Show The Herald Jdumal Logan Utah Thursday October 23 2003 Rocket’s last glare from hill Second ByStffl Wllsteln APspoirts columnist MIAMI (AP) — A 94 mph fastball for ' a strikeout The New York Yankees' Roger Clemens ended his final start in the World Series in trademark fashion the stadium sparkling with flashbulbs as thousands of fans photographed his last pitch Commentary It was 10:43 pm EST Wednesday one more goosebump moment in a storied career Clemens caught Florida’s Luis Castillo looking to close out the seventh inning then pumped his fist slapped his glove and was greeted by teammates as he got to the dugout The crowd of 63934 — knowing he would be taken out for reliever Jeff Nelson— rose to give the Rocket a long warm ovation Clemens acknowledged die crowd with a curtain call doffing his cap to the fans and to several Marlins who had tipped their caps to him It was a memorable performance: six shutout innings after a shaky fust and five strikeouts that gave him 48 for his career tied for 10th ini World Series history with Christy Mathewson Clemens threw 109 pitches 76 for strikes TVvo innings later the Yankees made sure he didn’t take the loss scoring two runs with two outs in the ninth to tie the game 3--3 An hour and 43 minutes after Clemens left Florida came back to win 4--3 on Alex ' Gonzalez’s homer in the 12th inning One of die most romantic visions of sports is the sunset fantasy a champion going out like a champion aglow in victory the cheers of the crowd resonating as background music Fade-oto the closing scene: die hero playing catch with his son in die back yard smiles of contentment on their faces y y Clemens took die mound against the Marlins with that very dream in mind v- - An ovation mixed with scattered bops ' greeted the announcement of his name and he looked fearsome as ever when he came out to pitch jaw blackened by sev-- oral days’ growth: yr But looks and reputation can carry aV r AP photo Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens tips his cap at the end of die seventh inning vs the Martins in Game 4 of the World Series Wednesday night in Mjami ut : at - : fust-inni- Continued from B2 1 her Pirates and that led to her squad’s 22-2- 3 25-2- 2 15-1- 2 loss to the Grizzlies ' We were really aggressive and the intensity Was really high in the first two games then it’s like we just ran out of gas" White said The Pirates who are 0-- 4 against the Grizzlies this season got 20 kills from Bo ng Coburn in the Grace match and 18 more vs the Cardinals I Tammy Uigaese totaled 26 kills in the two matches and Candace Buttars totaled 10 ' blocks against Soda White said she was particularly pleased with the 1 hard-nos- play ed of sophomore setter Darcie Olsen who sprained her ankle on Tuesday and rightside hitter Becky Rider ' "Darcie played excellent and Becky really played some tough matches and was a big ’ factor" she noted Brent StevensHeraU Journal Sky View's Kendon Knowles far right competes Wednesday during the 4A State boys cross country meet in Salt Lake City Own Continued from B1 what tins heck" Knowles said "I land of feel bad for Nate I just love the guy but it did feel good to finally beat him" Needham who had an unbelievable senior season led the young Grizzlies to 11th place ' overall with 293 points V Logan’s performance was good enough for the top sprit out of the valley teams as well as the region teams "I thought our team did real-- ly well" Needham said "I : r tried my best but you can’t win every race" - The Gnzz have been the region's Cinderella all season methodically lulling the com- ' petition to sleep early and then pouncing on them toward the end of the race " "Our kids worked hard all year and came through in the end" Grizz coach Kelly Ben- nett said The top valley finisher for the boys was Mountain Crest’s Alex Thatcher who' covered the course in 17:079 The Mustang boys were right behind the Grizzlies taking 12th place as a team- -- LET THE BIDDING BEGIN! rV ft tr £ Submit your bid(s) anytime between 9am October 1 9 v October 26 Phone In your bid(s) between the r and 5pm hours of 9am and 9pm on weekdays and 9am and 5pm on weekends Internet bids will be accepted at all times but under no circumstances will bids be accepted after 5pm on October 26 the final moment of bidding Continued from BI Kim Arizona’s Byung-Hyu- n in 2001 But the Marlins also luiew a tiling about late magic Their last Series win at Prp Player vicStadium was an tory in Game 1 against Cleve- land in 1997 ‘That’s what this is all about You’ve got two great teams that deserve to be here and you saw great baseball tonight” Yankees manager Joe Torre said Now with things all even it goes to Game 3 on Thursday night David