Most players in professional sports live by the rules and procedures of the league they play in, whether they are league MVP’s or kids just out of college. They respect the league, the teams they represent, their teammates, and some players even respect other players in the league. Roger Clemens is not one of these players. He lives by his own rules.
While most players were working hard to secure a spot on a team in spring training, Roger, or should I say Mr. Clemens, was sucking down whiskey sours on his hobby farm in Texas or on some golf course working on correcting his slice; in other words, he was not among the players at spring training. Is He too good for spring training? Many teams would be more than happy to overpay to have him on their team, even at age forty-four. Maybe he just thinks he is above the league so the normal rules and procedures do not apply to him. Whatever the reason, it seems that MLB, along with some individual teams, is bending over backwards to accommodate Roger in his attempt to cling on to his youth.
This year, three main teams were in the running for Clemens: the Houston Astros, the Boston Red Sox, and the hated New York Yankees. Well today, Clemens again showed his lack of respect for the game by interrupting the Seattle/Yankee game to announce that he will be joining the New York Yankees for this season, what’s left of it. In my opinion, he should have stuck to his 2003 decision to retire while everyone still held him in high regard and could remember him as a great player. Instead, Roger decided to tarnish his image, the league’s image (which is hard to do after the steroid scandal) and his great accomplishments by continuing the circus show of his.
Thankfully, the ‘suspense’ is over (at least for this year) with Clemens’ decision to continue playing so the 2007 season can officially begin.
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