Overview
As the most feared pitcher of all time, Roger Clemens has won more than 350 games in his 20-year baseball career, struck out more than 4,500 batters (the second highest total in the history of the game), and earned a record seven Cy Young awards. Along the way, he’s hit 150 batters, knocked down hundreds more, and stared down every batter who tried to dig in against him.
Facing Clemens explores what it’s really like to face the Rocket Man. Author Jonathan Mayo has interviewed scores of players, including Ken Griffey Jr., Chipper Jones, Luis Gonzalez, Torii Hunter, Cal Ripken Jr., and even Clemens’s own son, Koby Clemens, for a batter’s box view of the Rocket bearing down from the mound.
Synopsis
Roger Clemens has won more than 350 games in his 20-year baseball career, pitching more than 4,500 strikeouts, earning a record seven Cy Young awards. Along the way, he's hit 150 batters, knocked down hundreds more, and stared down every batter who tried to dig in against him. This book puts you right in the batter's box agains the "Rocket Man." The best hitters in baseball have failed to figure out this fearsome pitching prodigy. Mayo interviews scores of players, including Cal Ripken, Jr., Ken Griffey, Jr., Julio Franco, Chipper Jones, Luis Gonzalez, and Juan Pierre, who assess the intimidating Clemens and his effect on the great game..
Editorials
Library Journal
This book begins with the authority of a Clemens fastball-a foreword by the man himself. Mayo (senior writer, MLB.com) provides quote-rich information on how such major leaguers as Ripken and Griffey tried, with relatively little success, to hit the only hurler to win seven Cy Young awards. Unfortunately, the theme of hitting against Clemens is harder to sustain than his career has been, but the Mitchell report and further congressional hearings will surely increase interest beyond merely avid students of hitting or pitching.
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