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Clemens starts 'post-playing' career with Astros in '08

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Clemens starts 'post-playing' career with Astros in '08

ORLANDO – For the first time since he signed with the Astros in January 2004, future Hall of Famer Roger Clemens will inform the Astros today that he intends to start a season working under his post-retirement, personal services agreement. Through his agents, Randy and Alan Hendricks of Houston, the 11-time All-Star will inform Astros owner Drayton McLane the news today.

Clemens had vowed to retire after the 2003 season with the Yankees, but McLane, a strong community lobbying effort and Andy Pettitte’s signing with the Astros prompted the hard-throwing righthander to put off retirement in 2004. Since then, Clemens has vowed never to officially say he’s retired. Nonetheless, today’s news is the closest sign that Clemens, 45, may indeed be close to retirement.

“Roger has said several times that he has failed at retirement, so I am not announcing his retirement,†Hendricks told the Chronicle. “The plan for 2008 is this: Roger plans to start the new year as the first year of his post-playing career contract as a consultant to the Houston Astros.

“Roger really enjoys the teaching aspects of baseball and loves his interaction with the young players.â€

Clemens signed a discounted $5 million deal with the Astros in 2004, receiving $3 million in attendance incentives and a $3 million, 10-year personal services contract. He played three seasons with the Astros.

In three seasons playing in his hometown of Houston, he won the Cy Young Award in 2004, helped the Astros win a postseason series for the first time in franchise history in 2004, helped them reach Game 7 of the 2004 National League Championship Series and then helped the 2005 team win the NL pennant and reach the first World Series in the state of Texas.

His good friend Pettitte left the Astros to return to the New York Yankees after the 2006 season, and Clemens followed him to the Bronx after receiving a major-league record $28 million prorated deal for a partial season. Without Pettitte and Clemens, the Astros finished fourth in the weak National League Central with a 73-89 record, their worst since they were 72-90 in 2000.

Clemens was nagged by a few injuries in 2007, including an elbow problem that made some wonder if Father Time had caught up with him and finally led to his final season in baseball. He was 6-6 with a 4.18 ERA in 2007, throwing 99 innings over 18 appearances, 17 of those starts for the Yankees.

Even though he also pitched a partial season in 2006 with the Astros, his 99 innings were the second-fewest in his 24 seasons in the majors. The 99 innings were the fewest he had thrown since throwing 98 1/3 for the Boston Red Sox in his injury shortened 1985 season, which was his second in the majors.

Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner who is 354-184 over his career, is eighth on the all-time victories list and first among pitchers alive. In strikeouts, he is second only to Hall of Famer and former Astro Nolan Ryan.

As part of his post-retirement deal, Clemens will show up to spring training and work with the major-leaguers somewhat but mostly with the minor-leaguers. In 2006, he worked on some of those duties after he returned from the World Baseball Classic and before he began his three-stop tour of the Astros’ farm system while preparing to join the Astros after signing a pro-rated deal.

He also worked with the Astros’ minor-leaguers when he was away from the Astros in 2007, especially when he visited his son Koby, a third base prospect at Class A Lexington.

Last spring, he worked with the Astros’ minor-leaguers and followed his son at Lexington before signing with the Yankees in May.

“I love it,†Clemens said last Feb. 22 of working with the prospects. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t enjoy doing this and having the opportunity to be available to the kids when they ask questions. I still enjoy it.

“I’ve been real blessed to be able to do this and really for the Astros to let me come down and let me be a part of this. We worked real hard, I think on my first or second contract, to have the personal services deal, and now it’s coming true.â€

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