Master · 1984-2007 · right-handed
Roger Clemens
The only pitcher with two twenty-strikeout games, built late on a splitter he called Mr. Splitty.
Signature pitchSplit-finger fastball
Clemens started on a mid-90s fastball and a ferocious, confrontational presence, then in the 1990s added the split-finger he jokingly nicknamed "Mr. Splitty" and made it his out pitch. He is the only pitcher in history with two twenty-strikeout games in nine innings.
From the 1990s on, the strikeouts ran through a split-finger fastball he nicknamed "Mr. Splitty." It left his hand looking like the fastball and dropped off the table late, the wide grip killing the backspin that keeps a four-seamer riding.
The nickname and the splitter’s role are documented on Wikipedia; the "Mr. Splittee" spelling sometimes seen is a typo. No Clemens-specific splitter tracking data exists for most of his career.
The splitter seam, our own schematic
Clemens drew a hard line between game day and every other day, cultivating an unfriendly, intimidating presence on the mound that he called motivation, not anger. Strikeouts, he said, were a situational tool to apply pressure, not the point of every at-bat.
“If someone met me on a game day, he wouldn’t like me. The days in between, I’m the goodest guy you can find.”
Said in 1990 with the Red Sox, on his game-day persona.
The first nine-inning 20-strikeout game in MLB history.
Tied his own record; his last win in a Red Sox uniform.
Filed the way every record here is: each figure season-stamped where it applies, confidence-labeled, and one click from its source. Where the reputation and the data disagree, the gap is shown, not smoothed over.