Roger Clemens

The Rocket works out sometimes for five hours a day when he doesn't pitches. In the field, Young became an important part of the double play tandem of Young, Soriano and first baseman Mark Teixeira, assisting on 44 double plays by June 11. Roger Clemens is famous for his extraordinary dedication to keeping himself in the best physical condition he possibly can. Batting primarily from the leadoff position, by June 11, Young had a .332 batting average with nine home runs and 37 RBI. During the 2005 season, Roger Clemens is the 6th highest paid player in Major League Baseball at $18,000,022.00. In 2004, with many critics uncertain of the Rangers' future following the Rodriguez trade, the Rangers blossomed with their young talent and Young was no exception. His son Koby, 18, was drafted by the Astros as a catcher on July 14, 2005. Young, however, told manager Buck Showalter that he would defer his second base position to Soriano and Young made his move to shortstop.

They have 4 sons: Koby Clemens, Kory, Kacy, and Kody ("K" is a baseball scorer's notation for "strikeout"). Now not only had Young's friend been taken away from the Rangers, Young was now in danger of losing his position on the field with another talented second baseman on the team. Clemens married Debra Godfrey on November 24, 1984. However, during the off-season, the Rangers made the well-publicized trade of Rodriguez to the New York Yankees for second baseman Alfonso Soriano. Clemens was fined $50,000. Young was batting .306 with 14 home runs and 72 RBI by 2003. (Ironically, he was only one of two major leaguers who refused to cross the picket line when the umpires later went on strike.) In the 1st inning of Game 2 of the 2000 World Series, Clemens threw a piece of a shattered bat out of his way and, as New York Mets' Mike Piazza claimed, directly at Piazza, clearing both benches. Young and Rodriguez became fast friends in the infield.

Clemens was suspended for the first 5 games of the 1991 season and fined $10,000. In 2001, Young became a regular with the Rangers at second base between shortstop Alex Rodriguez and first baseman Rafael Palmeiro. On October 10, 1990 he was ejected in the 2nd inning of an ALCS game for cursing at home plate umpire Terry Cooney. Originally drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the fifth round in 1997, Young was traded to the Texas Rangers in 2000 along with Darwin Cubillán for Esteban Loaiza. His storied temper has gotten him into hot water more than once. Michael Brian Young (born October 19, 1976 in Covina, California) is a shortstop in Major League Baseball who currently plays for the Texas Rangers. He has 169 SOs, and a MLB-best 1.57 ERA.

During that time they were shut out eight times. Through September 4, Clemens has an 11-6 record despite ranking 95th in run support, with the Astros scoring 3.57 runs on average in games in which was the pitcher of record. Currently, Clemens is in the midst of having the finest season of his career, and could post baseball's lowest single-season ERA since Bob Gibson in 1968. Only left-hander Warren Spahn is ahead of Clemens in wins among live-ball pitchers.

On May 9, he finally got his second win of the season against the Florida Marlins, giving him 330 for his career. However, it took him a month to surpass Carlton, as he was victimized by horrendous run support in a string of five starts that produced one loss and four no-decisions. On April 8, 2005, Clemens won his first start of the season against the Cincinnati Reds, which tied him with Steve Carlton for second in wins for live-ball pitchers. He has more career wins than any other right-handed pitcher of the live-ball era.

The deal gave Clemens the highest yearly salary earned by a pitcher in MLB history. However, on January 21, 2005 both sides agreed on a one-year, $18m contract, thus avoiding arbitration. The Astros submitted an offer of $13.5m and Clemens countered with a record $22m demand. Clemens again decided to put off retirement before the 2005 season after the Houston Astros offered salary arbitration.

This also made him the fourth pitcher to win the award in both leagues, after Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martínez, and Randy Johnson. He became the oldest player ever to win this award, at age 42. After the season, he won his seventh Cy Young Award, extending his record number of awards. Clemens had an 18-4 record in 2004, giving him a career record of 328-164.

On May 5, 2004, Clemens recorded his 4,137th career strikeout to place him second on the all-time list behind Nolan Ryan, and finished the season with 4,317 strikeouts. He chose to put off his retirement, signing a one-year deal with his hometown Houston Astros on January 12, 2004, joining close friend and former Yankees teammate Andy Pettitte. His career record upon reaching the milestones was an impressive 300-155; his record at the end of the season was 310-160 with 4,099 strikeouts. He became the 21st pitcher ever to record 300 wins and just the third ever to record 4,000 strikeouts, joining Nolan Ryan (5,714) and Steve Carlton (4,136).

The 300th win came on his fourth try; the Yankee bullpen blew his chance of a win in his previous two attempts. Louis Cardinals in Yankee Stadium, Clemens recorded his 300th career win and 4,000th career strikeout, the first player in history to record both milestones in the same game. On June 13, 2003, pitching against the St. Early in 2003, he announced his retirement, effective at the end of that season.

He finished the season at 20-3 and added another Cy Young Award to his resume. In 2001, he became the first pitcher in history to start a year 20–1. In 1999 and 2000, he won World Series titles with the Yankees. Clemens was traded to the New York Yankees before the 1999 season for David Wells, Homer Bush, and Graeme Lloyd.

In his 2 seasons there, he won the Cy Young both years. After Boston general manager Dan Duquette claimed Clemens was in the "twilight of his career" and opted not to re-sign him following the '96 season, Clemens signed with the Toronto Blue Jays. Remarkably, Clemens accomplished the feat twice; on April 29, 1986 against the Seattle Mariners, and on September 18, 1996 against the Detroit Tigers, more than 10 years later. Randy Johnson also struck out 20 batters in the first 9 innings of a game, but since the game went into extra innings, Johnson was not awarded the record).

Clemens is one of only two pitchers to have thrown 20 strikeouts in a 9-inning major league game (Kerry Wood is the other. "I'd probably crack his head open to show him how valuable I was." Clemens remains the only starting pitcher since Vida Blue in 1971 to win a league MVP award. "I wish he were still playing," Clemens responded. Hall of Fame slugger Hank Aaron angered the hurler by saying that pitchers should not be eligible for the MVP.

In 1986 his 24 wins helped guide the Sox to the World Series (which they lost) and earned Clemens the American League Most Valuable Player award for the regular season and the first of his seven Cy Young Awards (he also won the AL award in 1987, 1991, 1997, 1998 and 2001 and the National League award in 2004). He was drafted 19th overall by the Boston Red Sox, making his major league debut on May 15, 1984. He attended Spring Woods High School in Houston, and was on the mound when the University of Texas won the 1983 College World Series. Clemens spent most of his childhood in Texas.

He throws and bats right-handed. William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962 in Dayton, Ohio), nicknamed "The Rocket", is among the preeminent Major League baseball pitchers of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.