Rocket to the Rescue?

Sports. Posted on May 11, 2007 by Anita Dish

With the start of the baseball season comes a flood of predictions for the World Series hopefuls. Of course we can analyze every player’s stat and every team’s budget, but at the end, the season always shells out a few surprises. The Yankees are a perfect example. Clearly they were everyone’s pick as contenders for the Championship. An all star line up and the biggest budget in baseball, Steinbrenner’s Yankees had the perfect formula for success, right? Sure until possibly their egos were so big that they failed to realize they were losing game after game, falling last place in the American League East Division.

With such a crippling start of the season, it must have become routine for Yankee fans to sit on the edge of their seats mumbling prayers under their breath for a miracle. On Sunday afternoon, their prayers were answered. During the 7th inning stretch in the game between the Yankees and Mariners, pitcher Roger Clemens announced to the thousands in Yankee Stadium and the millions watching at home, that he was coming back to the Bronx; making it the second time that Clemens wears the famous pinstripes. People in the stadium, along with everyone else watching on the YES network, must have been absolutely flabbergasted when the announcement was made. With Joe Torre on the hot seat and George Steinbrenner sweating bullets during each game, we all expected this mega-million team would pull something big to save themselves and their image. This miracle cost them a mere $28 million.

The Yankees eventually beat the Seattle Mariners 5-0, but how much of an impact will the Rocket have on the pin-striped Yankees? Given, the Yankees haven’t lived up to their full potential yet. Many excuses including lack of healthy pitching can be attributed to the early struggles. But putting the past behind us, the question remains, can a 44 year-old former all-star find the magic to help lead this team back to the playoffs and win another championship? I have my doubts. They obviously have a frightening offense that instills fear in any opposing pitcher. But so far, none of their starting pitchers have stayed healthy, which is a big reason why they have a 16-17 record. So can the Yankees rely on a 44 year-old to remain healthy from now until October? It’s a very tough call to make, but the Yankees are certainly gambling with their team’s future. Shelling out $28 million, while having their fingers crossed, they can only hope that the Rocket leads them to the World Series one more time.

Clemens is without a doubt a great player, but then again the stats tell a slight different story. Even though on the Houston Astros last season, he had 102 strikeouts in 113 innings, he also had a mediocre 7-6 record. When he was on the Yankees he had a very disappointing 4.35 Earned Run Average. The last time he made the playoffs with Houston, he injured himself in a pivotal Game 2 and gave up 5 runs in 5 innings and lost the game. So, even though it’s a Rocket Re-Launch, it’s a possibility that the gas tank maybe running on low.