Astros claim catering to Clemens is special

There may be no “I” in “team,” but there sure are a lot of individuals.

We have seen the proliferation of individual celebrations after touchdowns; the hop, skips, and admiring glances of home run hitters, and the gyrations of dunkers in hoops.

At the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies this year of second baseman Ryne Sandberg, he spoke of his distaste for those who “looked for the red light” in the dugout. He was talking about the increasing desire of players to search out the television cameras during games for their own self-promotion.

Sandberg, as well as fellow inductee Wade Boggs, talked about playing the game right, respecting opponents, and eschewing the self for team.

Former Sox pitcher and now Houston Astro Roger Clemens has raised eyebrows as to what it means to be on a pro team anymore.

He came out of retirement last year to pitch and the rules under which he performs are unique.

He makes road trips only if he will be pitching. He pitchers and goes home while the team travels on and even limits appearances at home games to fit his schedule.

His manager, Phil “Scrap Iron” Garner, played the game in a different era. Garner was part of the Pittsburgh Pirates championship team that sang “We are fam-a-ly.” How does he view the Clemens approach?

“I don’t think we’re seeing a change in the way players are expected to be part of a team,” says Garner. “Clemens is a special case, and there have always been those players, just not many of them.”

Garner says there is an “aura” about Clemens that other players respect. “He is different and everyone knows that,” Garner shrugs. “He is going to be treated differently and that is not a problem on this team.”

“Remember,” says Garner, “Clemens is here under unusual circumstances. He said he was retired and he meant it. We [the Astros] went to him to lure him back and part of the deal was he wanted to be home with the family. That was why he retired in the first place.”

“The other players understood that to get him back, his concerns were going to have to be met,” said Garner. “Rocket wasn’t being obnoxious or putting on a show. He was out of the game and intended to stay there. We went after him.”

Garner also notes that wherever Clemens is, he works out to stay in shape to win. That is what the players see, and so long as that goes on, there will be no cries of favoritism.

The fact Clemens continues to perform at All-Star levels doesn’t hurt the deal. The idea is still to win and that Clemens has helped Houston to do as they battle for the NL wild card.

“I don’t think we’re seeing a change in the concept of team,” offers Garner. “In fact, just the opposite. We as managers are less likely now to put up with the foolishness of players who want to be treated differently and outside the rules of the team.”

One hopes Garner is right. It is still nice to be a sports fan of a team and not a group of individuals who may or may not care about the team outcome.

Old Town native Gary Thorne is an ESPN and ABC sportscaster.