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Miller's camping trip
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- It's to the point where you expect Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens regularly will begin finishing each other's sentences, like a corny old married couple:
"I was ticked off because we lost, so I was sitting in the middle of the clubhouse ready to eat a piece of pizza ..." Clemens will tell people.
"... and then I came up behind him and said, 'Roger, you big goof, stop! We've gotta go work out,'" Pettitte will finish.
Or:
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| Andy Pettitte still doesn't know why the Yankees didn't try harder to keep him.(AP) |
"... and then I told him, 'Lefty, I'm so proud of you I could burst, and now I've just gotta come back,'" Clemens will finish.
Then they both will throw back their heads and laugh uproariously, as only 12-year-olds -- or adults gripping the world by the tail -- can.
"I'm as excited as I've ever been to be here, to get this thing started," Clemens said Sunday morning following the first workout of the spring for Houston's pitchers and catchers, and he's not the only one.
A crowd estimated by Astros officials to be three times larger than any ever assembled to watch the opening day of camp stood entranced, apparently to make sure everything they've heard about the Love Story between these two legendary ex-Yankees was true.
Houston's season-ticket base has swelled to 18,400 for 2004, from 15,000 last season. The Astros sold out their regular-season home opener in 15 minutes in the wake of the Clemens and Pettitte signings.
And in a story that already has taken on a legend of its own, the ticket office received so many calls the day Clemens signed that the phone system was overloaded to the point where club employees could not call out. So while they scrambled to add lines and hire two more people in the ticket office, cell phones were Astros employees lifelines to the outside world.
"Life has changed in Astro-land, that's for sure," Houston general manager Gerry Hunsicker said Sunday morning, surveying the scene. "We're not under the radar screen anymore.
"Sometimes we've moaned and groaned about not getting the national attention we think we deserve. I suspect that won't happen anymore."
Not if the battery of television cameras and tape recorders that made a post-workout news conference featuring Pettitte and Clemens look like a Best Buy warehouse is an accurate indicator.
"I don't think all of these cameras would be here if just me signed," Pettitte said at one point. "I really don't."
Responded Clemens: "I do. I might be holding one of them."
They're baseball's version of the Hilton sisters, only with more credentials and less peroxide.
They shared a private flight here from their Houston homes Saturday night. Their lockers are adjoining. They played long toss together Sunday morning as the Astros warmed up. They stole glances at each other and smiled as manager Jimy Williams delivered a brief speech to open the day.
Like twins, they wore matching black "Astros baseball" T-shirts and black Astros caps to the news conference. They spoke in terms of "we" and "us," and it wasn't always in reference to the Astros.
"It's no surprise to us," Clemens said when asked about Williams' choosing Astros veteran Roy Oswalt to be the opening day starter. "To me, all of their guys are deserving. They've all been here and working. Like Jimy said, all of us have had opportunities to start on opening day.
"As methodical as Andy and I are in our schedules, we can work backwards (from opening day) and get into a really good groove, hopefully."
Said Pettitte: "Usually, it's been top secret where we come from. Skip called us right in here on the first day and told us the rotation. I'm extremely happy about it."
Often, as Pettitte spoke, Clemens gazed approvingly at him from the next chair over, like a proud father.
And Pettitte remained as deferential as he was when these two were both in pinstripes.
Funny thing is, there was a time when Pettitte, like many others, hated Clemens. But that was colored by the emotions of two men wearing different club logos on opposite sides of the field, and they tease about those days now.
"It's been well-documented that he could not stand me, because I pumped my fist or did something on the mound that made his skin crawl," Clemens said.
Then he smiled and looked in Pettitte's direction.
"There's nothing wrong with pitching with a little emotion," Clemens said.
Clemens is all about emotion -- both on the field and in this late-career friendship that blossomed while training for the Yankees. He re-told the story about how he has six season tickets just up from the Houston dugout and he was relishing the thought of eating popcorn and watching his friend pitch -- until Pettitte kept badgering him to bag the retirement idea and sign up for Astros duty. It was a temptation too great for Clemens to stay retired.
