He will trot in from the bullpen sometime after his final warmup tosses, and fans in swollen Fenway will stand, cheer and applaud. Citizens of Red Sox Nation will rise and toast him again when he takes the mound at 1:05 p.m. to pitch against the American League East champion New York Yankees.
Roger Clemens today pitches for the Red Sox, perhaps for the final time in his illustrious career.
This has not been a glorious week for the Rocket. He said some dumb things in New York Monday night, then repeated them Tuesday. He came home and took his nameplate off his locker and talked about maybe not pitching today if the race was over because he doesn't have a job next year and he might have to talk to his agents and ...
None of that will matter today. Clemens will be equal parts Charles Lindbergh, Audie Murphy and Ray Bourque when he takes the hill. Fans will chant his name, as they did for Luis Tiant during the golden days of the mid-1970s.
This is Clemens' first home appearance since the mythic 20-strikeout game in Detroit 10 days ago. The possibility exists (particularly now that he's annoyed management with his remarks) that he will never again wear a Red Sox uniform.
And so today the fans in the ballpark will forget about the Rocket's ill-timed, self-contradictory contract discussions.
They will remember 20 strikeouts in Tiger Stadium, and 20 K's at Fenway against the Seattle Mariners April 29, 1986. They'll remember the 14-0 ride at the start of '86 and how Roger went to the Astrodome and retired nine National Leaguers in order to cop the All-Star MVP in his hometown.
They'll remember Clemens winning the seventh and deciding game of the 1986 AL Championship Series, beating the California Angels after a 24-4 season.
They'll remember Clemens leading the Mets, 3-2, pitching a four-hitter after seven innings in the sixth game of the '86 World Series. They'll remember Mike Greenwell pinch hitting for Clemens (my, how their paths have intertwined through the years).
Clemens was a hardball god in 1986. In those days, we thought he had a chance to be the baseball equal of Larry Bird. But bad things started to happen after the ghoulish World Series finale.
Clemens staged a spring training holdout in 1987. It didn't hinder his performance, but put the first tarnish on his image. The Rocket was baseball's best pitcher in the second half of the 1980s, but he he needed a spinmaster to go with his split-fingered fastball.
In the winter of 1988, when his friend Bruce Hurst signed with the Padres, Clemens went on Channel 5 and complained about ballplayers having to carry their own luggage. That was it. His image never fully recovered from the luggage interview.
The culmination of Clemens' dark period came in the 1990 playoffs when he exploded on the mound in Oakland, getting ejected. Then came the first day of spring training, 1992, when he dissed new manager Butch Hobson. The Rocket was a week late and never called. When Butch finally found Clemens on the Winter Haven warning track, Clemens donned headphones. Hobson looked like Mike Dukakis in the tank and never recovered.
It got better for Clemens after that. As he matured in his early 30s, he lost a foot on his fastball but gained the respect of the local sports community. He evolved into a hard-luck pitcher, often not getting the run support he needed to win.
Gradually, his image changed. Clemens didn't win as many games, but he gave us four years of good behavior and never stopped working as hard as he did when he first burst on the scene in 1984. Fans took note of his community service, which far exceeded the efforts of one Larry Bird. The Rocket became a fan favorite again, and it looked like his golden years here would be sweet and successful. What was more fun than watching Roger Clemens walk to the plate and get a hit against Norm Charlton earlier this year?
Then came the 20-strikeout game, and suddenly Roger was saying the wrong things again.
Management doesn't know what to make of the events of this week. The Sox still want to sign Clemens, and quite possibly they will.
But now the Clemens bashers have new fodder. Ripping the Rocket is all the rage, and as in the past, Clemens brought it on himself.
Clemens always had the talent and dedication. If he only could have won the big games and strapped a seatbelt over his mouth, he could have been another Larry Bird in this town.
None of that will matter today. On this final Saturday against the Yankees, Fenway fans will stand and cheer for the best pitcher in the long history of the Red Sox franchise.
This story ran on page G1 of the Boston Globe on 09/28/96.