Clemens deserves cap with ‘D’ for wish of Yankee hat in Hall

So, Roger Clemens says he’ll boycott his National Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony if he can’t be depicted wearing a New York Yankees cap on his bronze plaque.

It’s take-my-ball-and-go-home time for the Dayton dominator (Yes, the man who has made himself almost synonymous with Texas was born in Dayton, Ohio). If the Hall chooses a Boston cap for the K-Man from Katy, Roger will say to Hall with it.

Here’s a suggestion for Hall officials: Instead of a Red Sox, Yankees, or Blue Jays cap for the Rocket Man, adorn his swelled head with an extra-large dunce cap. It’s a most fitting way to top the cranium of a man who once complained about major leaguers having to carry their own luggage around on road trips.

As mega-talented as Clemens is – a fact I will gladly concede to his K-fans – he falls a bit short on the public relations scale. Ironically, Rocket Roger likely owes his career’s revival in 1997 to another man who was people skill-challenged: then-Red Sox G.M. Dan Duquette.

If not for Duquette and his disproved notion that Roger was in the twilight of his career, the K-Man may have ended his career in entirely forgettable fashion. Instead, Roger – who had 11, nine, 10, and 10 wins, respectively, in his last four seasons wearing red socks – might never have become motivated and hungry enough to lose some weight, add some muscle, and rediscover his competitive fire.

Everything the fizzled Rocket did in the 1996-97 offseason – whether Clemens admits it or not – was done to reignite his afterburners and prove the smug Duquette wrong. It’s understandable. It’s even commendable. It’s just too bad it took a slap of reality like that from Duquette, an impersonal guy who single-handedly soured many people on the Boston Red Sox, to do it.

Evidently 13 major league seasons, five All-Star game appearances, four playoff seasons, three league championship series, two minor league seasons, one World Series, and his only Most Valuable Player Award with one team doesn’t count for as much as it used to.

One would think that spending 13 of his 20 big league years with one team and winning three of his six Cy Young Awards would trump five seasons in the Bronx, three World Series appearances, two World Series rings, and one more Cy Young trophy.

Don’t even try to argue the merits of wearing a Toronto cap, even though Clemens won two Cy Youngs in just two seasons north of the border.

Clemens’ argument for the “NY” headgear is his belief that he “became” a Hall of Famer after joining the Yankees.

Say what? Hey, Roger, here’s a message pitch for you: Those 3,153 strikeouts, 233 victories, five Cy Youngs, two 20-strikeout games, and one MVP you collected in your 15 seasons with Boston and Toronto had already earned you a reservation for Cooperstown. What you gained with the Yankees was the elusive World Series ring. That’s the only thing Clemens got while wearing navy blue pinstripes that he didn’t get anywhere else.

Instead of letting Duquette color his feelings for Boston, its team, and its fans, the Rocket should readjust his orbit and realize that it was Boston which gave him his start. It’s Boston that cradled, coached, cultivated, cajoled, and coddled him as he developed into a superstar. It’s Boston that clapped and covered for him.

And it’s the “B” of Boston he should be wearing on his cap when the Hall comes calling.

Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600, or aneff@bangordailynews.net