When you mention the name ?Roger Clemens? to Nick Markakis, the quiet Orioles right fielder gets a little twinkle in his eye.
Growing up as a Red Sox fan, Markakis idolized Clemens. He?ll have to forget about that today when he digs in against the flame-throwing veteran ? who starts against the Orioles when the Yankees visit Oriole Park at Camden Yards at 7:05.
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“It?s going to be a little different up at the plate, but I just have to go up there with the same mentality as if it were any other pitcher out there,” Markakis said.
Markakis, 23, hasn?t spoken to Clemens, 44, before, but he?s hoping to do so sometime during the three-game series.
“I?m definitely looking forward to that,” said Markakis, who entered Tuesday with a .278 average ? having hit safely in 18 of the past 23 games.
Clemens, who signed with New York on May 6, is 1-2 with a 5.09 ERA in four games. He was recalled from the minors on June 9, with the Yankees demoting former Oriole Chris Britton.
MANAGER SAYS: In his first week as manager of the club, Orioles? interim skipper Dave Trembley has been learning on the fly, while instituting a more regimented pre-game workout.
“I know one thing, one o?clock in the afternoon gets here a lot earlier than before, when I wasn?t the manager of this team,” Trembley said before Tuesday?s game. “Time goes by a lot quicker.”
The players must be thinking the same. Trembley had the team on the field at 4 p.m. for a team stretch, and then along the right field line 10 minutes later to throw. Infield practice came at 4:20.
Trembley is also adjusting to the role of manager after the understated role as bullpen coach.
“It is strange to have everybody in a room asking Dave Trembley all these questions. For me, I?ve been doing it for years in little cubby-holes and on bus trips in little towns,” said Trembley, who managed in the minors for 20 seasons. “The only thing that is different is that it feels like opening day. It feels like a new start.”
