Roger Clemens (born 1962) was a dominant pitcher during his long tenure in Major League Baseball. He played 24 seasons with four different teams: Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, and Houston Astros.
Over his long career, Clemens amassed 354 wins, 4,672 strikeouts, and an ERA of 3.12. He was an 11 time All-Star, a two time World Series champ, and he won the Cy Young Award seven times, which is more Cy Young Awards than any player ever.
Born in Dayton, Ohio, Clemens was raised in Texas. Clemens only spent one year in the minors after being drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 1983.
By 1986, Clemens was a star. In that year, he had 24 wins, 4 losses, and an ERA of 2.48. Clemens won the Cy Young Award and the AL MVP. The Red Sox won the AL pennant that year too. Clemens would go on to win two more Cy Young Awards with the Red Sox.
He left for the Toronto Blue Jays in 1997. Leading the AL in wins, strikeouts, and ERA in both 1997 and 1998, Clemens won the pitching Triple Crown twice. After two more Cy Young Awards in those same years, Clemens went to the New York Yankees in 1999.
Continuing to perform at an elite level, Clemens finally won a World Series. Clemens left for the Houston Astros in 2004 where he spent
three years. Clemens returned to the Yankees in 2007 for his final season.
Clemens will be well remembered for his style. He worked hard to intimidate hitters, and his competitive nature paired well with his hard throwing. To put it nicely, Clemens was unafraid of throwing close to the batter. Despite many denouncements and insults towards Clemens, including “double talker” and “headhunter,” he only led once (in 1995) in batters-hit.
Additionally, Clemens has been accused of “diva behavior.” Despite the negative publicity, his performance was too well respected. For example, Jason Giambi once said, “I’d carry his bags for him, just as long as he is on the mound.”
Finally, Clemens has been widely accused of illegal steroid use. This includes Jose Canseco’s book, Jason Grimsley’s accusations, and the Mitchell Report. Clemens denied all allegations. The denials included a sworn statement under oath in front of a Congressional committee, though he was later investigated for perjury.
Clemens was named to the MLB All-Century Team, but as of 2020, Clemens has not been inducted into the Hall of Fame. He has received votes since he became eligible in 2013. The aggressive pitching, negative publicity, and steroid accusations explain why a pitcher with his resume is still not in the Hall of Fame.
Despite the largely negative public perception, Clemens remains a great baseball player. While many of his cards would be worth a great deal more without the controversy, there are a few good representations out there, and we will go over a couple.
1984 Fleer Update Roger Clemens Rookie Card
There are 132 cards in this update set, and each card measures at 2 ½” x 3 ½”. It was the first update set by Fleer. Roger Clemens is an
anchor to set at card #27. Dwight Gooden, Kirby Puckett, Pete Rose, and Bret Saberhagen are further anchors.
There are plenty of these cards available in high grade. PSA has over 5,000 cards registered, 500 of them are PSA 10’s, and well over 2,000 are PSA Mint 9’s.
Prices are helped by the short run of the printing. The average price of a PSA Gem Mint 10 is about $1,700, but prices have been on the rise since 2020. A Mint condition card can be purchased for a few hundred.
1985 Donruss Roger Clemens Rookie Card
This set from Donruss has 665 cards that are standard size. Major keys include Ryne Sanderg, Don Mattingly, Pete Rose, Ozzie Smith, and Robin Yount. In addition to Roger Clemens, major rookies include Kirby Puckett, Orel Hershiser, Eric Davis, and Dwight Gooden.
Each card has a full sized picture of each player, bordered in black, and captioned by the player’s name, position, and team logo. The black border chips easily, and it makes this set more difficult to find in high grade.
There are over 8,600 cards of Roger Clemens registered by PSA. PSA 10s will be a few hundred, and Mint condition cards should be well under $100.
1985 Fleer Roger Clemens Rookie Card
There are 660 cards in this standard sized set. The front of the card has a photo of the player with a colored border, and the name, team logo,
and position of the player sits on top of the photo. In addition to the rookie card of Roger Clemens and Kirby Puckett, the set has Don Mattingly, Cal Ripken Jr., Mike Schmidt, and Nolan Ryan.
There are plenty of Roger Clemens cards floating around on the secondary market. PSA alone has 5,517 registered on their site. The price is reasonable too, approaching about $1,000 for a PSA Gem Mint 10 copy but only $100 or less for a PSA Mint 9 copy.
1985 Leaf Roger Clemens Rookie Card
There are only 264 cards in this Leaf set. Each card measures 2 ½” x 3 ½”. The set has a near identical design to Donruss. Leaf had bought Donruss earlier. The main difference is that Leaf has French and English on the back due to the Canadian market.
The keys to the set are largely the same as mentioned above. There are about 1,390 copies of Roger Clemens’ card registered with PSA. Many of them are in high grade. Prices were jumping up in 2020, and the first sale from 2021 for a PSA Gem Mint 10 was for $1,729. Prices fall off a cliff to less than $100 for a PSA Mint 9.
1985 Topps Roger Clemens Rookie Card
This set has 792 cards that measure 2 ½” x 3 ½”. Given the size of the set, the Topps brand covers the major anchors mentioned above. Roger Clemens sits at card #181.
This card is quite common. By itself, PSA has over 24 thousand cards of Roger Clemens alone registered on their site. Prices on Gem Mint cards have been rising, and they were coming closer to $1,000 in 2021. However, Mint cards drop to about $70.
Conclusion
Given the era, there are plenty, plenty, plenty of Roger Clemens cards out there. Here are the best rookie cards out there. It’s up to you on which brand you want.
The legacy of Roger Clemens will remain controversial for decades, but collectors can enjoy his cards in the meantime.