Facing Clemens: Hitters on Confronting Baseball's Most Intimidating Pitcher [Paperback]

Jonathan Mayo (Author), Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (Author), Roger Clemens (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 4, 2008

A fascinating look at Roger Clemens, in the words of those who have had to face him at various times in his career, from All Stars (Cal Ripken, Jr., Torii Hunter) to rookies and even Clemens' eldest son.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

 As the most feared pitcher of all time, Roger Clemens has won more than 350 games in his 20-year baseball career, struck out more than 4,500 batters (the second highest total in the history of the game), and earned a record seven Cy Young awards. Along the way, he’s hit 150 batters, knocked down hundreds more, and stared down every batter who tried to dig in against him.

 

Facing Clemens explores what it’s really like to face the Rocket Man. Author Jonathan Mayo has interviewed scores of players, including Ken Griffey Jr., Chipper Jones, Luis Gonzalez, Torii Hunter, Cal Ripken Jr., and even Clemens’s own son, Koby Clemens, for a batter’s box view of the Rocket bearing down from the mound.

About the Author

Jonathan Mayo is a Senior Writer for MLB.com, the official Web site of Major League Baseball.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Lyons Press (March 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1599211629
• ISBN-13: 978-1599211626
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,086,511 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mayo hits one out of the Park, March 19, 2008

By 

Aaron Israel "Aaron" (Miami, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Facing Clemens: Hitters on Confronting Baseball's Most Intimidating Pitcher (Paperback)

Jonathan Mayo's analysis of Clemens would be a remarkable achievement in its own right, generously offering up honest analysis and insights into some the most intriguing personalities in Baseball. On its own right, Mayo's interviews reveal a side of these stars that most sports journalists either gloss over or miss altogether. All of this is true in its own right, but when you consider that Mayo wrote this book months before the whole story on Clemens broke out, then one can really see that this book is destined for history. Going forward, any other author will forever be tainted by the "scandal" side of Clemens and all the spurious conjecture and speculation. Lost forever is the opportunity to objectively view Clemens through the untainted lense that he will forever be viewed by history, whether he is proven innocent or not.

As such, baseball fans and in particular, Yankees fans, owe a debt of gratitude to Mayo for serving up what future baseball historians will no doubt recall as the last authoritative look at Roger Clemens the athlete, both for physical prowess, as much as if not more so for the terrific mental focus and awareness that he was able to bring to his game.

Mayo's intimate portrayal of Clemens is a masterful display of writing for his ability to draw us sympathetically towards the story without cheapening the experience by trying to convert that moment into sympathy for Clemens himself which has been so frequently done by lesser authors.

I would have liked to see some photos of Clemens particularly with his son as that story was the one that really stood out from the others. I can't recall another interview where Clemens revealed as much about this intimate side of his family.

Food for thought for the second printing...

3.0 out of 5 stars Not quite what I expected but still a good read, May 27, 2010

By 

PatrickG (Stamford, CT) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Facing Clemens: Hitters on Confronting Baseball's Most Intimidating Pitcher (Paperback)

From reading the description, I expected this book to be focused heavily on insight from the hitters' perspectives regarding what it's like to step into the batter's box to face Roger Clemens. While there certainly was some of that, it seemed to focus much more on the opposing hitter and what sort of results he was able to achieve (or could not achieve) against Roger Clemens. Buy a cheaper used copy of this book and it will be worth your money.

4.0 out of 5 stars Baseball pitcher - Roger Clemens, February 7, 2010

By 

L. LeClair "new york baseball" (Ellenburg, NY, US) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Facing Clemens: Hitters on Confronting Baseball's Most Intimidating Pitcher (Paperback)

Baseball just isn't the same without a

great book to read concerning baseball's

all-time greats. Roger Clemens is cetainly

one of baseball's greatest pitchers no

matter which baseball ERA you speak about.