NL DIVISION SERIES: ASTROS v BRAVES

October 9, 2004

Roger Clemens

ROGER CLEMENS: I threw yesterday and felt fine, so I'll do a little bit today and be ready to go tomorrow. Right now, my body, I don't feel like I have any discomfort at all so...

ROGER CLEMENS: Well, the program that I have in between is cut about in half. I mean, I don't take throwing like I usually do, try and get some of the stuff out of my legs and my body. I'll do other cardio. My cardio routine I'll step up just a little bit just to make sure that I flush my body out and that my legs are reacting like they're supposed to and that your arm is quick and ready to fire. Having said all that, you get in a playoff situation with the crowd that we're going to have here, it will substitute for anything that I'm lacking, I'm sure.

ROGER CLEMENS: I don't expect it to feel any different than I pitched last time out coming off the way I felt, you know, five days prior to, as far as being sick. My body couldn't feel any worse than it did. I mean, I was coming back from not having done a whole lot in between starts. So I would expect it to feel a little bit stronger. Each day that goes by, I feel stronger. The Game 2 there in Atlanta, it took me a little bit longer than I would have liked to have for my recovery there, but that was expected.

ROGER CLEMENS: Well, this puts us in a situation. Atlanta comes up big for us today and the guys get it done, then we'll try and close the door here without having to go back to Atlanta. It also sets Roy up. I mean, it is what it is. Our staff is what it is. A month ago I was out there bunting with the guys, we were looking around, it's Roy and I and three other guys that are on the job training. It is what it is. Use us. Maybe if I was 24, I'd worry about it. But I'm the elder statesman, so use me. I'm here. I need to be out there and working. I'm not worried about my arm, I'm not worried about my body. I'm going to go out there and do the best you can. Yeah, I don't want to be sitting on the sidelines where everything is unfolding, and we'll also have Roy as a backup, too. So there's a lot of things that will play into the next couple games. We'll just see how they unfold. But you don't want to be sitting around.

ROGER CLEMENS: Yeah, that's the second part of it. I mean, we know the reports. We have advance scouts just like every other team, every other team that I've been with and every other team I've been with in a playoff situation. I look at film more in games that I pitched, some of Roy's starts, because I can draw off of that. Some of the guys that he's faced, because of the velocity he throws at, I can see what guys are trying to do. That's really it. I'm not looking at film of my mechanics or anything like that because that stuff I worry about in between when I feel it's needed.

ROGER CLEMENS: We looked at film together on several occasions, and I think that's helpful. But I think also just the opportunity to talk and the feel that we get, we did it just the other day in Atlanta, just playing catch. He noticed that I held my curveball a little bit more. I think it's good to talk things through. I think the particular time that he was talking about was his mechanics. I just told him how devastating I thought it was that when he throws 95, 97 miles an hour, it's similar to Smoltz. They throw a ball down, you think it's going to be low when it gets to the plate, and it stays on the same plain. Roy is able to pitch low in the zone. Then, effectively, if they start calling that high strike again, he's a guy that can pitch up in the zone, as well as my stuff. I still am afforded the luxury, because of the velocity I can throw at at my age, I can still pitch up in the zone when I want to. That's what we were talking about, changing eye levels. He has talked about maybe adding a split to his arsenal next year. Just things like that, just things that you talk about when you feel like you're one of the guys that are passing the baton along. I mean, no different than when I had some elder statesmen on my team when I was a younger player. I really appreciate the knowledge that they gave me.

ROGER CLEMENS: Well, I don't know about "wildness." The splits, you're just bearing those in the ground so you either block them, or they're wild pitches. You don't go with the mindset that you have to be careful with your split with a man on third. You trust that your catcher will block that ball. As far as six walks, I could care less. I'm going to get it done. I'm not going to come to the middle. I'm trying to expand the plate. I'd like to get strike one a little bit more often, make my job a little easier, then expand from there. But you just have to see the way the game is coming down and what's going on and how they're calling the game. Sometimes some other guys that are working the game can be a little edgy, too. So you just let everybody relax, see what's going on, see what you're trying to do. I mean, if you're out there and you're throwing the ball and you're all over the place, you might not get a borderline call. But I can only tell you that I was a pitcher long before I was a power pitcher. If come tomorrow, I'm throwing hard, I'll probably pitch at times and the other times power pitch. There are two or three guys that I couldn't afford to allow the situation to bring me to the middle of the plate. They're too good of hitters. Having said that, I haven't been on the mound in a week at that point. So I threw to my son one time on Monday night once I knew we were advancing just to see how my body was going to feel before. I became tired pretty quick. That was the only time I touched a baseball in between that time. Hopefully, it will be a little bit sharper next time.

ROGER CLEMENS: I got my fingers crossed and my toes are crossed, too. That's all I can tell you right now. I watched them get off the bus and they looked excited so...