He had carved out his place in the landscape of baseball history, and because it so touched him, he stood before us and seemed like the human Old Man in the Mountain. But when morning came and the papers and talk shows awakened, there was little sense of the enjoyment in viewing a man and history.
Instead, in the full glory of this time, the sidebar was money. By now, we should all recognize that players and agents can find many a media person to wear their sandwich board and appreciate that even when Roger Clemens joined Paul Molitor, Hideo Nomo and Barry Bonds in carrying baseball to October, the moment would be turned into a matter of money.
This is a very complex case, and everyone understands it. Roger Clemens has been an extraordinary figure in this franchise's history, he is a role model and ballast for a team on the brink of an influx of young pitching, and he really does like it here. But he is not going to stay here because he likes rotaries. He is going to stay if the Boston Red Sox, now a kid-sized market without a deep-pockets owner, can afford to outbid the Texas Rangers, and while this morning it seems as if he should be as much a part of the Back Bay landscape as the Citgo sign, this is not romance, only finance.
And it is John Harrington's call. No one else's, as if any big-dollar call is made by anyone but the owner.
Understand that the Red Sox want to keep Clemens, whose contract expires after this season and who reiterated after Wednesday's record-matching 20-strikeout performance in Detroit that he wants to play four more years ``whether it is in Boston or somewhere else.''
Back when it looked as if the Red Sox were headed for a dead heat with Ross Perot, Ranger general manager Doug Melvin twice called Dan Duquette to see if there was a chance he could unload his farm system for Roger. Both times Duquette refused to even discuss Clemens. After the trade deadline, when Clemens cleared waivers, Melvin called again, and again Duquette refused to even discuss him.
Understand Clemens would like to stay here as well. When Alan Hendricks was in town last month, he set up an informal chat with Duquette. Harrington showed up. They did not discuss a contract, but the message was clear that this is not just an arbitration case or a potential free agent, this is Roger Clemens, and the Red Sox want to keep him.
The Brothers Hendricks have a job, and that is to maximize their client's market and force up the price. There will be none of the histrionics that surrounded Mo Vaughn, who wasn't a free agent for two years; none of the idle threats. Clemens can and will leave, but The Brothers also point out that they want to get a deal done with Boston, want Roger to finish his career here and will give Harrington every opportunity to do a peaceful deal over the next six weeks, as Clemens cannot file for free agency until 15 days after the World Series.
Harrington has genuine affection for Clemens, and not just for what he means in wins, but all he has meant to the community, with all those unannounced visits to hospitals around the city. Duquette has immense respect for Roger. In fact, yesterday he couldn't stop talking about ``how incredible what he did was,'' and was saying, ``Roger could have had from 22 to 25 strikeouts, but for the small [Tim McClelland] strike zone.''
That is all fine and dandy, but this is reality: The Brothers have let the Red Sox know that the length of this contract is very important. Oh, they have some monetary numbers in mind, and they want to sit with Harrington and try to be creative when it comes to ways to make it work (Dear Bill Weld: Could you please give Roger the same status as the Citgo sign?). Clemens wants to finish his career here. He wants to pitch through the year 2000. He wants a four-year contract, and if he doesn't have it by Nov. 12, he'll test the market.
Most believe Roger only wants to pitch for the Red Sox, Astros or Rangers. But what's to stop George Steinbrenner from jacking up the price? Roger wants a ring, and what happens if the Indians offer him $8 million a year? Who's to say that Fred Wilpon won't tell Joe McIlvaine to spend whatever it takes to get Roger with the Mets' kid pitchers, especially once Wilpon gets his season ticket applications and hears what the sales are like at WFAN? Disney?
Even with a ballpark on the horizon and freed from the salaries of Doug Drabek and Greg Swindell, the Astros probably can't be major players. ``We're going to have to make big cutbacks,'' said general manager Gerry Hunsicker. ``We have some big salaries, and several players eligible for arbitration, so we'll be paring, not adding.''
Not so Texas. The franchise is booming, even in the wake of the Rangers' tired September limp to the finish. They are out from under the $4.5 million they're paying Kevin Gross and Mike Henneman. And Roger is Nolan Ryan II. The Rangers are Texas, and while Pudge Rodriguez and Juan Gonzalez are two of the 10 most valuable stars in the American League, Nolan is still the king. Ryan will endorse Roger, and we all know that when he was a kid, Roger used to go to the Astrodome to watch Nolan warm up. Have you ever seen those luxury boxes, and considered what Roger would mean to them? Have you seen that park, and the potential season ticket boom? The Red Sox, with an OK radio/TV deal, mediocre boxes and an outdated ballpark, do not have the capital upside to compete if it gets that far.
Since he became completely healthy and Sammy Ellis convinced him that he can relax and throw better than he has since 1990, Clemens has been the best starting pitcher in the American League. With his work ethic, he should be able to keep going, like Ryan. But four years still takes this man to the age of 38, and while this has been an amazing six-week ride, over the last four years, he is 40-38. This season, half the times he has gone out, he has thrown a quality start, and his 16/32 ratio equals that of the Cy Young favorite, Andy Pettitte. But the percentage is less than those of Scott Karl, Ken Hill, Ben McDonald, Brad Radke and Charles Nagy, among others.
Tie Roger Clemens up for four years at 16-20 percent of the payroll? Some of the voices that were raised yesterday were the ones who told us Mike Greenwell couldn't be allowed to leave, and the average season's return on that contract is 11 homers and 54 RBIs.
Anyone who has seen the Yankees win a division with Mariano Rivera, Cecil Fielder, et al knows that the Red Sox are not terribly far from seriously competing, especially if their defense improves, they get one more outfielder and a couple of pitchers out of the Jeff Suppan/ Butch Henry/Robinson Checo/Carl Pavano/Brian Rose group make it. They can win, and Clemens can do what he's always said he wants to do - win in Boston.
But it will all come down to what John Harrington estimates is Clemens' value to the franchise - such as how much easier it will be to sell the new park with him than without him - and how close that comes to what Roger can get as Nolan II.
This story ran on page e1 of the Boston Globe on 09/20/96.