And this morning I was the only one on the platform. The air had a smell of rain that has fallen a certain age ago—not just now, not days before, just fresh. It was a smell I remembered from my youth around the swampy roadsides of RIT, where I learned what cattails are.
Houston always was Clemens' most logical choice. He can stay home and follow his own program, remain in the same organization as his son, Class A third baseman Koby Clemens http://mike-18.blogspot.com/
The Astros have been in even worse shape, using three starters with less than two years of major-league experience. Signing Clemens to go with right-hander Roy Oswalt and left-hander Andy Pettitte again gives them a legitimate Big Three once again. If Clemens, after several minor-league tuneups, proves anywhere near as good as he was last season, he will give the team precisely the lift it needs.