300.

It’s a pretty big number, but, when you think about it, most of us have probably accumulated at least 300 of something. It may be from a hobby like collecting baseball cards or stamps, or it might come in the form of empty beer cans or cigarette packs, but most of us have hit that magic number in some way, whether we wanted to or not.

Well, we all have Roger Clemens beat. He’s stuck on 299.

In his third quest for his 300th win, Clemens failed to hit the mark as his Yankees went down to Kerry Wood and the Chicago Cubs 5—2 on Saturday. The loss left many people pointing fingers and asking the same question — will Clemens ever win number 300?

True, Clemens is not the same pitcher he was in the 1980s when he struck out 20 batters in a game (ironically, a record shared only by Wood), or in the 1990s when he won three Cy Young Awards, but he is still one of the top pitchers in the game. Although he is nearly 41, Clemens is only 2 years removed from his last Cy Young Award (2001) and can still throw in the high 90s. So why can’t he win 300?

Let’s look at the three games that Clemens has pitched in since winning number 299. The stage couldn’t have been set any better for his first try at hitting the milestone. In front of a packed Yankee Stadium that included many of Clemens’ family and close friends, he took the mound against the Boston Red Sox, his former team.

The Red Sox gave him up in 1996, thinking his best years were behind him. Clemens wanted to exact revenge on the Sox by fulfilling the greatest achievement of his career against the team for which he spent most of it.

It would have been a fairy tale except for one thing — the Red Sox are really good, and Clemens pitched really bad. He was tagged for eight runs and threw a whopping 133 pitches in only 5 2/3 innings. The Yanks eventually lost the game 8-4. Shucks, maybe next time, Rocket.

In his next bid for 300, Clemens traveled to Detroit to take on the lowly Tigers, who entered the game with a 14—39 record. The game did not have the billing the Red Sox game did, but the attendance of 44,095 is probably the most fans the Tigers will see at a home game all year. Clemens was sure to get his win here. Although he pitched better than he did against Boston, Clemens still gave up six runs to the pathetic Tigers in six innings pitched. Clemens left the game up to his bullpen as he left in the seventh inning with a 7-6 lead.

Surely the Yankees’ powerful bullpen could hold a lead even as slim as one run against the worst team in baseball, right?

Wrong. The Yanks surrendered two runs in the last three innings and went into extra innings tied at eight, eventually winning 10-9 in 17 innings.

Although Clemens was not slapped with a loss this time he was still had a no decision. No decision equals no win. 0 for 2, Roger.

In his most recent try, Clemens looked for his third time be the charm as he went to Chicago to take on the Cubs. It was a matchup of teacher versus student as Clemens went up against young Kerry Wood, who grew up idolizing the Rocket and, like Clemens, is also from Texas.

Unlike his previous two games, Clemens was back on top. Fighting an upper respiratory infection, Clemens matched Wood pitch for pitch, both of them throwing in the high 90s and generally dominating. However, after going six innings and only throwing 84 pitches, Clemens was yanked by manager Joe Torre because Torre feared that Clemens’ illness was affecting his pitching.

Affecting his pitching? The guy had only given up 3 hits!

So yet again it was left up to the Clemens’ bullpen to solidify his 300th victory, with the Yankees clinging to a one-run lead and three innings left in the game, a sight all too familiar to the Rocket. Clemens barely had time to get back to the dugout before reliever Juan Acevedo served up a three-run homer to the Cubs’ Eric Karros on his first pitch, a blown save that got Acevedo released Tuesday. No number 300 for Clemens, and no glory.

So let’s summarize. In his first try, Clemens blew it and got the loss. In his second, he played poorly, but so did the rest of his team. In his third try, Clemens pitched brilliantly but got no help from his bullpen and might have won the game if Torre had left him in, sick or not. So if he continues to pitch better in his quest, 300 should come in his next start, right? Maybe not. Clemens is slated to pitch against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday against one of the best young pitchers in the game in Matt Morris. Also, the Cardinals are one of the best-hitting teams in the National League. Even though the game is at Yankee Stadium, don’t look for Clemens to win that one.

If Clemens loses against the Cardinals, his next start is likely to come against the Yankees’ cross-town rivals, the New York Mets, at Shea Stadium. Although the Mets are a much inferior team to the Yankees, it’ll be another much-hyped game in a hostile environment, and Clemens has no guarantees of winning.

Will the Rocket ever reach 300? Well, yes. Although they have been playing poorly of late, the Yankees are still one of the best teams in baseball, and Clemens can’t go the whole season without winning another game. Clemens’ 300th victory will come, and he’ll raise his hat to the crowd when he finally gets that monkey off his back.

At this rate, though, he just might have to wait until July.