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Posted on 07/14/2003 7:29:02 PM PDT by Pharmboy
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Future Hall of Fame pitcher Roger Clemens discovered Monday that he would get his all-star goodbye after all when he was named to the American League (news) team for the mid-summer classic.
Clemens, a six-time Cy Young Award winner who is set to retire at the end of the current season, was added to the AL squad for Tuesday's game by commissioner Bud Selig as a replacement for Oakland's Barry Zito.
It was a ninth All-Star selection for the 40-year-old, who had his 300th win and his 4,000th career strikeout earlier this season but was not voted into the squad by the fans or players and missed out on selection by AL manager Mike Scioscia.
A modest 8-6 with a 3.68 ERA this season, Clemens's omission opened a debate among baseball fans, many of whom argued that a place should have been found on the AL roster for one of the game's greatest pitchers of all time.
It was also announced that Esteban Loaiza (11-5) of the hometown Chicago White Sox (news) would get the starting pitching assignment for the AL Tuesday, while Jason Schmidt (9-4) of the San Francisco Giants (news) will start for the National League (news).
I'm no Yankee fan, but first-ballot Hall of Famers like Clemens merit All Star selection on their career numbers. Selections based on first-half flash in the pans are boring.
I'm not even going to comment on your Armando Benitez Underoos, other than to say withouit the Affirmative Action program mandating at least one All Star from each team, your hapless Metsies would have been deservedly skunked.
Pinging the baseball list
Did he break the record for 300 win attempts?
| Monday, July 14 Clemens, Zito: Aged and confused By Jim Caple ESPN.com |
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The good news is the pitcher who belonged on the All-Star team all along, Roger Clemens, will be here. The bad news is the league apparently didn't bother telling the pitcher he replaces.
Instead, last year's Cy Young award winner, Barry Zito, learned he was being dropped from the active All-Star roster when reporters told him during a news conference that commissioner Bud Selig had just revealed the roster change on The Dan Patrick Show. Zito, who remains on the "official'' All-Star roster, did not appear angry or hurt at the news but he was definitely confused. "It's like you're with a girl and a friend comes up and tells you that she doesn't want to date you anymore,'' he said while sitting in hotel ballroom with the rest of the American League All-Stars. "There is nothing wrong physically,'' Zito went on. "I'm not hurt. I haven't got official word yet but that's what everyone is telling me. I just want to know the reason. Is it because someone in Oakland said something? Or is it because (Major League Baseball) doesn't have confidence in me pitching on one-day rest?" How could such a thing possibly happen? As if you need to ask after last year's All-Star Game ended in a tie? According to major-league representatives, the Athletics contacted Major League Baseball late Sunday and said they didn't want Zito pitching in the All-Star Game because he threw 106 pitches earlier in the day. MLB then tracked down Clemens (who had flown to his Houston home after Sunday's game) to see if he was available to play and didn't find that out for sure until Monday's news conferences began. And all the while, major-league officials said, they simply assumed that Oakland had informed Zito already.
Contacted by reporters by phone, Oakland general manager Billy Beane and manager Ken Macha both said that Zito was told Sunday the team had decided he shouldn't pitch in the game. (They did not, however, take the blame for giving President Bush inaccurate information on Iraq's nuclear arms program.) "We told him that it was prudent that he didn't pitch and that the A's were going to have Mark Mulder available for two innings and Keith Foulke available for one,'' Macha told a reporter by phone. "That was three innings from our pitching staff and that was sufficient.'' "Barry was informed of that decision and acquiesced,'' MLB vice president Sandy Alderson said. "That was the information relayed to us, and we acted on that information." So what's the full story? Did Major League Baseball willy-nilly decide to put Clemens on the roster at the last moment without regard to the feelings of one of their brightest young stars? Did Zito somehow misunderstand when his manager, pitching coach and general manger told him he wouldn't be pitching in the game (What part of 'No' don't you understand?). Or did the Athletics somehow forget to tell their Cy Young pitcher that they didn't want him competing in the All-Star Game, letting him instead fly 3,000 miles roundtrip to sit on the bench? None of those possibilities sounds particularly believable but remember, we're talking about baseball, where any sort of public-relations blunder is possible. The only thing that is certain is that communication left something to be desired. The frustrating part is this entire situation could have been avoided so easily. Clemens, who plans to retire after this season, should have been named to the original team, both for his season and career. And the Athletics, who have had their rotation set for some time, could have decided last week that Zito shouldn't pitch in the All-Star Game if he was pitching Sunday, giving baseball plenty of time to adjust. Not that Sunday's start should prevent Zito from pitching in the All-Star Game. While pitchers often drop out of the All-Star Game after a Sunday start, Tuesday is Zito's day to pitch on the side anyway and he says he could pitch an inning. Zito threw only one pitch in last year's contest, a workload he could easily sustain. After all, Florida rookie Dontrelle Willis pitched Sunday and threw 102 pitches but he will be available for Tuesday's game. Or, at least, as far we know, he will be available. |
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I remember talking to a Boston fan after the 1996 season. He was all, "Clemens is washed up." I believe the Boston GM felt the same way, the fool. I reminded him that Clemens had sruck out 20 in one game the previous year - pretty good for someone people were running down so much. But some folks just don't like Clemens, which is too bad for them, unable to appreciate the best pitcher of this generation. To Steinbrenner's credit, he saw quality there, and Clemens led the Yankees to championships after he was "washed up."
People continue to underestimate him now. Clemens is no has-been.
That's welfare for the rich! Based on their career numbers, "first-ballot Hall of Famers like Clemens merit" induction, period. Why should someone who has been -- and will be -- showered with awards and recognition for what he has accomplished, be recognized for what he HASN'T accomplished, while players not going to the Hall don't even get recognition for what they HAVE accomplished? Do we send donations to Bill Gates, in recognition of his career-long talent for making money?
That's why Bench and Yazstremski were tabbed one year. That's why Mays and Aaron were All Stars in the twilights of their careers.
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