BRONX, N.Y. — On this date in 2001, the Bronx Bombers marked Opening Day at Yankee Stadium with some fireworks and the Rocket’s red glare. The three-time defending World Series champion New York Yankees shook off a meaningless nine-win spring training with a 7-3 thumping of the Kansas City Royals.
On the bump, in what would be a Cy Young campaign, Roger Clemens fired 8.1 frames, scattering seven hits, yielding three runs, one walk and fanning five. Among those five was a strikeout of Royals’ third baseman Joe Randa in the first frame. That strikeout moved the ‘Rocket’ to most all-time in the Junior Circuit with 3,509 K’s in his career, surpassing the ‘Big Train,’ Walter Johnson.