Don't go away mad, Roger ... just go away
In what figures to be his last regular-season scheduled start at home -- that's a lot of conditions put on one outing if someone's trying to decide whether it's worth saving the ticket stub-- Roger Clemens gave the Houston Astros fans the long goodbye after seven solid innings again during his performance Wednesday against the Cincinnati Reds. He left with a 7-0 lead, giving up just three hits and striking out six. He won the game 7-2, improving to a stellar 7-5, and No. 348 overall.
Worth every penny that the Astros spent on having him come back at midseason.
The Associated Press did a fine job covering all angles of Clemens' farewell salute at Enron, er, Lemonade Park. And the whole thing was completely staged.
The seven-time Cy Young winner walked to the mound for the seventh, but Astros manager Phil Garner came out before he threw a pitch and replaced him with Russ Springer. That allowed the fans to stand for aroaring ovation and let Clemens tip his cap as he walked off the field. The cheering continued and Clemens came out for a curtain call, shirt untucked, pumping his fist in the air before disappearing into the dugout.
The 44-year-old Clemens will have two more scheduled starts this season -- and possibly for his career -- at Philadelphia on Monday and at Atlanta on Sept. 30.
Here's another angle of his long goodbye:
Here's a different crop of the same photo:
And here's one you don't see every day:
At least that one didn't have the guy in the plaid shirt in the front row clapping.