BRADENTON, Fla. — Tyler Clippard wore a black jersey with a white players' union logo and pitched hitless ball for two innings against amateurs in the green shirts of the East Japan Railway Company.
He had the poorest personal results of his nine major league seasons, yet ended the year with a celebration in the clubhouse of the World Series champion Houston Astros. This is not how the 33-year-old right-hander envisioned spring training.
"We know that my year last year was a bad year, but at the end of the day how bad was it? And it wasn't as bad as some that got significant contracts," he said Tuesday after appearing in the first of two exhibition games for free agents scheduled for this week at the IMG Academy.