Trainer Brian McNamee (via the Mitchell Report) names Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens, both former clients of his, as users of performance enhancing drugs. While disappointed, I was not surprised to hear Clemen's name invoked. Did we really think that Clemens could get better with age, drug-free, while condemning the more obvious cheater, Barry Bonds, who also improved as he aged?
Each of these player’s differing responses has been interesting. Pettitte confessed, saying he only used HGH twice in an effort to aid his recovery from an elbow injury. Clemens initially said nothing, relying on his lawyer to issue a statement denying the charges. A few days later, he issues his own video statement denying the charges. So let me see if I’ve got this straight – McNamee is lying about Clemens, but not Pettitte. Why would he do that?
Click here for the Clemens video. For a more humorous look at the Rocket’s career, click here.
And how's this for blowhard statement of the year:
“I am disappointed that my 25 years in public life have not earned me the benefit of the doubt, but I understand that Senator Mitchell’s report has raised many serious questions.”
Excuse me? Mr. Clemens, you've been making a living playing a child's game. It's not like you've been working in some 3rd-world country for the welfare of the underprivileged all these years. Your employment as a ball player doesn't provide you a free pass with public opinion. Why would it?
In my opinion, Clemens isn’t conducting himself like an innocent man. It seems that few of these guys do. They all start out denying the charges, then, too often, the story ends up differently. (See Rafael Palmeiro and Marion Jones, et al). Why did Clemens take days to deny the charges, and then, at first, only through his attorney? You’d have to think he was informed ahead of time of his being named in the Mitchell Report, so he would have had plenty of time to formulate a response. Then again, how much time does one require to mount a defense in a situation like this?
Baseball has made Clemens very rich. If there is no basis to McNamee’s charges, I assume there is nothing keeping him from using every resource at his disposal, including those legal, to clear his name.
I have not taken steriods, so, with the assumption that I have the money Clemens does, here's how I would have handled things: "Thank you for attending this press conference. I just want to take a minute to say I have never taken performance enhancing drugs. My attorneys will bring suit today against those making these charges, and I will do everything possible to clear my good name." Pretty simple, isn't it?
So Roger, drop the contrived show you’re preparing with “60 Minutes.” You want to really convince us of your innocence? Then testify under oath, perhaps before Congress, and tell us what you did and didn't do. If you want your legacy to survive this mess to any degree, don’t expect thinking people to buy into a staged performance with a TV talking head. It will do nothing for you.
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