[SMITH] Who was the best hitter you ever faced? This will be like a game show speed round. Who was the best hitter you ever faced? [CLEMENS] Well, they ask me who the toughest
guys and similar to that question, again, what comes to mind when you ask the question,
Evan, is I wanted to make it to the Major Leagues to face Reggie Jackson. Reggie was the guy kinda I watched with the
Yankees. And when I got to Fenway Park, and we played
the California Angels Reggie was coming to the plate and our announcer with his big booming
voice, now batting number 44 for the California Angels Reggie J, and I caught myself, my shoes
weren't untied but I was retying and untying, and retying my shoes as he was going to the
batter's box. I'm like, oh my gosh. I'm in the Big Leagues, I'm fixin' to face
Reggie Jackson. So, and to have his half-shield helmet and
those glasses on and, so that's who I wanted to face. My toughest hitters were the contact guys. The big power guys like I would tell, like
Albert Pujols, that Albert knew that each at bat he was probably was gonna get one very
good pitch to hit. And if he missed it or fouled it off, I gotcha. [SMITH] Yeah. [CLEMENS] The contact guys. [SMITH] But he would get you sometimes also. [CLEMENS] Oh absolutely, absolutely. A long way he would hit it sometimes. You pitch 24 years, I've given up some yardage
and homers. [SMITH] That's right. [CLEMENS] But, the contact guys because of
the proximity of the ball parks, the biggest foul territories, Oakland's Colosseum. So, if you make a really good pitch and the
guy tries to, you know, guys are so good in the Big Leagues with their bats. I tell people, it doesn't matter how hard
you throw, guys in the Big Leagues can put wood on a bullet, I mean, they're that good. And they will foul off a very tough pitch,
you're hoping it doesn't go in the first or second row, so your pitch count goes up, so
you gotta be careful with that, too. Especially, how hard they're watching pitch
counts now, as you alluded to earlier. You not gonna see to many complete games anymore. And that was, in our generation, I saw the
pitching coach come to take me out of the game, I'm giving him the worst look that you
could ever see. [SMITH] Well, the fact is I think you still
hold the record, do you not, for the most complete games in a season? 18 complete games in, [CLEMENS] I don't know
that. [SMITH] No, I believe you do. And that's extraordinary to me because you
think about now how rare it is to see a complete game. To see one complete game. [CLEMENS] It is very rare. [SMITH] Right, the coaches are happy to pull
you out and put in a Aroldis Chapman or a Trevor Hoffman in at the last because they
know that guy's fresh he can knock 'em all down in the, you know, one, two, three in
the end. Why would we let the pitcher stay in a little
bit longer? 18 complete games, Roger. [CLEMENS] Similar to having a really field
goal kicker, you know? So, and you're right, six innings, sometimes
five innings, the starter's looking over his shoulders because you have three, a seventh
inning guy that throws 97, an eighth inning guy throws 98, and your closer's coming in
throwing 100. And you're trying to protect me on pitch count
because of the dollars you're paying me to make sure that I'm fresh and ready in September
and October for a playoff run.
