NEW YORK - Roger Clemens knows he has been stuck at 299 wins for three weeks.
"I guess it's become a quest now," he joked Wednesday. "After that it will become "300 or bust.' Maybe we'll get some signs out."
The Rocket, still recovering from bronchitis, will make his fourth attempt at winning 300 tonight against the Cardinals. Many family members, including two sisters, and friends have followed Clemens and the Yankees from New York to Detroit to Chicago.
"They wanted to see more of the ballparks, and they're getting to do it," he said.
Some of the people who have been on the trail won't make it to tonight's game. Others who have missed previous stops will join in.
"It's becoming pretty routine now," Clemens said. "Everybody has got the program down."
His mother, Bess, came to his first try, May 26 in New York against the Red Sox. Bess Clemens, suffering from emphysema and coming off a recent bout with pneumonia, wore a breathing tube around her face at that game but didn't go to his past two attempts.
She also didn't plan to attend tonight's game, the first meeting between the Yankees and Cardinals that counts since Game 7 of the 1964 World Series.
"She's not doing well enough to be here," Clemens said.
Among the 20 pitchers who have won 300, three have taken longer to get from 299 than Clemens, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Phil Niekro and Old Hoss Radbourn reached the mark on their fifth tries, and Early Wynn did it on his seventh, the final victory of his career.
After beating Boston, his old team, for No. 299 on May 21, Clemens lost to the Red Sox 8-4 in his next start. Given a 7-1 lead June 1 at Detroit, Clemens allowed five more runs, then watched the bullpen blow the lead.
Sunday at Wrigley Field Clemens left with a 1-0 lead in the seventh, but Juan Acevedo gave up a three-run homer to Eric Karros on his first pitch, Acevedo's final appearance before the Yankees released him.
Yankees manager Joe Torre took out Clemens after 84 pitches because he thought the six-time Cy Young Award winner was fatigued by his upper-respiratory illness. Clemens repeatedly coughed on the mound during the start.
Clemens, 6-4 with a 3.81 ERA in 13 starts, isn't doing any cardiovascular work, saving his energy for the start.
QUEST FOR 300: Yankees ace Roger Clemens makes his fourth attempt at his 300th career win at 7:05 tonight against the Cardinals.
RADIO: WQYK-FM 99.5.[Last modified June 13, 2003, 01:33:18]
