Some guys leave the game gracefully. These are not those guys.
This is the 50-year-old Roger Clemens pitching for the Sugar Land Skeeters last week in Texas.
Image by Houston Chronicle, Brett Coomer / AP
Roger Clemens has won 354 games and two World Series, struck out more than 4,600 batters, and been involved in a damning federal steroids investigation. But that's apparently not enough to satisfy him. Clemens is the gift to baseball that keeps on giving, and after a few outrageous yet mildly impressive starts for the Sugar Land Skeeters, an independent club of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, there's a very slim chance the Rocket could suit up again for the Houston Astros.
In two starts for the Skeeters, Clemens has pitched a combined eight innings of scoreless ball with literally no preparation beforehand. Houston is currently 40.5 games behind NL Central leader Cincinnati, so the Astros have nothing to lose. Although Clemens doesn't expect it to happen, Astros owner Jim Crane has been teasing a Clemens return, which would undoubtedly boost ticket sales (Houston is 28th in the majors in attendance) and make the Astros relevant again, if only for one night.
Jose Canseco, 48, has been bouncing around baseball's minor leagues for years.
Jose Canseco last made an appearance in the major leagues in 2001, but that hasn't slowed his baseball career. He signed a deal last August with the Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings but never made an appearance due to "personal reasons." In a short stint with the last club he actually played for, the mighty Worcester Tornadoes, Canseco batted .194 and had one home run in 84 at-bats.
Still, Canseco seems to genuinely believe he could still play in the majors, and claims Major League Baseball owes him $25 million dollars in lost wages for bullying him out of the game. He also desperately needs money. Canseco filed for bankruptcy protection in Nevada just before signing with the WhiteWings, according to the Valley Morning Star.
His Twitter account is a must-follow, by the way.