Wells starts against Florida’s Brad Penny in a rematch of the opener that the Marlins won 2 The Marlins guaranteed the Series will return to Yankee Stadium And that means there’s still a chance Clemens will pitch again — and it would be in Game 7 “We got five straight hits in the first inning we thought we were going to get to him early” Florida’s Jeff Conine said “It was really nice to see the crowd give him a sendoff like they did"' While Clemens did not win the Yankees at least made sure he did not lose Shut down for eight innings by Carl Pavano New York came back in the ninth against Ugueth Urbina BCrnie Williams singled with one out Hideki Matsui walked and Jorge Posada grounded into a force play David Dellucci came in to run for Posada and Sierra fouled - BS ot Clemens buzzed him with a high inside pitch Clemens threw 42 pitches before he got the third out The Yankees helped him with a run in the second inning and Clemens settled down to dispatch the Marlins on eight pitches in the bottom of the inning ' Clemens tried to help himself by loop- single — his first World ing a broken-hSeries hit— to lead off the fifth inning but the Yankees couldn't capitalize on it Yet the Way Clemens pitched or hit mattered less than the fact he was starting in a World Series one last time ' The fantasy happens more often in w Hollywood than it does in real life where athletes tend to linger past their prime pitcher onlysofar 1 In a two-orally the1 muscles and joints aching the stadium Marlins racked Clemens for three runs on silent as their cleats clatter through the 'five straight hits including a two-ru-n tunnel on their way out homer by Miguel Cabrera — after The game is seductive making them ut think they’re forever young They need the cheers the juice the money so they stay longer than they should Or fate hands them a raw deal and they never get the chance to play on the grand stage It’s tough to know when to quit The time is different for every athlete and the best time is when they know deep down that the passion is gone for training and traveling and sacrificing their families for their teammates Clemens came to that point this seasons Only one Hall of Fame pitcher finished his career in the World Series — Sandy Koufax in 1966 Koufax was just 30 when he decided he no longer wanted to pitch with an arthritic left elbow That final game in Dodger Stadium wasn’t pretty — he left after six innings trailing 4-- 0 in Game 2 of Baltimore’s sweep to the title — yet he still could take pride in winning a pennant and departing after a Series Clemens a six-tiFor the who study will award winner Cy Young in Koufax Cooperstown on a first-balljoin vote when he’s eligible in 2009 his last start was an occasion to celebrate with more than SO family members friends and former teammates in the stands Surprisingly sentimental for a man who prides himself on toughness and is feared by batters as an intimidator Clemens plans to save his cap his jersey and a handful of dirt from the mound just as he did from the game earlier this season when he gained his 300th victory and 4000th strikeout The Rocket jogged onto the field that night in Yankee Stadium as Elton John’s “Rocket Man” blasted from the public-addre- ss system The giddy scene ended strikewith his four sons all K’s like his outs — Koby Kory Kacy and Kody — scooping up dirt from the mound and putting it in bags as keepsakes Clemens savored all die special moments this season pitching with a kind V of calm heat once he had passed the big milestones on the way to 310 wins and 4099 strikeouts and into the fiery playofis against his first team tiie Boston Red Sox Clemens has had several “last starts” this season — the last regular season 0 game the last one against Boston the last-onin Yankee Stadium — but this truly is the end He could relieve in Game 7 if the Series goes that far but he insists he will not be enticed to return next season either for the Yankees or the Rangers in his home state of Texas “I’m dead serious on what I’m doing” Clemens said though he wouldn’t rule out a return to baseball for the Olympics r- - ITS TIME TO BID ON HUNDREDS OF GREAT ITEMS & GET FANTASTIC BARGAINS FROM LOCAL BUSINESSES! 3-- off two pitches d before tripling into the comer The Yankees were delirious as they spilled out of the dugout to celebrate the big hit Earlier they came off the bench in respectful fashion for Gemens' farewell foil-cou- nt right-fiel- “It was quite memorable for me” Tone said “I mean Roger he just took it all in I think we’d all like to be in his body and see what it felt like walking off that mound maybe for the last time” tf’i i '- is :j i 3 - stb? 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