Big Unit More Dominant Than Clemens?

If your only criteria is strikeouts, then yes.

At least Randy shows up for spring training.

The thing about this is that Roger Clemens has a much longer career than Randy Johnson. People should take that into consideration because if Johnson had the chance to pitch the same amount of time Roger did, you'd see Johnson's numbers way too high for Clemens to catch up. One of the main reasons why Clemens comes back every time is so that he doesn't end up far behind Johnson so that he can be noticed, or at least that one of my hypotheses I have in mind. In my opinion, it's really tough to decide, but if I had to choose, due to the close numbers in every category and the length of careers, I'm gonna have to go with Johnson...

Another thing with this is that Johnson took longer to develop into an elite pitcher. Clemens debuted in 1984 and 2 years later he won 24 games, posted a 2.48 ERA, and won the AL Cy Young AND the AL MVP. Randy's first full season in the majors in 1989 (he pitched in 4 games in '88, but that doesn't count), but he didn't win his first Cy Young until 1995, six years later. It's Clemens' sustained greatness that gives him the edge.

Well with similiar pitching stats this argument must be decided with how they handle the lumber. Clemens .173 BA and .236 OBP blows away Johnson's .126 BA and .150 OBP. Chachi is back and he's here to settle all arguments.

I think Clemens were more dominating over a caeer than Johnson. Now, both of those guys need to hang up the cleats. They were well past their prime. They are only playing for the money now.

By the way, if you're giving Randy the 2004 Cy Young and say he got screwed because he was on a bad team, you have to give Clemens the 2005 Cy over Carpenter...Clemens' ERA was under 2 that year, but he lost because the Astros didn't hit when he started...

Someone made a good point here talking about how Johnson took a while to develop as a pitcher. Randy Johnson hasn't really been healthy ever since he went to the Yanks. His ERA might increase, but this year, it seems like he's doing much better than Clemens. It seems like he's doing really well. With his first couple of years on the expos, he didn't really do that great in the W-L column. Therefore in this case, since he didn't have much run support, will not be used in this response (even though Johnson did have a higher ERA that year). Clemens has never pitched over 300 strikeout. Johnson once threw what? 371 strikeouts in one season? That's amazing. As soon as Roger Clemens realizes that he's going downhill, he's going to retire... and NOT come back. But the truth is I don't think Johnson is going to pitch another year. He's at that age where he's getting a lot of injuries. If he's in it for money, no one is going to want to take him unless it's for a small contract, which he'll decline.

I would say that Clemens had a longer run of sustained greatness, but for a 6-year period, Johnson was just off-the charts dominant. From 1997 to 2002, Johnson went 120-42 with only one season ERA over 3.00 (3.28 in 1998). His strikeout numbers during that time were ridiculous. The total for those 6 years was 2034, an average of 339.5 per year. That's unbelievable.

When you compare these two, the first thing you have to remember is Johnson has an automatic headstart because other then Koufax no southpaw has done what he has in as intimidating fashion as RJ has. As a New Yorker an avid listener of Mike and the Mad Dog they love to remind us how Clemens is scared to throw in Boston and New York, especially in 1999 when he got pummeled at Fenway in thst 15-1 defeat opposing Pedro. The issue here, as someone mentioned before, is that comparing pitchers is so tough because there are so many external factors. A Pitcher with better hitters is prone to ammassing more wins and a pitcher who pitched more years in the NL Johnson is on year 11, Clemens had 3 makes it harder to decipher. Johnson's playoff pedigree is certainly stronger, and while Clemens won 7 Cy's, he has never been a reliable shut down ace in the post-season on a consistent basis. I think RJ might be a tad better when you simply scrape the surface but I would be interested if Bill James could figure out a way to statistically tell us who was better taking into account all awards, playoff experiences and accounting for the different leagues and hitters.

Clemens is just the more fashionable choice in this discussion. He gets talked about more because he played for more "important" teams. Clemens was always in the limelight in Boston, New York, hell maybe even Toronto while Johnson quietly pitched his way to greatness in stashed away clubs like Seattle and Arizona. And that 4 year span from 99-02 where Johnson had at least 330K each season? His ERA didn't get above 3.50 for a season between 93-02? Out of this world.

The edge goes to Johnson. Clemens was extremely dominant up until 92, but failed to show any consistency to match the Big Unit.

As for Cy Youngs, those really should be arbitrary, as their nature should indicate they are voted upon and don't always gauge a player's greatness. Remember, Nolan Ryan never won a Cy Young, but some say that guy could pitch.