A 21-year-old Clemens earned his first career win vs. the Twins on May 20, 1984.
Roger Clemens had one of the dominant pitching careers in MLB history.
Drafted by the Red Sox in 1983, Clemens quickly rose through the minors and made his debut with the club on May 15, 1984. The 21-year-old gave up four earned runs on 11 hits in 5.2 innings pitched. Boston lost 7–5 to the Indians.
Five days later, Clemens returned to the mound to face the Twins at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. He bounced back from his first outing with seven strong innings, in which he surrendered four runs and seven hits. Clemens also recorded seven strikeouts and only one walk in the Red Sox’ 5–4 win, the first of his career.
Clemens finished his rookie season with a 4.32 ERA, a 9–4 record and 126 strikeouts. His early games were a sign of things to come.
The Rocket spent the majority of his 24-year career in Boston before going on to play for the Blue Jays, Yankees and Astros. As an 11-time All-Star, Clemens won two World Series with the Yankees and a record seven Cy Young Awards during his career. He retired in 2007 with a career 3.12 ERA, 354 wins and 4,672 strikeouts, which ranks third all-time.
Despite his notable career, Clemens has not been inducted into the Hall of Fame. He was accused of steroid use after being named in the 2007 Mitchell Report, which included testimony from his former trainer Brian McNamee. Clemens denied the charges, sued McNamee for defamation and testified before a Congressional committee that he never used PEDs. Although he was indicted by a federal grand jury and put on trial for perjury regarding his statements to Congress, Clemens was ultimately acquitted of all the charges against him.