By PETE CALDERA
BERGEN COUNTY RECORD
STAFF WRITER
AP
New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens, making his season debut with the Yankees, delivers a pitch against the Pittsburgh Pirates in New York on June 9.
NEW YORK -- Maybe Roger Clemens has intentionally submerged some of his most indelible moments against the Mets.
There was the heartbreak of the 1986 World Series, Clemens high-fiving Red Sox teammates in Game 6, waiting for a final out that never came.
There was that awful moment when Mike Piazza took Clemens' best fastball square in the helmet.
And, of course, Clemens still can't explain why he fired that broken bat at Piazza in the 2000 World Series.
Ask Clemens about what thoughts the Mets inspire, and he brings up fellow Texan Nolan Ryan's formative years and Tom Seaver's dominating days.
Well, these aren't Piazza's Mets anymore, either.
Tonight at Yankee Stadium, Clemens will face a better-balanced Mets lineup -- but one that is suddenly struggling as badly as the Yankees did in May.
Clemens has done his video homework on the Mets. But he's also spent his first full week back in pinstripes getting to know the 2007 Yankees.
"I've been visiting with teammates, both young and old," Clemens said. "They're getting to know me a bit, my routine, and getting to see what I'm about."
Now Clemens goes for career win No. 350, nearly a week after his successful re-debut with the Yankees.
"Performance-wise, I expect to get stronger and stronger," Clemens said. "I just hope to go a little longer each time out."
Saturday, Clemens, 44, lasted six innings and 108 pitches in a 9-3 win over Pittsburgh. But the way his arm felt, "I could throw 110-120 pitches and not be too fatigued," Clemens said.
His "fatigued" right groin came through fine, and Clemens attributed that setback to having altered his famous workout regimen. "And that's why the scar tissue gave way," he said.
"I was in hurry-up mode to pitch as soon as possible," Clemens said, but the Yankees kept the reins on a little longer, despite their desperate state.
"I know what's going on," Clemens said, as he interrupted his weight-room session to talk with reporters, a water bottle dangling from his back pocket. "There's nothing more disappointing to me than not holding up your end of the deal.
"There's a lot of expectations [for me] to do that," Clemens said. "I really enjoyed working here. That's why I'm back."
But how much of the vintage Clemens can the Yankees' expect for $18 million?
Since he left the Yankees in 2003, Clemens compiled a 2.49 ERA in the NL with Houston (he had a 3.99 over his first five Yankee seasons).
Though intimidation was just part of his Hall of Fame package, it was a factor that might not be as present this time around.
Jim Leyritz recalled that as far back as 1999, he told Clemens that "guys are getting a little too comfortable in the box against you."
The Piazza incident was seen as an attempt to come up and in against a player who had wild success against Clemens (8-for-19, .421, four HR, 10 RBI lifetime) with unintended consequences.
Nowadays "it's intimidation by his ability, not for anything else," manager Joe Torre said of Clemens' fear factor.
It's about "his track record, what he's accomplished, what he's continued to do -- all that," Torre said. "What you lose with age, you pick up in experience."
On the all-time hit-batsmen list, Clemens is tied with Don Drysdale for 12th place, with 154.
But Drysdale had a more defined career as a pitcher who would brush back hitters, or worse. And Clemens has pitched roughly 1,400 more career innings than Drysdale.
"The one thing about Clemens is that it's him against everybody," said Yankees first base coach Tony Pena, who caught Clemens in his prime. "He doesn't let anyone get to him. He means business."
Asked if he was still menacing after all these years, Pena said, "Why not? It's part of his game. Look at how mean he looks.
"Right now he looks even tougher than when I caught him in 1990," Pena said. "No one's going to take both sides of the plate against him. No way."
Yanks hope to make a couple of Subway statements
1. Roger Clemens is worth every penny
The Pirates were a good starter lineup for Clemens’ 2007 debut. Now the ante is a lot larger, and the stakes only get bigger.
2. They can keep the pressure on
Having the designated hitter available should assist the Yankees’ quest to maintain an offense that has recently lived up to expectations, despite Jason Giambi’s absence.
3. The best is yet to come
Joe Torre isn’t a fan of interleague play, but the Pirates and Diamondbacks have allowed the Yankees to fatten up. They certainly don’t want the oddity of a Subway Series to derail that streak.
E-mail: caldera@northjersey.com
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