DETROIT - For mere mortals, once in a lifetime would be more than enough. But Roger Clemens is on another plateau entirely. He has the stuff of legends. He can make the impossible come true.
In a magnificent performance, Clemens duplicated his 10-year-old major league record last night when he struck out 20 Detroit Tigers in a 4-0 victory.
Rearing back for the glory of his flamethrowing youth, Clemens, 34, awakened the echoes of April 29, 1986, when he set the record for a nine-inning game by fanning 20 Seattle Mariners in a 3-1 Red Sox victory.
Last night's strikeout performance made it a trifecta for Clemens. He tied the Red Sox career victory record of 192 held by Cy Young. It was his 38th shutout, tying Young for first on the club list in that department.
But Young couldn't have been any better than Clemens on this night. The big righthander from Texas threw 151 pitches, 101 for strikes. He didn't walk a batter while allowing four hits. And at the end, he had the tiny Tiger crowd of 8,779 cheering wildly for the record, even though it was against their team. As a bonus, when he got Travis Fryman to end it, Clemens had a piece of the record, his 100th complete game and his 67th double-figure strikeout game - and the Red Sox had climbed within 4 games of Baltimore in the American League wild-card chase with 11 left.
``You don't ever think about striking out 20 in the major leagues,'' an emotional Clemens. ``I knew about the other two records and I was looking forward to that. But to have the strikeouts to go along with it was just incredible. I feel really thankful and blessed.''
The club records seemed almost secondary in light of his 20-strikeout performance. But not to Clemens, who didn't hesitate to include catcher Bill Haselman in his praise of every Red Sox employee who happened to be in town.
``Hass, as well as Richie Gedman [his catcher in 1986], goes into the record books as well,'' he said. ``I appreciate my teammates pulling together real hard. I think they knew what was at stake as far as me approaching a guy like Cy Young. The wins haven't come my way the way they should have. But I had the opportunity tonight, and I wanted to seize it.''
Some will argue that striking out 20 Tigers was like striking out 20 players from Triple A. But Clemens would beg to differ. He allowed four hits and no walks - the same dazzling control he showed in his first 20-strikeout game. He threw two-seam and four-seam fastballs, sliders and split-finger forkballs. The 1927 Yankees wouldn't have touched him. Clemens (10-12) was in a zone all night after being given a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning.
``I knew I was in the upper teens,'' he said. ``But I didn't know I was approaching 20. I made good pitches all night. I had good command of everything. My movement was good. It ran outside and then back across the plate. I hit the corners real well.''
Clemens struck out the side three times, in the second, fifth and sixth. Fryman was his most frequent victim, going down four times. ``With the kind of stuff he had tonight,'' said Fryman, ``it didn't matter who he was facing. He would have gotten the Orioles or the Yankees out. He was that good.''
Through eight innings, Clemens had 19 strikeouts. But the first three batters he faced in the ninth made contact, and it came down to Fryman. Alan Trammell popped to first leading off. Ruben Sierra followed with a single. Tony Clark, who had struck out three times, loomed as No. 20. But he flied to left.
That meant there was no realistic chance to break the record, but Clemens still could tie it. He did it by getting Fryman to chase a 2-2 pitch. At that point, he was mobbed by his teammates and gleefully embraced Haselman.
``It was nice to be a part of it,'' said Mike Greenwell. ``To tie Cy Young in wins and shutouts and then strike out 20 - if you don't think this guy can still pitch in the major leagues and still be somebody's No. 1, then you don't know the game.''
It was Clemens' sixth victory in his last seven decisions as he seeks to salvage an otherwise disappointing season. Only he can go to the mound seeking consolation and come back with history.
``I've been so lucky to play in a town that is so rich in tradition as Boston,'' said Clemens. ``I came here 13 years ago to a team that was rich in tradition, but where pitchers were second-class citizens. It was all hit, hit, hit. It's been my goal to be one of the best pitchers ever to come through there. Now I'm being mentioned with the name of Cy Young. You can't ask for anything more than that.''
Unless it's being mentioned withe name of ... Roger Clemens, circa 1986. That was his bonus last night.
This story ran on page d1 of the Boston Globe on 09/19/96.