Bill Simmons was back in the zone Tuesday with some classic Clemens-hating smack talk. Michele at A Small Victory agrees (along with a great picture), and she’s a Yankee fan. David Pinto adds his two cents. Art Martone hands over the soapbox to Lyford for a thorough attempt to rebut Art’s homage to Clemens as the Red Sox’ greatest pitcher (I still agree with Art on that one).
I’d raise an interesting question for Sox fans, though: would you rather have had Clemens’ career with the Sox, followed by his post-Sox career, or Dwight Gooden’s career with the Mets, followed by his post-Mets career? Leaving aside, for the moment, the fact that the Mets won a World Series with Gooden (in which Gooden pitched terribly but to which Gooden contributed heavily by his brilliant pitching in the NLCS)?
I’d take Clemens, even with the bellyaching and the betrayal. Gooden was even more disappointing; he gave the Mets some great years in the 80s, but he was in steep decline by the time Clemens hit his peak (1990-92). He was a huge embarrassment with his drug problems. Unlike Clemens, he’ll never make the Hall of Fame. He even threw in a no-hitter, something the Mets have never had, with the Yankees.