Is it fair to say that NOW he’s in the “Twilight of his career”?

Rocket Roger.  I’m not going to speculate on the Red Sox getting him – because I don’t think they will.  Nor do I think the Yankees will.  I think Roger is going to play in the WBC, take a nice rest and re-sign with Houston in May.

What I would like to talk about is how every time Roger and the Red Sox are mentioned together…someone brings up how Dan Duquette said Clemens was in the "twilight of his career".  It’s become one of the most repeated phrases in baseball history.  Thing is…it isn’t what Duquette said.

Let me say right now that I don’t like Dan Duquette.  I was in Fenway once where a couple of guys had anti-Duquette signs (nothing vulgar or violent) and after they were shown on NESN, Fenway security made a huge deal out of taking these signs away.  (Signs are a huge part of the Fenway experience.  Everyone knows if you make a sign with Jerry Remy’s or Don Orsillo’s name on it, you will more than likely get on tv.  Red Sox fans discuss in great detail with each other what kind of sign they will bring to the park…it’s a part of the game for a lot of people – but I digress.)  The story is that Dan Duquette saw the signs and freaked out.  Who knows if it is true…it wouldn’t surprise me in the least.  When he was fired, I felt sad that ANYONE gets fired from a job they love, but I wasn’t sad that he was gone.  Having written all that, it’s completely unfair that he gets saddled with the whole, "he underestimated Roger and that’s why Roger left" bull.

Roger left because he wanted to.  And the media’s misinterpretation of a Duquette quote was just the excuse he needed.

Let’s see that quote, shall we?

"The Red Sox and our fans were fortunate to see Roger Clemens play in his prime and we had hoped to keep him in Boston during the twilight of his career…"

I didn’t finish college.  I don’t have a fancy journalism degree.  But even I can understand what that sentence means.  It means he was SORRY THAT ROGER WASN’T GOING TO FINISH HIS CAREER IN BOSTON.

How tough is that?  Seems pretty cut and dried to me.  But no, in the stereotypical fashion of the Boston media this became, "We didn’t pursue him as hard as we would have because we think he stinks now".

Not even close to what Duquette said.

Then Clemens jumped all over it.  Used it for "inspiration" to get in shape.  Showed up in Toronto in the best shape of his career and thumbed his nose at the Red Sox fans who supported him even during the times when he didn’t really deserve our support. (How many Aces get themselves thrown out of a playoffs game?  Just checking.)

So if we are going to have to deal with all this "Where is Clemens going" speculation until May, people could at least have the correct information about what was said when he left Boston to go play for a team "closer to home".

(shaking things up today with the beefcake shot…I give you a screengrab I took back in 2003 of the beautiful Todd Walker)