Clemens Notches 3,000th Strikeout

Roger Clemens joined an exclusive baseball club Sunday notching his 3,000th career strikeout.

Clemens needed five strikeouts to reach the 3,000 mark before Sunday's game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He struck out Quinton McCracken and Wade Boggs in the first inning and then got Mike DiFelice, Miguel Cairo and Randy Winn in the third to reach 3,000.

Winn took the first two strikes and then, with the fans standing, swung and missed at strike three as Clemens pumped his fist. Clemens' teammates came over to congratulate him and catcher Darrin Fletcher gave him the ball as he walked off the field.

The pitcher pointed to his wife, Debra, as he entered the dugout, then came back on the field and tipped his hat to the fans.

He joins 10 others in the 3,000 strikeout club with Nolan Ryan's 5,714 the alltime leader. Ryan and Bert Blyleven (3,701) are the only 3,000-strikeout pitchers not yet in the Hall of Fame.

A four-time Cy Young Award winner, Clemens also owns an MVP award and five ERA titles. He has struck out 10 or more batters in a game 84 times and twice has struck out 20 batters in a game, a record that was matched this season by Chicago Cubs rookie Kerry Wood.

Before coming to Toronto as a free agent last season, Clemens spent 13 years with the Boston Red Sox and is that team's alltime strikeout leader with 2,590.

The 3,000-strikeout club is more exclusive than 300 wins (20 pitchers), 3,000 hits (21 players) or 500 home runs (15 players).

Clemens' most frequent victim is Chili Davis of the New York Yankees, who has struck out 30 times against him. Next on the active list is teammate Jose Canseco, who has struck out 23 times.

His first strikeout came in his major-league debut, May 15, 1984, when he got Mike Hargrove, now manager of the Cleveland Indians.

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