Dave Stewart on Roger Clemens

roger clemens
John Shea for the San Fransico Chronicle…(this is the gruesome end)

Stewart never was afraid to speak his mind on Clemens, stemming from their one-sided duels on the mound. Clearly, Stewart resented Clemens for receiving so many accolades while repeatedly losing to his nemesis. Stewart won 20 games four straight years (1987 to 1990) but never got a Cy Young sniff. In those years, Stewart was 7-0 in games when matched with Clemens. Overall, he was 7-1 in the regular season and 2-0 in the 1990 American League Championship Series. Clemens’ record against Stewart was 1-8, his only win coming in their first showdown, in 1984 when Stewart pitched for Texas.From there, Clemens’ most notable meltdown came in Game 4 of the ’90 ALCS.

With his Red Sox about to be swept and on the verge of another loss to Stewart, Clemens went berserk in the second inning, charged plate umpire Terry Cooney and got ejected. Clemens let down his team at a vital moment rather than accepting defeat, and Stewart now sees Clemens caught in a similar dilemma, making life harder than necessary on himself and acting as his own worst enemy by taking his case to Congress. “The best thing Roger could’ve done is shut up and let it go away, and it would’ve gone away,” Stewart said. “People want to believe everything Roger projects himself to be, and this would’ve blown over. Now if they find out he did HGH and steroids, he’ll never go to the Hall of Fame and he’ll be proven one big liar who tried to pull a scam on everybody.”

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