Clemens giving Astros another shot
HOUSTON — Wearing a pinstriped suit and a black Houston Astros cap, Roger Clemens took a last sip from a bottle of water, then stepped to a podium at Minute Maid Park Wednesday.
"The ball's in my court now," Clemens said at a news conference announcing his return to baseball. "I have to now take the next step and get my body ready to come back, be effective, win games and do what I'm used to doing, and that's being extremely competitive at a high level."
Clemens agreed to a $22 million contract to pitch for Houston for the rest of 2006, ending months of speculation around baseball, and in his own mind, whether he could — or even wanted to — play a 23rd season.
"I think I've placed more responsibility on my shoulders than I ever have in my entire career," Clemens said. "But I accept that challenge."
The seven-time Cy Young winner, second on the career strikeouts list behind Nolan Ryan, could make his first major league start since the World Series on June 22, against the Minnesota Twins.
"We'll see what happens," he said. "Here we go."
Clemens said he has plenty of hurdles to clear before a much-anticipated return to the big leagues.
The 43-year-old Clemens agreed first to a minor league deal that pays $322,000 over the five-month minor league season. He is due to make his first start next Tuesday at Lexington, Ky., the Class A affiliate where oldest son Koby plays.
If all goes well, Clemens' second start would be June 11 at Double-A Corpus Christi, followed by a start June 16 at Triple-A Round Rock.
Clemens, last seen in the majors leaving Game 1 of the World Series with a strained hamstring, still isn't sure if his body can take another season, even if it is abbreviated. The mental strain, he said, might be even more demanding.
"I know it's going to be stressful, I know I'm going to be tested, I know I'm going to have some lows going through this," he said. "Those are the questions I had to ask myself, if I'm ready to do this again."
By twist of fate, Koby helped push his dad toward returning. Koby broke a finger on his left hand on a slide, then returned to the family's home in Houston to recover.
"Basically, he got me going, and that got my body moving," Clemens said.
But the family debate raged for weeks, Clemens said. His two youngest sons wanted him to walk away and Clemens said he told his wife more than once that he was considering scrapping the whole comeback idea. But one of Clemens' sisters swayed him by musing on what his mother, who died last September, would have preferred.
"Like my sister said, 'Mom would want you to be working. She doesn't want you to be unemployed,"' Clemens said. "'So go back to work."'
