He gets 300th victory on fourth try - and 4,000th strikeout to go with it

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NEW YORK - Hundreds of thousands of dollars in plane fares and hotels were spent, taking the Clemens clan across America. A relief pitcher (Juan Acevedo) lost his job with a pitch that temporarily foiled the quest. Millions of gallons of ink were spilled. One ''300'' patch glove was discarded. The Sports Illustrated cover jinx reared its ugly head.

What would come first, we wondered. The end of the Big Dig? The discovery of weapons of mass destruction? Or Roger Clemens's 300th career victory?

Clemens finally got it last night on try No. 4, beating the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-2, before 55,214 on the 55th anniversary of Babe Ruth Day in the Bronx. In 6 2/3 innings, he gave up two runs on six hits and two walks, while fanning 10, including his 4,000th career strikeout. He becomes the third pitcher in history with 4,000 K's and the 21st to win 300 games.

Of the 20 before him, only Phil Niekro, Old Hoss Radbourn, and Early Wynn needed more tries to do it. Clemens-across-America started on Memorial Day with 133 pitches in a loss to the Red Sox. He moved on to Detroit and Chicago, leaving with leads both times, only to see the defense and bullpen let him down. Last night, he left with a 3-2 lead in the seventh after throwing 120 pitches. His teammates pulled him through.

''Thank God, the Griswold tour is over,'' Clemens told Suzyn Waldman of the YES Network after the game. ''I was hoping this would be it so we wouldn't have to meet again and have you chasing me around the country. I'm going to send 'em all home now.''

That would include his wife, Debbie, his four sons with names beginning with the letter K, sister Janet, his mother-in-law, brother-in-law, and other assorted family and friends. The K-boys will go back to Texas with plastic sandwich bags loaded with dirt from the Yankee stadium mound.

And so the big Texan, who was actually born in Dayton, Ohio, gets the final milestone en route to Cooperstown. And it only took 20 seasons.

Think about it. Carl Yastrzemski was making his final trips around the American League when the Red Sox signed Clemens out of the University of Texas in 1983, and 20 years later the Rocket reached the summit where so few have gone.

He says this will be his last season. He's certainly going out on top. Last night's win raised his record to 7-4. He struck out six batters in the first two innings and the 10 punchouts make him the American League leader with 97. Not bad for a guy who'll turn 41 in August.

The Bronx weather was virtually the same as it was when Clemens made his first attempt at No. 300 against the Red Sox. It was chilly (59 degrees), windy, and wet. Still, there was little doubt that the gates would open and the game would start. NASA launches are regularly delayed, but there's little allowance for postponement when the Rocket's milestone awaits at Yankee Stadium.

It seemed the stars were in line. Though it was Friday the 13th, it was also the anniversary of Ruth's emotional farewell two months before the Bambino died in 1948. Clemens and Ruth share some history. Both pitched for the Red Sox and the Rocket always wipes sweat on the Babe's plaque after warming up in the Yankee pen adjacent to Monument Park.

At 6:46 p.m., Clemens and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre (who was the Yankees' starting pitcher the last time they played the Cardinals, in the seventh game of the 1964 World Series) popped out of the Yankee dugout and walked toward the pen. He walked right past the Stanley Cup, which was perched on one of three golf carts carrying members of George Steinbrenner's NHL champion New Jersey Devils.

As Clemens finished his warmup tosses, and went to paste some perspiration on the bronze Babe, the public address system blared the theme from ''Star Wars.'' Maybe George likes the ''Evil Empire'' image more than he's willing to admit.

After warming up on the mound, Clemens stepped aside and let Devils captain Scott Stevens fire the ceremonial first pitch. Stevens gunned it over the head of Jorge Posada. There would be no more control problems in the first inning.

It was still twilight when the Rocket struck out the side in the first. Four shy of 4,000 punchouts, he quickly moved to 3,999, getting Miguel Cairo, J.D. Drew, and Albert Pujols, all swinging, before many of the fans were seated. Posada, who has been a battery brother to Clemens during the New York years, staked the Rocket to a 1-0 lead, doubling home Derek Jeter in the bottom of the inning.

Clemens gave the lead right back in the top of the second, surrendering a homer to Jim Edmonds (remember him, Sox fans?) on a 1-0 pitch, leading off the second. He worked the count to 0-2 on the next batter, Scott Rolen, and the crowd stood and cheered in anticipation of K 4,000. Instead, Rolen fouled off a couple of 2-2 pitches and doubled to left.

Edgar Renteria was next. He looked at a pair of two-strike pitches, which home plate umpire Gary Darling somehow decided were out of the zone. Finally, Renteria swung and missed at a high heater and Clemens joined Nolan Ryan and Steve Carlton in the 4,000-strikeout club.

''A big thank you to the fans,'' Clemens said. ''I felt them in the first inning. I wish I could have thanked them more when I got the 4,000, but it was in the middle of the game.''

The ovations kept coming (so did the rain) as Tino Martinez strode to the plate. Clemens struck him out, too. Mike Matheny whiffed on a 3-2 pitch to give Clemens six in two innings. Where was this going?

Hideki Matsui put Clemens ahead again with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the inning, but the Cardinals tied it, 2-2, on two singles and a sacrifice fly by Martinez in the fourth.

Ruben Sierra, of all people, got the lead back for good with a two-out homer off Jason Simontacchi in the bottom of the fourth. It was Sierra's first homer with the Yankees this year.

''Once we got it to 3-2, I knew I had to get stingy,'' Clemens said.

Clemens put it on the line in the fifth when he faced Edmonds and Rolen with two aboard and one out. Though he appeared to be laboring, he fanned both, giving him 10 strikeouts for the 104th time in his career. He had a rocking-chair sixth, his second 1-2-3 inning.

Though he'd thrown 111 pitches, he was back out for the seventh, still nursing the 3-2 lead. He got the first two batters, then manager Joe Torre came to get him as Drew came to the plate. Lefthander Chris Hammond was summoned and once again Clemens's fate was out of his hands. Hammond gave up a couple of hits, but got out of the jam.

Raul Mondesi's two-run homer made it 5-2 in the bottom of the seventh and No. 300 finally looked safe. Mariano Rivera pitched two innings of relief to close it out for the Rocket.

Steinbrenner went downstairs to visit with Clemens while the Yankees were taking care of business in the eighth. The Rocket returned to the dugout and sat between Stottlemyre and Torre for the 1-2-3 ninth. Within seconds he was embracing his four sons, then on the phone to talk to his mom who was back home in Texas.

Bess Clemens is the one who saved the green stamps to buy him the first glove back in Ohio. And she's the one who moved into the Spring Woods school district in Houston to make sure he'd play in the best high school program. There was nothing accidental or coincidental about any of this. Roger Clemens was raised to be the greatest pitcher who ever lived, and he'll go into the Hall of Fame with a strong resume for those who want to make that case.

By Dan Shaughnessy of the Globe Staff.

This story ran on page E1 of the Boston Globe on 6/14/2003.

Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.