HOUSTON — Whenever I see him, I am reminded that I will never see a pitcher of his ability again.

Roger Clemens, who replaced Joe Castiglione on the Red Sox radio broadcast Friday night, broke into the majors in 1984. It was the same year I became a baseball beat writer and I covered him day in and day out until 1996, his final season with the Red Sox.

His 20-strikeout games always amazed me and the fact that he walked no one both against the Mariners in 1986 and the Tigers in 1996, was something I will never forget.

Clemens had just talked to 86-year-old Bill Fischer, his former pitching coach with the Red Sox, who reminds his star pupil that he didn’t walk anyone.

Fischer, who is still a pitching coach in the Royals organization, once went 84⅓ innings without issuing a walk.

Clemens spent the late afternoon in both the Red Sox and Astros clubhouses talking baseball to the pitchers. He spent time breaking down pitchers and has taken quite an affection to Chris Sale and David Price.

His life is good. His son Kacy, a first baseman, was drafted by the Blue Jays out of the University of Texas with the 249th overall pick and a $152,000 slot value.

“He’s got a physical in Dunedin [Fla.] tomorrow and I’m hearing he could report to Vancouver,’’ the proud Clemens said before going into the broadcast booth .

Clemens, now 54, will be in New England on the weekend participating in a golf tournament on Cape Cod and then taking part in a pair of charity batting practice events at Fenway. He’s been embraced by the Red Sox again and it appears that before long he’ll have his No. 21 retired.

Clemens said he’s never considered a broadcast career, though he wondered aloud how he’d do in the radio booth. He’s content to work in the Astros system in spring training and offer advice during the season to anyone who asks him. He’s in contact with Jon Lester, who consults him now and again, and he offers help to any Red Sox pitchers who might seek help.

He’s taken to Sale and watches him a lot on TV, admiring his grit and competitive nature.

“I get texts from people when he’s winging it because his strikeout totals mount up pretty quick. People will text me with, ‘You’ve got to watch him, he’s after your record.’

“He’s got some wipeout pitches and what was it, yesterday? It looked like he was taking something off his slider and it was breaking a little bit. Instead of a power slider, it looked like a slurve. You’ve got two lefties [referring to David Price] like that in Boston with arms like that. It’s pretty special.’’

He did add that the number of close games Sale has pitched does take its toll. He said there’s a different feeling the day after pitching a close game rather than pitching a more lopsided game.

“I was expending myself in 2-1 games. When you win, 6-1, you feel totally different than when you win, 2-1,’’ Clemens said.

The Red Sox became a pitching franchise the day Clemens came up in 1984. They had always been known as a hitting-first franchise. Clemens’s time in Boston ended prematurely when Dan Duquette felt he was on the downside of his career.

He went on to great years in Toronto, New York, and Houston. You can mention the steroid word all you want and how his records were tainted. But if you had two eyes and watched him day in and day out, and the effort he put in, and how he never shortchanged anyone, you’d realize this guy was a great pitcher — just like Barry Bonds was a great hitter — and how both should be in the Hall of Fame.

Eclipsing the 50 percent mark for the first time in Hall of Fame balloting, there seems to be a trend toward voting for the suspected steroid users.

Clemens, to this day, stays strong in his insistence he didn’t do them.

“I have no control over it,’’ said Clemens. “I get calls from writers and friends who said you’re getting closer [to Hall of fame election], but I don’t watch the vote totals. I just hope when guys get it, they acknowledge the catchers who helped them get there. I had fantastic catchers and who called great games.’’

Like him, love him, don’t like him, whatever you’re feeling, Clemens was the best. The very best. And for more than 12 seasons in Boston, he turned Boston into a pitching-first organization.

Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickcafardo.