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Odessa American, Texas, Ken Brodnax Column: Barnstorming Pitcher Making His Way to Houston

Posted on: Wednesday, 14 June 2006, 15:00 CDT

By Ken Brodnax, Odessa American, Texas

Jun. 14--Wonder if Roger Clemens realized what he was getting into.

After deciding to make one last fling as a major league pitcher (for some nifty little pocket change), the Rocket has found himself doing a rock star-like tour on the way to settling into the routine as just another man in the Houston Astros pitching rotation. OK, maybe not quite just another man. Just another legend might be more accurate.

Anyway, he did his first appearance at Class A Lexington, where he used some of his spare cash to make clubhouse renovations and got to play one game with his son, Koby.

Then he moved on to Class AA Corpus Christi. There he took the entire team out for a steak dinner and lured 9,022 fans to the relatively new ballpark. The local newspaper compared his visit to that of one Elvis Presley, who turned the town on its ear 50 years ago.

And the Rocket's arrival even lured the team owner to show up. Yep, that team owner -- Nolan Ryan, a pretty fair country pitcher in his day.

Roger responded in true superstar fashion by striking out 11 batters in six innings -- which kicked in a promotion that awards free tacos to every fan present when a pitcher meets the 10-strikeout level. That made him even more of a sensation.

Now it's on to Class AAA Round Rock for a one-night stand Friday. And since the team owner there is the one and same Hall of Famer named Nolan, you have to figure that two of the best pitchers ever will once again be in the same stadium.

As of Tuesday morning, a visit to eBay showed 47 entries for people trying to sell their tickets for the Friday night game. Two tickets behind the home team dugout (in the shade, by the way) had already fetched a $220 bid.

Meanwhile, one of the biggest fans of the Round Rock Express found himself very popular this week. Terry Young happens to possess a luxury suite that will provide a good and comfortable view of Clemens in his final tune-up for his final season.

Now the fan base for the Express is the relatively sophisticated Austin, but the city is just full of people who would love to share Young's digs that night -- including legislators, big-time corporate executives and television personalities. Young, a public relations genius, said he'll find a way to juggle as many into the suite as he can.

Yep, Roger has crossed the mark from a very celebrated baseball pitcher to a very big celebrity who happens to be a baseball pitcher.

And the great thing about it is Clemens seems to grasp the significance of his aura. He seems to be enjoying and sharing the spotlight. Most of his one-game teammates will be telling stories for the rest of their lives about the time they played in a game with the Rocket.

Heck, there will be fans who will brag for the rest of their lives that they were there when Elvis ... err Roger ... put on that one last show in their town.

Actually, there will be some who really weren't there but will recall years later that they did see one of the games. And they probably all were in Terry Young's suite.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Odessa American, Texas

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Odessa American

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