Clemens, Roger

Clemens, Roger (William Roger Clemens) (klem'unz) [key], 1962–, American baseball player, b. Dayton, Ohio. Noted for his competitive fire, Clemens is one of baseball's great power pitchers. After starring at the Univ. of Texas, he joined (1984) the Boston Red Sox as a starting pitcher. In 1986 he was the American League's Most Valuable Player, and won the league's Cy Young Award (the first of a record seven), with a 24–4 won-lost record, a 2.48 earned run average, and a record 20 strikeouts in one 9-inning game (a feat he repeated in 1996). He moved (1997) to Toronto and then pitched (1999–2003) for the New York Yankees. Clemens led the league in earned run average in 1986, 1990–92, and 1997–98, and in strikeouts five times. Postponing a planned retirement, he joined (2004–6) the Houston Astros, and won his seventh Cy Young Award in 2004; the following year, at the age of 43, he had the best earned run average (1.87) in major-league baseball. In 2007 he again played for the Yankees, and tallied his 350th career win. His reputation was tarnished in 2007 when the Mitchell report implicated him in performance-enhancing drug use, an accusation Clemens denied.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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