Another Victory for Clemens

By ROSS NEWHAN

Nov. 17, 1998 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Continuing to improve with age, Roger Clemens of the Toronto Blue Jays became the first pitcher to win the Cy Young Award five times Monday, getting the American League honor in a unanimous vote by the 28-member committee of the Baseball Writers Assn. of America.

Clemens said he was overwhelmed, that he “greatly respects” the legendary pitchers he is being compared to and that this latest recognition puts him that much closer to that “big house in New York.”

The 36-year-old right-hander referred to the Hall of Fame.

Clemens bolstered his credentials and won the AL award for the second consecutive year with a 20-6 season in which he went undefeated over his last 22 starts, winning 15 consecutive decisions.

He tied for the league lead in victories and led in earned run-average, with 2.65, and strikeouts, with 271 in 234 2/3 innings, winning that triple crown for the second consecutive season, a feat accomplished by only Sandy Koufax, Lefty Grove and Grover Cleveland Alexander.

Pedro Martinez of the Boston Red Sox finished a distant second in the voting. New York Yankee pitchers David Wells and David Cone were third and fourth.

The only other AL pitchers to receive every first-place vote--Clemens also did it in 1986 with Boston--were Ron Guidry in 1978 and Denny McLain in 1968.

The only other pitchers to have won four Cy Young Awards are Greg Maddux, who has an outside chance at a fifth when National League results are announced today, and Steve Carlton.

Clemens, who received a $250,000 bonus for winning the award, has 41 wins and 563 strikeouts in the two seasons since the Red Sox allowed him to leave as a free agent and he signed a four-year, $28.5-million contract with the Blue Jays, but there is some uncertainty about his future.

Toronto challenged Boston for the American League wild-card berth with a late-season surge but has failed to build on that momentum with any free-agent signings and may lose free agent Jose Canseco, who hit 46 homers.

Clemens has expressed frustration over those developments, suggesting the Blue Jays have reneged on their promises to build a contender when he signed.

In a statement posted on his web site last week, Clemens said, “I’d like for someone to let me know which way the team is going. After all, this uncertainty has been lingering for two years, and that’s a disappointment to me.”

Clemens insisted during a conference call Monday that he wants to honor his four-year commitment in Toronto and that his primary goal is to win a championship with the Blue Jays. But he didn’t close any doors when asked about speculation that the Blue Jays, lacking financial direction, could decide to trade him. There have even been rumors that the Red Sox would be receptive to his return, despite his bitter departure.

He said the Boston rumors seem “so far-fetched” that it’s difficult to comment and suggested that if he were traded, he hoped it would be to Texas or Houston, teams closer to his Houston home.

“I don’t have a lot to say about it,” he said. “I’m locked in and I’m happy to be locked in. My first and foremost desire is to win in Toronto. We have a playoff caliber team if we fill a couple holes [he cited the need for a second baseman, a center fielder and a left-handed starting pitcher], but if we lose Jose, that would be a step back. My hope is that everything comes together in the front office and we get some direction.”

If that seemed to be a shot at General Manager Gord Ash, Clemens said that when Ash called to congratulate him Monday, he apologized to the GM for creating a potential controversy and distraction with his web comments.

The question is, does Clemens have space for a fifth Cy Young?

Each of the previous four was dedicated to one of his sons, Koby, Kory, Kasy and Kody, the Ks being the scoring symbol for a strikeout.

The fifth? “The boys’ reaction was, ‘Now, Dad, you’ve got one for you,’ ” Clemens said.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

1998 CY YOUNG AWARD WINNER

Roger Clemens

Toronto Blue Jays

Al Cy Young Voting

Voting awarded on a 5-3-1 basis.

1998 Statistics

IP: 234 1/2