Former Yankee, Red Sox pitching legend Roger Clemens visits Albany Center for Disability Services

ALBANY, N.Y. ( NEWS10 ) — One of the most prolific pitchers in baseball history, Roger Clemens carved out a Hall of Fame-worthy career that spanned 24 seasons – 13 of which he spent in Boston, where won three of his MLB-record seven CY Young awards. He had two stints in the Bronx with the Yankees; won two World Series championships in that time, and eclipsed 4,000 career strikeouts.

It’s been 17 years since Clemens threw a pitch in the bigs, but his legend lives on. Thursday, the man they call “Rocket” made a stop here in the Capital Region.

He spent the afternoon at the Center for Disability Services, meeting with students, fans and signing autographs. Clemens was greeted with a booming rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” There was a good mix of Yankee and Red Sox representation in the crowd, and although he never played for the Mets, he even signed a Mike Piazza jersey.

Clemens does extensive charity work through his foundation – the Roger Clemens Foundation – which is dedicated to helping children, with a special emphasis on underprivileged and at-risk children, as well as children with special needs.

He recognizes how meaningful opportunities to meet a former Big Leaguer are for not only the members of the Center, but also their caretakers.

“I love it; it’s part of who I am,” said Clemens. “Everybody sees me out there on the mound, and I’m locked in to what I do. It was my profession. The people here that put their time in with these kids – young and old – they’re the heroes. I think I’m almost more blessed than these kids when I see them, and they get fired up about their day when [the Center] brings in an ex-Yankee, or something like this. It’s a lot of fun.”

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