IN: Clemens was born in Dayton, Ohio, the fifth child of Bill and Bess (Lee) Clemens. He is of German descent, his great-grandfather Joseph Clemens having immigrated in the 1880s. Clemens's parents separated when he was an infant. His mother soon married Woody Booher, whom Clemens considers his father.

Clemens unexpectedly appeared in the owner's box at Yankee Stadium on May 6, 2007, during the seventh-inning stretch of a game against the Seattle Mariners, and made a brief statement: "Thank y'all. Well they came and got me out of Texas, and uhh, I can tell you it's a privilege to be back. I'll be talkin' to y'all soon." It was simultaneously announced that Clemens had rejoined the Yankees roster, agreeing to a pro-rated one-year deal worth $28,000,022, or about $4.7 million per month. Over the contract life, he would make $18.7 million. This equated to just over $1 million per start that season.  Clemens made his 2007 return on June 9, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates by pitching six innings with seven strikeouts and 3 runs allowed. On June 21, with a single in the 5th inning against the Colorado Rockies, Clemens became the oldest New York Yankee to record a hit (44 years, 321 days). On June 24, Clemens pitched an inning in relief against the San Francisco Giants. It had been 22 years and 341 days since his previous regular-season relief appearance, the longest such gap in major league history.  On July 2, Clemens collected his 350th win against the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium, giving up just two hits and one run over eight innings. Clemens is one of only three pitchers to pitch his entire career in the live-ball era and reach 350 wins. The other two are Warren Spahn (whose catcher for his 350th win was Joe Torre, Clemens's manager for his 350th), and Greg Maddux, who earned his 350th win in 2008. His final regular season appearance was a start against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, in which he allowed 2 hits and 1 unearned run in 6 innings, and received a no-decision. Clemens finished the 2007 regular season with a record of 6-6 and a 4.18 ERA.  Clemens was forced to leave Game 3 of the 2007 ALDS in the third inning after aggravating a hamstring injury. He struck out Victor Martinez of the Cleveland Indians with his final pitch, and was replaced by right-hander Phil Hughes. Yankees manager Joe Torre removed Clemens from the roster due to his injury, and replaced him with left-hander Ron Villone.

Why did Clemens join the Yankees?

OUT: rejoined the Yankees roster, agreeing to a pro-rated one-year deal worth $28,000,022, or about $4.7 million per month.


IN: Loki is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and penciller Jack Kirby, a version of the character first appeared in Venus #6 (August 1949). The modern day incarnation of Loki first appeared in Journey into Mystery #85 (October 1962). He is the adopted brother and often the enemy of the superhero Thor.

With the Asgardian population other than Thor still wary of Loki, Loki revealed to his brother that he was attempting to learn more about Earth and humans, to which Thor approves. When a magpie exploded in his quarters carrying a key, it led to a chain of events where at the end, Loki was contacted by an echo of his former incarnation, who revealed he chose to sacrifice himself fighting the Void as part of a greater plan which would involve his death and return. The child Loki refused to follow this path, wanting to be his own person, and transformed the spirit of his former self into a magpie named Ikol. On returning to Earth, he witnessed Odin striking down Thor.  Odin prepared all of Asgard for an unknown battle and imprisoned Thor for attempting to protect Midgard from being scoured. Loki, who disagreed with Odin's actions, was put to work by Volstagg into cleaning the stables of Thor's goats to keep him out of trouble and danger. Using the wool of one of the goats, Loki descended into the roots of the World Tree at the advice of Ikol to ask questions from the Nornish women who live there. After receiving his answers, Loki wept but decided to turn to the imprisoned Thor for his opinion before making his final decision. Breaking into the prison by stealth, Loki asked his brother what he would do if he had to let something bad happen in order to prevent something worse from happening and what if it cost him everything. With Thor's answer, Loki decided to free one of the imprisoned Hel Wolves and bind it to him in servitude using the bridle of Thor's goats. He revealed he needed help from one more 'personage' before heading for the realm of Hela.  Having recovered Thor's hammer after he was killed and erased from memory following the war against the Serpent, Loki was able to work with the Silver Surfer to restore the hammer to its natural state and send it to Thor in the afterlife, restoring his memory and allowing him to fight his way back into the realm of the living. After Thor's return, Ikol would afterwards reveal that circumstances had been manipulated to force the young Loki to allow his former personality to subsume him and live again, his former slate wiped clean by the "new" Loki's actions. During his adventures, the young Loki had inadvertently helped create and was tied to a powerful artifact that was about to be used by Mephisto to conquer all the Hells and ultimately everything. However, if the new Loki ceased to be, the artifact would lose all power. Seeing no other option, Loki allowed Ikol to become Loki again, ceasing to be, but he warned beforehand that the Ikol personality was incapable of true change and believed this older persona would ultimately be stopped by those who always stopped him before, his brother included.

What happened after that?

OUT:
On returning to Earth, he witnessed Odin striking down Thor.