. I'm not saying that this is media racism, but it is hard to completely dismiss the allegation if somebody makes it when you see things like this.

Completely agree. There would be people with pitchforks outside Bonds' house if he did something like that, but Clemens is a "family man" so its OK. I suppose it's not quite that simple, since Clemens only would pitch once every 5 games anyway, and he perceived as coming out of retirement to do this so it's like he's doing the Astros a favor by even being there. Those are terrible, absolutely miserable arguments, but its tempting to succumb to them when your context is what a "family man" Clemens is and what a jerk Bonds is. I hate that phrase, "family man," if anyone couldn't tell.

[Brownie31]

I apologize if this has come up on this forum already, but I am really annoyed with that spoiled piece of garbage right now. He is becoming less and less a team player with his attitude of waiting and only planning to sign with some team half way through the season. The way I see it, if I was a GM, and my team was in contention late in the season, I would NOT want to add Roger Clemens to my team. That means I would have to bump off the roster someone who has been there all season and contributed to the team right from the get go. Sorry for my rant, but I am kind of old school when it comes to sports.

As on old schooler myself, I say no need to apologize! I agree with you 100%!

Brownie31

[Seattle1]

I've been irked by Roger Clemens ever since the deliberate bean ball to Mike Piazza's head, then later whipping the broken baseball bat at him. I think he's on drugs.

[digglahhh]

If Roger Clemens is older and feels that he doesn't have enough to go a full season; that he would be tired and much less effective when the playoffs roll around that's fine. If he wants to work something out with a team that will allow him to keep his workload down, I can certainly understand that from both his and the team's perspective. After all, at his best he is still one of the best.

The way he goes about doing it just makes him loathsome though. He is being done a favor by teams being willing to accommodate him, but instead of being gracious about it, he's manipulative. It's almost like he proves his greatness by showing us all how much jerking around of a team he can get away with.

He makes some pretty outrageous demands in terms of salary and travel considerations to be coming from somebody who is being accommodated by his team. We're letting you play on your terms, but that's not enough- you entire relationship to the team has to be on your terms.