Rocket reentry
Clemens back to work, but can he save Yankees?
TAMPA -- With George Steinbrenner watching from a private box and often smiling and nodding in approval, Roger Clemens relaunched his career last night in hopes he can help turn the Yankees' miserable season, which got worse with a 3-2 loss to the Mets at Shea Stadium, into something respectable.
One could sense the urgency in Clemens's voice to "get ready as soon as I can," because if he doesn't, the prorated $28 million the Yankees shelled out for him may be for naught.
Last night in his first minor league tuneup, the 44-year-old Clemens went four innings and threw 58 pitches for the Tampa Yankees against the Fort Myers Miracle, the Twins' Single A affiliate, before a record 10,257 at Legends Field.
"I'm going to get ready as soon as possible, and that's all I can give you guys right now," said Clemens when asked whether he would skip a third scheduled minor league start for Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and join the Yankees May 28 in Toronto. "I'm trying to push myself but I'm also trying to be smart about it, if that makes sense. I have to be smart, and once the decision is made, I have to be ready."
Clemens estimated he threw 50-55 pitches even before stepping onto the mound shortly after 7 p.m. His fastball reached 91-92 miles per hour on the radar gun, but among his 58 pitches, of which 42 were strikes, Clemens threw a lot of breaking balls and splitters. And he threw another 30 or so pitches in the bullpen after his outing.
"Felt fine," he said. "One down. I'll have a better read on it tomorrow. I'm definitely in high gear right now. In four or five days, I hope to step back and get a grasp on everything. I pushed my body the last three weeks, and now I can start to retain some energy so I can get a little bit better result when I get on the mound.
"I was telling some of the kids in [the clubhouse] that in spring training, you throw two curves an inning, but I don't have that luxury right now. I have to find out where my breaking pitch is right away."
If by the time he returns to the Yankees it is too late to contend with the Red Sox, who now lead them by 10 games in the American League East, they hope it's not too late to take a run at the wild card. The last thing Steinbrenner and Clemens want is for him to rejoin the team with no hope of the postseason. That would be money not well spent and a wasted year by Clemens, who wants to win one more championship.
Clemens wore his familiar No. 22 with a TY cap. You could tell the young Yankees were thrilled to be part of this ballyhooed start. Many of these players will never get out of Single A, so they can at least tell their grandchildren they once played with Roger Clemens.
Meanwhile in Malden, Mass., the Portes family was celebrating because their son, Juan, who played third base and batted cleanup for the Miracle, got two at-bats against one of his boyhood idols.
"I loved watching Roger," said Portes, who grew up in the South End before moving to Malden. "I rooted for the Red Sox, and Roger Clemens was the greatest player around at the time. To be able to face him in this game . . . I've been very excited by this since I found out about a week ago that this was going to happen. My family back home is very excited about it, too. It's going to be on TV and everybody's going to be watching. I can't wait."
Portes grounded to second base on the first pitch of his first at-bat, then grounded to the shortstop hole in his second at-bat. Not as exciting as teammate Erik Lis belting a home run in the first inning, but the fact he swung the bat against Clemens was enough for Portes.
After he had finished, Clemens was asked about Kyle Farnsworth's comments to a Chicago radio station this week. The Yankee reliever felt teammates would question Clemens's "family plan," which will allow him to leave the team between starts.
"I'm not going to comment on it," said Clemens. "I'm pretty tired about answering it. We've got far more serious things to worry about right now than that."
He's right.
Clemens said he will pitch Wednesday for Trenton against the visiting Portland Sea Dogs, the Red Sox' Double A affiliate. He said he will not be able to work with pitching coach Ron Guidry at Yankee Stadium leading up to the outing. The Sox open a three-game set there Monday.
"I tried to schedule a point where I would throw for Gator and I don't think it's allowed," Clemens said. "I might be overstepping my bounds there, but I guess I'm not allowed to do that."
Even after a successful start last night, nobody knows how this is going to turn out. Nobody knows whether Clemens has another run left in him. All that is known is that the Yankees' starting rotation should be better once he returns. Whether it's good enough to mount any real threat remains to be seen.
As he left the stadium in his Hummer, one couldn't help but think that all that might come of this is Clemens will get to hang out for a few months with old buddy Andy Pettitte. Right now, it's hard to envision much more than that.
Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com. 