Pettitte at times seemed wistful about his days in New York, and he still has no real explanation for why the Yankees didn't pursue him harder.
"I don't know," he said. "I really don't. I know for as long as I was there, I felt I had a great relationship with the organization, with everyone in the organization. There has been so much said.
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| Roger Clemens doesn't hold any hard feelings for his former boss, George Steinbrenner.(AP) |
"I was griping when I was younger that they were chasing this big guy on my left (Clemens) and I was trying to get 'em to pay attention to me."
Clemens defended his buddy, suggesting that a half-hearted Yankees contract offer was made so they at least could say they tried.
"Sure, he got an offer," Clemens said. "I had one of those make-me-look-good offers from Boston, too. It was late, to make 'em look good."
Pettitte's departure created a brief firestorm in New York, one that subsided as George Steinbrenner continued luring other stars into his constellation. Gary Sheffield, Kevin Brown, Javier Vazquez and, finally, the master stroke: Alex Rodriguez.
Roughly 70 minutes to the west of here, at their camp in Tampa, the Yankees have turned the page. Pitcher Donovan Osborne -- remember him, the former St. Louis Cardinal? -- is wearing Pettitte's old No. 46, and catcher Joe Girardi is wearing Clemens' old No. 22. Neither will likely make the opening day roster, but the fact remains that the bodies of Pettitte and Clemens had barely cooled before the Yankees re-issued their numbers. Life goes on in baseball, one way or another.
Yankees manager Joe Torre, who says he moved on following the loss of two-fifths of his rotation "as soon as it happened," vividly remembers that he got the news from Pettitte on Dec. 14, because Torre and his wife were on the train in to New York City for his daughter's birthday party.
"He was apologizing on the phone because some article had come out that said he was going to Houston, and I said, 'You don't have to tell me,'" said Torre, said. "And I talked to Roger before. The Roger thing didn't surprise me. Once Andy went there, why not try it? What the hell."
Having shared enough champagne spray and world titles with each man, Torre said, he certainly will pay close attention to Houston's box scores this season.
"Oh yeah, I certainly will," he said. "I had Andy eight years, and Roger for five. They were very special people for me. They're going to have fun over there. And they play for a good guy. Jimy Williams is a top-notcher for me."
For his part, Williams is thrilled to inherit this matched set of aces.
"It looks to me like they're outstanding teammates, just talking with 'em," Williams said. "The skill level speaks for itself. I've been very impressed with the way they've handled themselves around the players."
If nothing else, they've added some noticeable size to the Astros staff in these early days of camp.
"My first impression was, they were big," said Oswalt, recalling his first meeting with them in January at a banquet in Houston. "Wade (Miller) was the biggest guy on our pitching staff last year at 6-2. These guys are 6-5, 250."
Actually, Pettitte is listed at 6-5, 225, and Clemens is 6-4 and 235. No question, with them, the Astros stand much taller this spring than in past ones.
With that, of course, comes all of those increased expectations. So they took their first steps Sunday toward ... what, exactly?
"My time in New York, I wouldn't trade a minute of it," Clemens said. "I'm hoping we could come close to making some of those same memories we made in New York. If we could do that, it will be worth getting up off of the couch."
Echoed Pettitte: "I'll miss stepping on the mound out there (in Yankee Stadium), pitching with a full house, memories like that. Seeing guys, when I was in the minors, guys like Whitey (Ford) and Yogi (Berra), guys like that. (Ron) Guidry and Goose (Gossage), guys you're looking at in awe.
"I'll miss it. I'll miss a lot of stuff there. But like Rog says, that was a great time. We'll never forget that. And hopefully, we'll make new memories."
Miller's previous camp stops: Red Sox in Fort Myers | Yankees in Tampa