Roger Clemens took the mound yesterday for the first time as a New York Yankee this season. He took the hill for the Tampa Yankees who were playing against the Fort Myers Miracle, a Twins affiliate. In his start, Clemens threw 58 pitches, 42 of which were strikes and allowed one run in his four innings of work.

ESPN loved this. They cut away from Karate coverage to show Clemens’ first start for a single A team. How great must that experience have been for those other players on the field? How great must it have been for Erik Lis, the Miracle’s player who took Clemens deep in the first inning. That’ll be a story to tell to the grand kids even if Lis never makes the major league squad.

As much as I hate his indecisive ass, Clemens return will be great for baseball this season. You think more people in Arlington will go to a Yankees Rangers game to see Clemens pitch instead of Kei Igawa? I think so too. Face it, baseball needs these story lines. If the Yankees are 20 games out by mid July, you think anyone will care when they face off against the Red Sox in September? Me either. People want to see the super powers battle each other. As it stands right now, the Yankees aren’t doing much of battling with anyone. Clemens will change that. Upon his return, the Yankees have to be vaulted right back into playoff talk. They’re 10 games behind the Sox right now, but there is no way that anyone in New York or Boston thinks the Yanks are done. Not yet.

It’s clear that Rogers Clemens carries a lot of weight around Major League Baseball. After all, the New York Yankees will be paying The Rocket $28 million for roughly four months of work. This rubs lots of people the wrong way, including Clemens’ future teammate Kyle Farnsworth, who spoke out about the subject yesterday.

“As far as a teammate and a player, I think everybody should be here whether they’re pitching or not,” he said. “You don’t see guys who are hurt not sit on the bench. They’re always there.”

What Farnsworth is complaining about is exactly my problem with Clemens. He’s taken advantage of Major League Baseball for pure profit and nothing else. There’s no team concept to what Clemens doing, it’s about individual attention and 280,000,000 Schrutebucks. In terms of Stanley Nickels, that’s a whole lot. Why is The Rocket exempt from being part of the team? Last I checked, there’s a roster of players, not a roster of players plus one spoiled fossil.

We already heard former Yankee David Wells voice his frustration with Clemens’ contract stipulations and now one of his teammates has. If Clemens is going to get paid this absurd amount of money for about 20 starts, he should have to follow the same rules as everyone else. Will this cause tension in the clubhouse? It’s doubtful, considering Clemens and Farnsworth will hardly ever be in the same place together. But let’s hope there’s tons of tension here, tension that explodes into a fight. My money is on Farnsworth.

With this many comebacks, I’m starting to compare Roger Clemens with some washed-up singer like Barbara Streisand. Clemens is expected to be back with the Yankees real soon, possibly by the end of the month. But before he dons the pinstripes, he’s expected to make a couple of starts with the Yankees affiliate in Tampa. Those starts will be televised on ESPN.

ESPN confirmed rumors last night that it is planning to broadcast the Rocket’s Class-A start with Tampa on Friday night, though the decision was not yet official late last night.

“We are in the process of discussions to try to showcase coverage on our entities,” said an ESPN spokesperson.

While it’d be a cool thing for some single A guys to get some exposure on the big network, TV cameras will be pretending those players don’t exist. This will be the Clemens Show, even if he throws four or five innings. Once Clemens exits the game, look for ESPN cameras to follow him to the locker room, out of the clubhouse, and into his limousine. At that point, the game will revert to a Clemens reality show entitled “Rocket Man.”

So in case you’re bored and would rather watch Clemens strike out teenagers than watch a real Major League Baseball game, you’ll be able to. Let’s hope Clemens’ son is playing for the opposition so he can throw at his head again like the good father that he is. The game will be on Friday night.

David Wells has publicly come out and criticized Roger Clemens for stipulations in his contract with the New York Yankees. Much like his contract with the Houston Astros last year, Clemens doesn’t have to travel with the team. David Wells has taken exception to this going to the point where he calls it disrespectful to his team mates.

Wells has backing with other San Diego Padres veteran, Greg Maddux, and I’m sure countless other people. Wells points out that by not traveling with the team, he might as well not even be part of it, which is exactly true. His role as mercenary is just enhanced when he doesn’t interact with the team. He is going to be an outsider looking in and with the perception that I have of the Yankees’ clubhouse, I don’t think that’s going to be good. It seems to me as if there isn’t a great deal of camaraderie within that team, and if Clemens is just showing up whenever he wants to and taking the roster spot of some guy who really tried his ass off, the rest of the Yankees won’t take it too kindly.

That isn’t say that Roger is doing great for himself. The guy has his plan, which is to make about $20 million a year while playing for about half a season. He gets to pick and choose where he wants to go and basically gets to determine everything about his contract. The man has a plan and it is a great plan for him, but it’s pretty crappy for his team. The fact that Clemens is losing respect amongst his peers for his actions should be a tell-tale sign for him, a sign that he needs to change.

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, Roger Clemens chose to ruin everybody’s weekend, announcing that he will return to the New York Yankees. According to Yahoo Sports, Clemens made the announcement from the owner’s box at Yankee Stadium. I would have preferred he keep his ass at home and send a fax, ala Michael Jordan. Then again, I’d prefer if Clemens moved into a cave and never came out again.

At the end of the seventh-inning stretch, Yankees public address announcer Bob Sheppard told fans to turn their attention to the box, where Clemens was standing with a microphone. As the video scoreboard in right-center televised Clemens, the seven-time Cy Young Award winner made the announcement himself.

The timetable is still a bit sketchy as to when Clemens will actually make his return to the Bronx. But if his past media whoring is any indication, we can expect Clemens to let the publicity flow until June. Clemens is old enough to qualify for social security so having him step outside when it’s cooler than 90 degrees could be a mistake.

As if it was possible for the Yankees rotation to be older, they now add a 44 year old to their rotation. Clemens is a boost for any team he pitches for but in the case of the Yankees, he’s a godsend. Carl Pavano, Jeff Karstens, and Phillip Hughes are already on the DL so getting Clemens into the mix really helps keep them afloat. Even better, he gets to reunite with old butt buddy friend Andy Pettitte. Yay!

Normally when the topic of Julian Tavarez comes up, it’s usually over something useless and irrelevant. This story, though not irrelevant, is hilarious nonetheless. Tavarez, who pitches for the Red Sox, scoffed at the idea of Roger Clemens coming to Bean Town.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I was always under the impression that having the Rocket on your staff was an addition, not a subtraction. I figured that the idea that one of the greatest pitchers to ever play the game warranted more than “uh oh” when asked about the likelihood he would return. But what am I talking about here, its Julian Tavarez. Who needs Clemens when Tavarez is blowing gas on the mound right? I mean, that 1-2 record with the 7.58 ERA is electric enough. Maybe what Tavarez should do aside from switching teams every year is brawl with Clemens.

I understand that some players may want to avoid the media circus that will surround Clemens return. Regardless of what kind of crap he’s feeding the media now, he’ll be back by July. But if you’re going to deny that you want Clemens on your team, you’re from another planet. But I guess that 7.58 ERA qualifies you to say anything you want. Right Julian?