White Sox organist Nancy Faust began playing “Na, Na, Hey, Hey” Wednesday night when she abruptly stopped.
The traditional South Side song of mockery was suddenly out of place. Instead of jeering Roger Clemens as he left the mound with a one-run lead in the seventh-inning, Sox fans gave the Yankees right-hander a prolonged standing ovation.
Clemens hurled the Yankees to a 6-3 victory over the Sox before 18,465 fans at Comiskey Park to become the first pitcher in baseball history to win 20 of his first 21 decisions.
“My sister, my mother, my wife and everyone left me the same message this morning,” Clemens said. “To think about the people of New York when you’re out there on the mound, and hopefully they’ll be watching.”
Derek Jeter homered twice off Gary Glover (4-3) to pace the Yankees’ offense, and Clemens allowed two earned runs in 6 1/3 innings for his 16th straight victory and his fifth 20-win season.
“Pretty neat, the crowds we’ve had here, to hear them sing the [anthem],” Clemens said. “You hear a little more–at least I did the last two days. I didn’t know how my focus was going to be, but to win 20 at this stage of my career is definitely a blessing.”
Despite being the oldest AL starter at 39, Clemens has been aging like a fine wine.
“He still has a lot of little boy in him,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said. “He still gets excited about it, and that’s a big part of it.”
Clemens’ work ethic is what keeps him at the top of his game, which Torre fully understood when New York traded David Wells for Clemens before the ’99 season.
“That’s part of the reason why we made the deal that we made,” Torre said. “We did not want to give up `Boomer,’ but to get Roger we had to do that. Even though they were about the same age, we knew how well Roger takes care of himself.”
After the Yankees handed Clemens a quick 1-0 lead, Paul Konerko’s homer tied it in the second. Jeter’s homer in the third put the Yankees on top again, but after Jeff Liefer’s RBI single tied it in the fourth, Clemens induced Carlos Lee into an inning-ending double-play grounder.
Jeter’s two-run shot in the fifth on a 3-0 fastball from Glover made it 4-2, and Clemens’ date with history was virtually a done deal.
“Instead of handshakes, I got a hug from every teammate,” Clemens said. “That makes it very special.”
Winning percentages
The best winning percentage by a pitcher with 15 or more decisions, with percentage, record, team and year:
.952: 20-1, Roger Clemens, N.Y. Yankees, 2001.
.947: 18-1, Roy Face, Pittsburgh Pirates, 1959.
.941: 16-1, Rick Sutcliffe, CUBS, 1984.
.938: 15-1, Johnny Allen, Cleveland Indians, 1937.
.905: 19-2, Greg Maddux, Atlanta Braves, 1995.
.900: 18-2, Randy Johnson, Seattle Mariners, 1995.
.893: 25-3, Ron Guidry, N.Y. Yankees, 1978.
.889: 16-2, Freddie Fitzsimmons, Brooklyn Dodgers, 1940.
.886: 31-4, Lefty Grove, Philadelphia A’s, 1934. Winning percentages
