Clemens started and gave up a single, double, triple, and two homers. In one inning, he gave up as many runs as had been scored in the previous two All-Star Games played in Houston. Only one pitcher in 75 All-Star Games ever gave up more runs (Atlee Hammaker, seven in '83). It took Clemens 35 pitches to get back to the dugout.
(By the way, the AL victory clinches home field for the World Series opener and the Red Sox already have been asked to stencil the World Series logo into the grass behind home plate at Fenway).
Clemens and Piazza are enemies dating back to the 2000 season, when the Rocket beaned the Mets catcher during a Yankees-Mets game. Piazza said he had no respect for Clemens and the feud carried into the 2000 World Series when Clemens fielded a piece of Piazza's broken bat and flung it toward the catcher as he ran down the first base line. Clemens later explained that he thought he was holding a baseball instead of a piece of wood, which sort of made sense if you've listened to Rocketspeak through the years.
To their credit, neither batterymate acknowledged the feud in the days leading up to the game, a stubborn silence that no doubt frustrated the New York tabloids. But former Yankee and Red Sox Jim Leyritz, in the press box as a media geek, submitted that since it was Fox Family Hour, Piazza would be required to use at least two fingers for every signal to the mound.
Piazza left the park before the game was over, but told the Associated Press, "We were a little indecisive there. I went through every pitch. It was very amicable. It wasn't awkward."
The 41-year-old Clemens faced Ichiro Suzuki to start the game, fell behind, 2-0, then surrendered a hard double over the head of right fielder Sammy Sosa. Pudge Rodriguez was next and he went the other way, hitting a ball almost to the exact same spot on a 1-1 pitch for an RBI triple. Was Piazza telling them what was coming just to make Clemens look bad? Not since Isiah Thomas and friends froze out Michael Jordan in MJ's rookie year had an All-Star Game enjoyed such frivolous speculation.
