The devil went down to Houston

and found this guy.

So, dramatically, Roger Clemens announced in the seventh inning of today's Yankees game that he was rejoining the team. I was totally caught off guard by my intense emotional reaction to the announcement. Besides screaming profanities at the t.v., I felt bereft. I really thought he might end his career in Boston - complete the full circle of his career. Instead, he followed the money.

But, in further contemplating it, it's not totally shocking. He had stated he wanted to play for a contender this year - and the Astros weren't burning up the National League. The Sox are. But that could be the problem - our pitching rotation. We've got Schilling, Beckett, Matsuzaka. All pitching well. There really isn't room in the Boston press for Rogah. He would be at best a 4th starter. He can't play the Diva in Boston. New York, however, is all set up for him.

The Yankees rotation in disarray and mostly on the DL, and Rogah is desperately needed. He can be seen as the hero on the white horse, riding in to deliver a championship to King George. And yet, he still will probably only be a #3 starter for them - and probably can only deliver 5 or 6 innings per start for them. This brings no relief for their bullpen - which is where they really need help.

I thought this observation from someone on SoSH was interesting:

If he starts on June 8th, Clemens can make his first 3 starts against NL teams (Pittsburgh/@ Arizona/Colorado).

And he will probably put up some good numbers. However, I suspect that Mr. Clemens will find a different story when he starts facing the opposition in his own league. We've seen so many examples recently of the difficulty of the transition to the other league - how Beckett took a year to adjust to the AL, how Arroyo prospered in the NL once he didn't have to face AL batters. To paraphrase Kelly, I suspect Clemens will have his hat, spikes and ass handed to him by AL hitters.


Enough of this Clemens crap.

Schilling pitched another gem - and the bats came somewhat to life. The Sox beat Minnesota 4-3, winning 2 out of 3 at the Metrodome. Pedrioa must be feeling Cora breathing down his neck, because he broke out and hit 2 doubles and a single. Yeah, Munchkin. And the sight of Manny and Tavarez in the dugout was high-sterical - Manny was actually petting Tavarez' shaved head like a kitty.

You'd never see Manny rubbing down Rogah like that!