Here’s a look at the life of retired Major League Baseball pitcher Roger Clemens.
Personal:
Birth date: August 4, 1962
Birth place: Dayton, Ohio
Birth name: William Roger Clemens
Father: Bill Clemens, truck driver
Mother: Bess (Wright) Clemens
Marriage: Debbie (Godfrey) Clemens (November 24, 1984-present)
Children: Kody, May 15, 1996; Kacy, July 27, 1994; Kory, May 31, 1988; Koby, December 4, 1986
Education: Attended San Jacinto Junior College, 1980-1981; Attended the University of Texas at Austin, 1981-1983
Other Facts:
Won the Cy Young Award for best pitcher seven times.
Nicknamed “Rocket.”
Career statistics include 354 wins, 4,672 strikeouts and two World Series titles.
Timeline:
1983 – Drafted by the Boston Red Sox.
May 15, 1984 – Major League Baseball debut.
February 8, 1991 – Signs a four-year extension deal with the Boston Red Sox worth $21.5 million.
1992 – Establishes the Roger Clemens Foundation with his wife Debbie.
December 13, 1996 – Signs a three year deal with the Toronto Blue Jays.
February 18, 1999 – Is traded to the New York Yankees.
June 2003 – Reaches two milestones, his 300th win and 4,000th strikeout. He is the third pitcher ever to strike out 4,000 batters.
2004-2006 – Plays for the Houston Astros.
2007 – Plays his last season in Major League Baseball with the New York Yankees.
February 14, 2005 – Retired baseball star Jose Canseco publishes his autobiography, “Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits and How Baseball Got Big.” In the book, Canseco recounts his own steroid use and implicates other players, including Clemens.
December 13, 2007 – The Mitchell Report is released, linking several current and former Major League Baseball players, including Clemens, to alleged use of performance enhancing substances.
2007 – Retires.
January 2008 – Clemens files a defamation lawsuit against his former trainer, Brian McNamee, who said that he personally injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone between 1998 and 2001.
January 15, 2008 – The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee holds a hearing in response to the Mitchell Report on doping in Major League Baseball.
February 13, 2008 – In a hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Clemens denies ever taking performance enhancing drugs.
February 27, 2008 – Representatives Henry A. Waxman and Tom Davis ask the Justice Department to investigate possible perjury in the testimony of Clemens.
December 2008 – Clemens’ ex-trainer McNamee files a defamation lawsuit against Clemens.
2009 – US District Judge Keith Ellison dismisses Clemens’ defamation lawsuit against McNamee.
August 19, 2010 – Is indicted on charges of lying to Congress in 2008.
August 30, 2010 – Pleads not guilty.
July 13, 2011 – Trial begins.
July 14, 2011 – A federal judge declares a mistrial after jurors hear statements in a prosecution video that the judge had ruled inadmissible until later in the case.
September 2, 2011 – US District Court Judge Reggie Walton grants prosecutors a new trial for Clemens.
April 16, 2012 – Jury selection begins for Clemens’ retrial on one count of obstruction of Congress, three counts of making false statements and two counts of perjury.
June 18, 2012 – Is found not guilty on all counts.
March 18, 2015 – Attorneys announce that a settlement has been reached in McNamee’s defamation suit against Clemens. Clemens’ insurance company AIG will pay an undisclosed amount to McNamee.
June 21, 2019 – Is inducted into the Pawtucket Red Sox Hall of Fame. Clemens briefly played for the Triple-A team before making his Red Sox debut in 1984.
