Clemens’ Hearing an Utter Circus
There was no knockout blow today against Roger Clemens, but there were three stunning punches that came close. Had the steroid hearing not deteriorated into a matter of partisan debate, that trifecta might have actually brought closure to this debate. 
    The first moment involved Andy Pettite, a religious man who is well respected around the game of baseball as an upstanding citizen. Earlier, Pettite had corroborated McNamee’s claims that he had used steroids in 2003. He went a step further in his deposition admitting to self-injecting human growth hormone in 2004, an even nobody else knew about. Petitte didn’t need to make this claim, but did so he said because he ultimately has to face god and doesn’t want to lie. At that moment he running an 11 on the credibility scale and it is then that he claimed that Roger Clemens had admitted using steroids and HGH. Up to that point it was Clemens’ word against the tainted word of his former trainer, but Pettite’s claim changed the dynamic.    Then there was an issue of a party at Jose Canseco’s home in 1998. The trainer claimed that Clemens was at this party, a gathering where steroids was discussed. Clemens claimed repeatedly that he was not there and couldn’t have been there because he was golfing.  The trainer had seen a woman at the party with Clemens’ children whom he later found out was Clemens’ nanny. The congressional committee asked the Clemens camp for information on this nanny so she could be interviewed. They balked, not producing her information until two days before the hearing. It came out that Roger met with her before producing her to congress and coached her on what to say, or that was the implication. It didn’t seem to matter, as she told congress that Clemens was at the party in question. Like most of this debate, the party itself wasn’t that big of an issue, but when Clemens lied about it he made it an issue. Her testimony further damaged his credibility.    Then there was this question of an abscess on Clemens’ right butt cheek. McNamee claimed this was the result of an injection of Winstrol, a horse steroid. Clemens claimed that it was from a B12 injection. Testimony was then provided from a leading specialist in the field who claimed that it was highly unlikely that B12 could have caused the abscess and that it was likely the result of a steroid injection, just as McNamee claimed.   Those three issues should have been three nails in Clemens’ coffin, except each time evidence damning to Clemens was provided one of the Republican committee members would do whatever they could to discredit it, whether it meant attacking the trainers credibility, that of a doctor providing independent analysis, or the Mitchell Report itself. When did the issue of Roger Clemens become a matter of partisan debate? How is Clemens’ use of steroids a Republican or Democratic issue? Yes, Roger is a Republican and contributed to the Bush campaign, but this was downright puzzling. Embarrassing, really. Reps Burton, Shays, and Issa should have been ashamed of themselves as they dismissed credible evidence and sound arguments, putting politics in front of our children and that is what this is really about. How do I explain it to my son when Roger walks and it does appear that this will forever reside in the murky confines of ambiguity?      Roger Clemens should be the new Pete Rose, but it seems now that he is Bill Clinton. Â
Eight-Year-Old Needles and the Case Against The Rocket
That was a fine garment Roger Clemens wore at his deposition this week-the grey pinstripe-although it did look eerily similar to the prison garb he’ll be wearing a few months from now.
I don’t know about you, but this sudden smoking gun in the form of decade old syringes saved by Clemens’ trainer, Brian McNamee, gives me reason for pause. Â
Who in their right mind saves medical waste for eight years?Â
Roger, Please!
So let me get this straight…
Brian McNamee, Roger Clemens and Andy Pettite’s former trainer, while under subpoena was compelled to provide a truthful accounting of his experiences with various players or risk the governments wrath, wrath that would have him behind bars. So Mr. McNamee provided an extremely plausible accounting of his years in the New York Yankees’ employ, an accounting which described in shocking detail the process by which he injected Roger Clemens with testosterone Cypionate (a banned and illegal anabolic steroid) in 1998 and 1999 and Human Growth Hormone - HGH - in 2000 and teammate Andy Pettite with HGH in 2002. Pettite has since corroborated everything McNamee said as it related to his steroid use as have others on whom the trainer dished dirt.
The first obvious question I have is why would this man, who under the threat of jail time for perjury, drug trafficing and myriad other charges, fabricate all of this against Clemens, yet tell the truth about everything else? Clemens supposedly treated him well and they had a good working relationship according to both men, so what axe did he have to grind?
The next obvious question is why is that the Roger Clemens career statistics improved dramatically right around the time of the purported steroid use? In the mid 90’s as he reached the point where most major league pitchers see stark declines in performance, he became an average MLB pitcher and was not resigned by the Boston Red Sox out of fear that he was “in the twilight of his career.” Then the late 90’s rolled around, just the time of the alleged steroid use, and Clemens won an unprecedented 3 CY Young Awards in 5 years, 2 with the Toronto Blue Jays and 1 with The New York Yankees. Read more
