Sunday, 29 January 2012

Roger Clemens returns to mound, throws perfect inning against the University of Texas

So it turns out that the the term "whippersnapper" originated in 17th-century Europe and not — as I presumed just minutes ago — some place in the south like Texas.

Regardless, it's impossible to watch footage of 49-year-old Roger Clemens striking out two current members of the University of Texas baseball team at the annual alumni game on Saturday and not believe that the word crossed the Rocket's lips at least once.

Not bad. Though Clemens' growing paunch is erasing the power of his trademark stride, there was still a lot of movement on those pitches. As Hardball Talk's Matthew Pouliot points out, perhaps Clemens could return to the big league at beat out Jamie Moyer  to become the first current major leaguer to celebrate his 50th birthday in 2012. (Clemens was born in Aug. 1962, while Moyer was born in November.)

Of course, such a comeback would reset the clock on the Clemens' impending eligibility for the Hall of Fame, which is scheduled to start with the next vote. Clemens told the Longhorn Network that being inducted would be an "honor" before being induced into the type of debate you'd expect from a house-organ network.

Nope, not whether or not he'll even be inducted — which he won't, at least not at first — but which cap he'll choose to wear on his plaque: Yankees, Red Sox or Longhorns.

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