[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

4/4/06

Clemens isn’t itching to resume his career

Tuesday, April 04, 2006


ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Roger Clemens made it to opening day — as a spectator — and the seventime Cy Young Award winner said he still is leaning toward retirement.
"That’s where I am right now," Clemens said yesterday before watching the Texas Rangers play host to the Boston Red Sox. "Obviously, it’s opening day and I’m about to put a golf visor on and I’m going to enjoy a ballgame."
Wearing jeans and gray cowboy boots, Clemens sat in a fieldlevel box as a guest of Rangers owner Tom Hicks, a fellow University of Texas alumnus who sat immediately to his left.
In the middle of the first inning, Clemens was introduced and shown on the big screen. He waved and tipped his cap to the cheers, leading to more cheers. It turned into a standing ovation, prompting Clemens to tip his hat again and wave several more times.
"I’m going to kick back and watch some baseball. I’m not ready to commit," said Clemens, adding he hoped to also visit Fenway Park as a spectator. "Even being at home and pitching in Houston was a tough grind. . . . Right now, I’m not interested in getting in there and locking in on this.
"If it works out and I can just fade away, that’s what’s going to happen."
Clemens, 43, said his arm feels great, but he’s not sure he wants to go through a 23 rd major-league season.
"I don’t think I would miss it a lot," he said. Before the game, Clemens spoke with general manager Theo Epstein and other officials from the Red Sox, the team he started his career with. Clemens said they told him the door was open if he wanted to return.