Roger Clemens Rejoins the Yankees

Roger Clemens, a right handed 44 year old pitcher announced Sunday during the game against the Seattle Mariners, from the owner's box that he would be returning to the Yankees in New York this season.

It was during the 7^th inning stretch that the Yankees public announcer, Bob Sheppard instructed the fans to pay attention to the box where Roger Clemens was waiting to make the big announcement himself.

He agreed on a $28 million dollar contract for one year that will start as soon as he is added to the roster.

Nicknamed the Rocket for his infamous fastball, Clemens said he expects to be able to do the some of the things he did at the young age of 25.

According to Clemens, Yankee All-star Shortstop Derek Jeter sent him multiple text messages asking him to return. He claimed his decision to return to New York factored in the injuries sustained by the Yankee's starting players.

The New York Yankees pitching staff has gone through 10 starting pitchers in just 29 games this season because of injuries.

The Rocket told fans that the whole process happened within the last 48 hours and that he hadn't even contacted Andy Petit or Jeter to let them know the deal went through.

In a post game news conference, Yankee team manager Joe Torre said, "Roger certainly would add a lot of stability to what we're doing. We're going to be as good as our pitching is. We just need to keep control of the games and give our offense a chance to make a difference."

During his post game interview, the shortstop that bugged Clemens with text messages, Derek Jeter stated, "It's good to have Rocket back. Every team in baseball would love to have a pitcher of his caliber. I'm sure he can help us."

Clemens first joined The New York Yankees in 1999 after being traded from Toronto before the beginning of that season. Two consecutive World Series titles are attributed to The Rocket for his contribution on the mound his first two years with the team.

In 2003 Roger Clemens won his 300^th game which is considered rare and is now only 2 pitches away from hitting the 350^th win, an even rarer feat. There are only 4 other pitchers to ever throw more than 4,000 strikeouts and he is one of them. Clemens is second on the list of all-time players, second only to Nolan Ryan.

Source:
Bloomberg LP
MSNBC