First, Clemens’ and Bonds’ career stats.
Besides seeing Clemens’ injuries (can we even say “breakdown”) his last four years in Boston, THIS stands out. His post-Boston winning percentage jumps MORE THAN 100 PERCENTAGE POINTS. Clemens suck-ups and hired-gun statisticians just can’t hide from that.
Was Clemens a “bulldog,” as an acquaintance of mine claims? Well Greg Maddux has only nine fewer complete games. And, all but 18 of Rocket’s complete games were with the Bosox, and only four after he left Toronto. Now, Clemens’ hired gun statisticians would probably use that to claim he didn’t juice. I use it, in combo with his last four years in Boston, to say steroids kept him from breaking down even more.
Those years? 11-14, 9-7, 10-5 and 10-13 on W-L record. Three of the four years, less than 170 strikeouts and less than 200 innings pitched.
Oh, here’s a stat to throw in Clemens’ statisticians’ faces. His pre-Toronto career W-L? 196-111. Toronto and later, it’s 162-73. First winning percentage? .638. Second winning percentage? .754. HUGE difference.
My guess is that Clemens would not have broken either the 300-win or 4,000-strikeout mark. Would he likely still have been a first-round Hall of Famer? Yes, but not guaranteed.
Now, because Bonds’ case has been endlessly analyzed, I’ll give my short take.
Without ’roids, Barry still would have had 2,800 hits minimum (maybe more, without all the intentional walks; he might have gotten to 3,00) and 550-600 homers, 2,000 runs, 1,800 RBIs, been a guaranteed first-round HOFer and had a higher vote than Clemens. His biggest falloff, other than the homers, would have been in slugging percentage, then on-base percentage.
I’m certainly not defending Bonds. But, let’s put Clemens under just as much scrutiny.
Now, for a new poll:
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