In Praise of Roger Clemens

Those of us lucky enough to see Roger Clemens pitch tonight--in person or on TV--will be watching what may be the greatest pitcher of all time. A Washington Senator--Walter Johnson--is often mentioned as baseball's all-time greatest pitcher--and he may be--but Clemens' career numbers compare favorably with Johnson's.

Pitcher --- H/9 -- BB/9 -- HR/9 -- K/9 --- K/BB
Johnson -- 7.48 -- 2.07 --- .15 ----- 5.34 -- 2.57
Clemens -- 7.66 -- 2.91 -- .66 ----- 8.63 --- 2.97

Johnson gave up fewer hits and walks per nine innings, but Clemens struck out more hitters. Johnson's HR/9 ratio is infinitesimal, but he played much of his career during the dead ball era, so we should discount that number substantially (and perhaps some of his other numbers). Given that Johnson won 417 games and had a career ERA of 2.16, he might get the nod over Clemens (335 wins and career 3.13 ERA), but it's close.

Interestingly, Clemens fares better when we look at each pitcher's 21st season. Johnson's 21st season was his last; Clemens' is this year.

Pitcher --- H/9 -- BB/9 -- HR/9 -- K/9 --- K/BB
Johnson -- 9.45 -- 2.17 --- .59 ----- 4.01 -- 1.85
Clemens -- 6.07 -- 2.51 -- .35 ----- 7.88 --- 3.14

Here, Clemens clearly outclasses Johnson. Clemens is actually more dominant now than he was earlier in his career, and he is probably the most dominant 42-year-old pitcher in the history of the game. Judging by these numbers, there is no physical reason why Clemens can't keep pitching for a number of years and keep accumulating numbers that may end once and for all the question of who was baseball's greatest pitcher.

In the meantime, win or lose, we should enjoy the opportunity to watch a truly great pitcher at the top of his game.