Dan Duquette's decision to let Roger Clemens leave the Boston Red Sox after the 1996 season still generates ridicule. The studious general manager inspected Clemens' 40-39 record over four seasons, and concluded the then-34-year-old "Rocket" had only so much life left.
Duquette watched Clemens sign with the Toronto Blue Jays, wishing him well in the "twilight of his career."
Some twilight. Clemens responded with consecutive Cy Young Awards in 1997 and 1998, then helped the rival New York Yankees win the World Series in 1999 and 2000. He won his sixth and seventh Cy Youngs in 2001 (with the Yankees) and in 2004 (with his hometown Houston Astros), and compiled a 162-73 post-Red Sox record that has netted him a reported $128.15 million in salary since leaving Boston.
Last month, however, the report of performance-enhancing drug use in major league baseball by former Sen. George Mitchell included claims that Clemens used steroids and human growth hormone to help fuel his success during the last decade, creating an alleged boost Duquette never could have forecast.
But Clemens' agent, Randy Hendricks, answered back Monday with a 49-page statistical report that concluded Clemens' numbers compare favorably to those of other accomplished veteran pitchers, including Nolan Ryan's.
Clemens "was far from being in the 'twilight or his career,' or 'washed up,' . . . as some have speculated," the Hendricks report stated.
"Clemens' longevity was due to his ability to adjust his style of pitching as he got older, incorporating his very effective split-finger fastball to offset the decrease in the speed of his regular fastball caused by aging."
Yet, Brian McNamee, the former strength and conditioning coach of the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees during periods when Clemens pitched for the teams, said in last month's Mitchell Report that he injected the pitcher with steroids and human growth hormone at least 16 times in 1998, 1999 and 2001. McNamee later became a personal trainer for Clemens.
The pitcher has denied the allegations, suing McNamee for defamation, and is preparing to give sworn statements in a deposition and an appearance before a House committee Feb. 13. McNamee also will appear before the committee.
Hendricks' report is loaded with more than three dozen charts, illustrating Clemens' career excellence and drawing comparisons to Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling and Ryan -- powerful pitchers who threw into their 40s without the clouds of steroid allegations.
