Clemens is 44 years old and he just keeps chugging along reaching milestones that we will probably never see again in our lifetime in this day and age of any pitcher out there.


Clemens reaches another milestone vs. Minnesota

By PA SportsTicker

Add another milestone to Roger Clemens' lengthy list.

The New York Yankees righthander collected his 350th win with a 5-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Monday, and he now can place that alongside numbers like his unprecedented seven Cy Young awards, 4,630 career strikeouts (second overall) and 46 career shutouts.

Clemens didn't go the distance against Minnesota, but he yielded just a run and two hits over eight innings with a walk and four strikeouts.

"He pretty much dominated our lineup," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We really didn't have too many chances against him. He pretty much shut us down totally."

"He didn't make too many mistakes and his split-finger was moving like crazy," Minnesota center fielder Torii Hunter said. "It wasn't even real. But his velocity, it's not like 95 (miles per hour) anymore. It's 91 but I think he's smarter. He's hitting the outside corner, the inside corner and he's not leaving too many balls over the plate."

Clemens is the first pitcher to reach the 350-win mark since Warren Spahn in 1963. He remains eighth on the all-time wins list, 11 behind Kid Nichols' 361, but the landmark victory serves as another reminder of the brilliant career Clemens has enjoyed since making his debut back in 1984.

"I wouldn't have (thought I'd win 350)," Clemens said. "I was very sincere way back when in 2003. I thought I had touched a little bit of everything in this game and wanted to move on and do something else.

"I've been getting stronger. For me, there's a tremendous amount of work. I will take a deep breath when all of this is over. But right now is not the time to do it. It is a real neat moment and I'm glad I did it here. I'm glad you all (media) were here and to do it in this type of market, I enjoy playing here."

There has been a need for reminders this season. Clemens has struggled in his return to New York, and Monday's win was his first since his season debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 9. He entered 1-3 with a 5.32 ERA in five games - four starts.

Those numbers hardly compare to Clemens' career ERA of 3.11 and his overall record of 350-181.

This is the first season in memory when Clemens has looked human on the mound. Since going 9-4 with a 4.32 ERA in his debut season in 1984, Clemens just got better and better.

Only four times in the next 20 years did he finish the season with an ERA above 4.00 and, in an exceptional 1993 campaign, Clemens finished with a mark of just 1.93, surrendering only 49 earned runs in 228 1/3 innings.

Twenty-win seasons have come six times in his career, but the number 20 has further significance to Clemens.

On April 29, 1986, he became the first pitcher in major league history to strike out 20 batters in a nine-inning major league game, mowing down the Seattle Mariners at Fenway Park.

Kerry Wood and Randy Johnson have since matched that total, but not to be outdone, Clemens repeated it 10 years later as he struck out 20 Detroit Tigers on September 18, 1996.

That was in his final season with the Red Sox, and Clemens left Boston with 192 wins, tying the legendary Cy Young for the franchise record.

Clemens appeared to be slowing during his last four years in Beantown, enduring losing seasons in both 1993 and 1996, and emerging with a record of only 40-39. As a result, Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette infamously claimed Clemens was in the twilight of his career and allowed him to walk away as a free agent.

Those words were still ringing in Clemens' ears when he signed with the Toronto Blue Jays, and he set about proving Duquette wrong by winning back-to-back Cy Young awards and the pitching Triple Crown in his two years with the team.

Far from being washed up, Clemens had shown himself to be the best pitcher in the game, and the New York Yankees went to work to land him. Prior to the 1999 season, they pulled off a bumper trade, sending David Wells, Homer Bush and Graeme Lloyd to Canada to get Clemens.

He took time to settle in New York. The man who was 20-6 with a 2.65 ERA at the Rogers Centre the year before was only 14-10 with a 4.60 ERA in his first season at Yankee Stadium.

Even so, he helped the Bronx Bombers to a World Series title, following it up with another the following year.

Clemens quickly got his own numbers back in line as well, and in 2001, he went 20-3 with a 3.51 ERA. He became the first pitcher in major league history to start a season 20-1 and collected his sixth Cy Young award. Clemens struggled again in 2002 - at least by his own high standards - and at the start of 2003, he announced he would retire at the end of the season.

With the apparent end of his career on the horizon, Clemens reached two major milestones in the same game, as he collected his 300th win and 4,000th strikeout against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 13.

Clemens walked away with a 310-160 career record and a sure ticket to the Hall of Fame, but he didn't take to retirement and instead signed a one-year deal to pitch for the Houston Astros, a deal that allowed him to stay close to home.

The decision was quickly vindicated. In a May 5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, Clemens recorded his 4,137th career strikeout to move up to second on the all-time list behind Nolan Ryan, and he finished the season with a 2.98 ERA and his seventh Cy Young.

In 2005, he was even better. Clemens set a new career best with an ERA of 1.87 and managed 13 wins despite often abysmal run support. Clemens also reached 4,500 strikeouts, getting a crucial strikeout in his final start of the year against the Chicago Cubs.

After the season, Clemens began his second retirement, but it lasted only slightly longer than his first, and on May 1, 2006, Clemens announced his return. He made his season debut on June 22 and lost to the Minnesota Twins, but he dominated for most of the season as he recorded an ERA of 2.30.

This season, Clemens has reclaimed second place on the all-time strikeout list from Randy Johnson - at least for now - but it has been a rare bright spot in a tough campaign for both him and his team.

Whether Clemens can achieve his stated aim of making another return to the postseason and the World Series remains in serious doubt, one thing is sure.

His place in history is secure.