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CNN Sunday Morning

Clemens Tries to Make History

Aired June 01, 2003 - 11:21   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOPHIA CHOI, CNN ANCHOR: He's trying to make history today. Whenever New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens wins his 300th game, he will be part of an exclusive club among baseball's greatest players. What are baseball's most lasting achievements? Our Jeff Greenfield takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST (voice-over): When Roger Clemens goes to work in Detroit on Sunday, he will be watched by a media army ready to tell us when, if, and how he has made history.

ROGER CLEMENS, PITCHER, NEW YORK YANKEES: I've heard people comment about it, that, you know, the overwhelming crowd, but you prepare yourself for that. I mean, I knew that day was coming. I know the day is coming.

GREENFIELD: On Sunday, or a few days, or a few weeks later, the New York Yankee pitcher will do what only 20 other men, of the more than 7,000 who have pitched major league baseball games have done. He will win his 300th major league game.

And baseball is, uniquely, a sport whose fans are fascinated, maybe obsessed, with statistical measures of greatness, as veteran sportswriter Bill Madden demonstrates.

BILL MADDEN, SPORTSWRITER, "NEW YORK DAILY NEWS": In baseball, the numbers are all magic. 755, Hank Aaron. 60, Babe Ruth. 2,130, Lou Gehrig. The numbers in baseball are like no other sport.

GREENFIELD: Amen to that, says Yankee manager Joe Torre.

JOE TORRE, MANAGER, NEW YORK YANKEES: Baseball is one game, to me, that really hasn't changed over the years. And the game still has to be played the same way, still has to be won the same way, statistics are pretty much meaningful.

GREENFIELD (on camera): They say that records are made to be broken, and the fact is that in baseball many records one considered impregnable have been shattered. Others have held up untouched for decades. Why?

(voice-over): The 60 home runs of Babe Ruth, the 61 of Roger Maris, were wiped out by Mark McGwire's 70, and then Barry Bonds' 73. And 50 home runs a year is almost commonplace. Fences have been moved in. The ball may have been juiced. And for whatever reason, conditioning, weight lifting, steroids, the hitters are stronger. On the other hand, we haven't seen a batter hit .400 for a season since Ted Williams did it 62 years ago. Yankee broadcaster Jim Kaat, who won 283 games in his 25-year pitching career.

JIM KAAT, BROADCASTER, NEW YORK YANKEES: When Williams hit .400, there were eight teams, and he faced the same pitcher time after time, maybe 40 times a year. That's, I think, what makes it more difficult for hitters today.

GREENFIELD: As for the pitching records, Cy Young's 511 career victories, Walter Johnson's 417, they are clearly beyond reach. Those men pitched far more often. There were no relief pitchers to pick up a late inning victory. That's also why it's been 35 years since a pitcher, Denny McClain, won 30 games in a season.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those days are probably long gone, I mean, especially when you're only going to get 34, 35 starts, maybe 36.

GREENFIELD: And of all the records that still stand, the one that still stirs the most shock and awe is this one, Joe Dimaggio's 56-game hitting streak, back in 1941.

MADDEN: I think this has been the most enduring of all records.

TORRE: 56 games in a row. That's probably the one -- I think .400's a possibility, but the think the 56 in a row is very tough to do.

GREENFIELD: Of course, there was a time when that's what we thought about Ruth's 714 career home runs. Hank Aaron took care of that one. Or Ty Cobb's 4,191 career hits; Pete Rose beat that. Or Lou Gehrig playing in 2,130 consecutive games. Say hello to Cal Ripken. And besides, the way Roger Clemens works out five hours a day in the off season, he might just win another 211 games or so, before he finally quits.

Jeff Greenfield, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHOI: And by the way, Clemens' game against the Detroit Tigers starts around 90 minutes from now, and an early congratulations to him. We know you can do it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired June 1, 2003 - 11:21   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOPHIA CHOI, CNN ANCHOR: He's trying to make history today. Whenever New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens wins his 300th game, he will be part of an exclusive club among baseball's greatest players. What are baseball's most lasting achievements? Our Jeff Greenfield takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST (voice-over): When Roger Clemens goes to work in Detroit on Sunday, he will be watched by a media army ready to tell us when, if, and how he has made history.

ROGER CLEMENS, PITCHER, NEW YORK YANKEES: I've heard people comment about it, that, you know, the overwhelming crowd, but you prepare yourself for that. I mean, I knew that day was coming. I know the day is coming.

GREENFIELD: On Sunday, or a few days, or a few weeks later, the New York Yankee pitcher will do what only 20 other men, of the more than 7,000 who have pitched major league baseball games have done. He will win his 300th major league game.

And baseball is, uniquely, a sport whose fans are fascinated, maybe obsessed, with statistical measures of greatness, as veteran sportswriter Bill Madden demonstrates.

BILL MADDEN, SPORTSWRITER, "NEW YORK DAILY NEWS": In baseball, the numbers are all magic. 755, Hank Aaron. 60, Babe Ruth. 2,130, Lou Gehrig. The numbers in baseball are like no other sport.

GREENFIELD: Amen to that, says Yankee manager Joe Torre.

JOE TORRE, MANAGER, NEW YORK YANKEES: Baseball is one game, to me, that really hasn't changed over the years. And the game still has to be played the same way, still has to be won the same way, statistics are pretty much meaningful.

GREENFIELD (on camera): They say that records are made to be broken, and the fact is that in baseball many records one considered impregnable have been shattered. Others have held up untouched for decades. Why?

(voice-over): The 60 home runs of Babe Ruth, the 61 of Roger Maris, were wiped out by Mark McGwire's 70, and then Barry Bonds' 73. And 50 home runs a year is almost commonplace. Fences have been moved in. The ball may have been juiced. And for whatever reason, conditioning, weight lifting, steroids, the hitters are stronger. On the other hand, we haven't seen a batter hit .400 for a season since Ted Williams did it 62 years ago. Yankee broadcaster Jim Kaat, who won 283 games in his 25-year pitching career.

JIM KAAT, BROADCASTER, NEW YORK YANKEES: When Williams hit .400, there were eight teams, and he faced the same pitcher time after time, maybe 40 times a year. That's, I think, what makes it more difficult for hitters today.

GREENFIELD: As for the pitching records, Cy Young's 511 career victories, Walter Johnson's 417, they are clearly beyond reach. Those men pitched far more often. There were no relief pitchers to pick up a late inning victory. That's also why it's been 35 years since a pitcher, Denny McClain, won 30 games in a season.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those days are probably long gone, I mean, especially when you're only going to get 34, 35 starts, maybe 36.

GREENFIELD: And of all the records that still stand, the one that still stirs the most shock and awe is this one, Joe Dimaggio's 56-game hitting streak, back in 1941.

MADDEN: I think this has been the most enduring of all records.

TORRE: 56 games in a row. That's probably the one -- I think .400's a possibility, but the think the 56 in a row is very tough to do.

GREENFIELD: Of course, there was a time when that's what we thought about Ruth's 714 career home runs. Hank Aaron took care of that one. Or Ty Cobb's 4,191 career hits; Pete Rose beat that. Or Lou Gehrig playing in 2,130 consecutive games. Say hello to Cal Ripken. And besides, the way Roger Clemens works out five hours a day in the off season, he might just win another 211 games or so, before he finally quits.

Jeff Greenfield, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHOI: And by the way, Clemens' game against the Detroit Tigers starts around 90 minutes from now, and an early congratulations to him. We know you can do it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com