Does anyone out there believe Roger Clemens?
Back on December 21, I wrote, "I'm outta here, folks. On vacation for the next two weeks."
It turns out I made an error: It's three weeks, not two, putting me in contention with our President (here he is at his Crawford ranch) for the longest, least-deserved vacation in the history of work. I'll be back on the blog regularly on Monday, January 14th, but I figured I'd check in and touch base.
Topic number one has to be Roger Clemens, who is raging against the dying of the light when it comes to his legacy. Watching Clemens on "60 Minutes" earlier tonight, I somehow felt sympathy for him. He actually seems to believe what he's saying, even though what he's saying is ludicrous.
To think that Clemens was "shocked" that Andy Pettitte had used human growth hormone...that Brian McNamee, obviously not a licensed physician, injected lidocaine and B-12 and that Clemens doesn't see anything wrong with it...to watch the hemming and hawing on the lie-detector test...As Neil Best would blog, "Oy."
Clemens' strategy is apparent: He has so much to lose here that he's willing to take his fight all the way to Congress. If he enters the Rayburn House Office Building on January 16 and simply pleads the fifth amendment, he's toast. He's got to continue his denials, even at the risk of a perjury charge down the road.
So why do I feel sympathy for Clemens? Because even though I think he's guilty _ and, as I've written here before, I don't intend to vote for him come Hall of Fame election time _ he ultimately was nothing more than fresh meat for Bud Selig to feed Congress, with George Mitchell serving as a high-priced mule. The same goes for everyone else named in the Mitchell Report. The owners and commissioners should be just as culpable as the players regarding what happened in baseball, but it's not working out that way at the moment, for sure.
In any case, do any of you believe that Clemens is telling the truth and that McNamee is lying?
By the way, I cracked up when Clemens told Mike Wallace that he was done pitching, then qualified it - "probably" - roughly five seconds later. I'm betting on Unretirement V in 2008.
Joining the BBWAA, therefore, is not a matter of being a great baseball mind; I enjoy reading the work of both Law and Neyer. I predict that, in my professional lifetime (I was born the same exact day as Jeff Juden), the BBWAA will cease to give its awards and vote on the Hall; that's where things are headed, as many BBWAA members are no longer allowed to vote, out of an understandable concern that we "create news" with these votes. But we'll still be united to ensure quality access, and so memberships will go _ as they do now _ to those who actually come out to big-league ballparks. Keith Law does come to a fair amount of games, and I'd bet he'll be voted in next year.
See you next week. Hope your new years are going swimmingly so far.
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Comments (30)
Why is everyone so quick to discount the fact that he could be innocent. Does anyone believe McAnamee because he is wholesome and has nothing to gain by lying? I am sick of the yellow bellied sports "journalists" lacking any intuitive talent and sense of fairness. The sports journalist has been asleep for fifty years not paying attention to various proclamations of drug use--- To greenie up or not to greenie up, That is the question" Doug Radar, Houston Astros circa 1980's. Get a grip---the drug culture has always existed in baseball, you just never reported it because you wanted to be buddies with your favorite outfielder. Despite all of this, Clemens deserves to be believed until it is proven otherwise. Americans are not supposed to buy he said, she said from a guy trying to stay out of jail with a plea bargain. What happened to the brain you used to have? Cynicism has overtaken logic. Wake up!!
No sane person believes the Texass Needle because he has been a consistent liar throughout his career. Thought a bat was a ball, never meant to hit X, going to retire... McNamee faces jail if lying and considered Clemens a friend, he also had plenty to tell. He had no reason to falsely accuse his former benefactor. And do not get smoked by Clemens lawsuit, it is simply a crafty dodge of the congressional hearings, pending litigation and all that good stuff. Does anyone not taking steriods/PED's get needle injections in the ass from a fitness trainer? Yeah, not so much. He is a lying fraud, just like Bonds.
Does anyone who knows baseball think the Mitchell Report was even a remotely true representation of the problem that was in Major League Baseball ? No Mark McGuire, No Sammy Sosa, No David Ortiz ???? These guys GREW before our eyes.
This has become the mentality of a mob - lets all pick on Roger - I think the bottom line is - THERE WERE so many doing it that most of us just don't care anymore - Unless you can get a full list - everyone needs to let this go and play ball
Welcome back Ken from your (extended) vacation.
As the obscure Springsteen song 'From Small Things (Big Things Some Day Come),' we see Mr. Davidoff take his baseball expertise from Long Island's Newsday to NY Fox' Sports Extra; great job last night Ken. Next up, I predict ESPN and then your own national show.
As for the 60 Minutes interview, Clemens was squirming, appeared nervous and in the minds of many fans, guilty; he's going down. Kudos Ken, on your decision not to cast your Hall vote on a cheater.
As for '08/'09 predictions, I think it's not inconceivable that, as players are convicted here and there and as new allegations snowball, Congress will shut down MLB for a prolonged period until things get under control. At least they should.
On a more upbeat note, it's great to hear that Gossage will likely join his nicknamesake Goslin in the Hall.... Geese immortalized! Man, did I love to watch Gossage and Munson play catch and get it done! But as the Crock-et's comeuppance illustrates, the days of "all-natural" pitching intimidation are largely gone. I don't recall, as a kid, having to mentally vet every player for juicing. So sad.
I am really starting to be swayed by the Clemens machine. The only thing that can derail it now is corroberating evidence that he used or the records from the federal investigation proving that McNamee was coerced.
Yes, Virginia, law enforcement sometimes uses coersion as a means of getting statements. If McNamee was told to give up Clemens and face prosecution, he may have done just that --without knowing that he would also be forced to sit with Mitchell's people.
Red Sox director and former Senator George Mitchell really screwed up with this report. He was unable to uncover anything substantive on his own and relied completely on the federal investigation. He also acted as a prosecutor himself and not a fact finder. Mitchell may have served his country well and accomplished many things in his life, but he should also be held accountable for a report that is anything but comprehensive and fair.
Two items:
If Clemens used lidocaine injections, let's see the prescription. If he used B12, let's see the receipts.
How is Brian McNamee, an umemployed trainer who was not overpaid by his clients, able to hire a team of $ 600 per hour lawyers?
Lawyers do not take defmation cases on contingency, as the rewards are often low (if any) for the attroney and client. Also, McNamee did not pay past legal bills in full when he had scrapes with the law.
As a society, we have become too "knee-jerk" in terms of trying people in the press. Remember the Duke Lacrosse players? Let's let some of the smoke settle before we take an accusation from a convicted felon and use it to take down someone.
Dear Ken,
We believe Roger Clemens.
Sincerely,
Barry Bonds
Rafael Palmeira
Gary Sheffield
Lenny Dykstra
Dear Ken:
We believe our Congress is the best place to examine the integrity of baseball.
Sincerly
Alcee Hastings
William Jefferson
Richard Nixon
Bill Clinton
Interesting that Brian McNamee beat Clemens to the punch by deciding to appear on ESPN at 3:00...Some how I dont think he will be pleading for "Clemens-cy" when it comes to discussing his role in the Vitamin B and "Lied-ocane" shots !
Take heart Yankee fans, if Roidger is convicted, you’ll still be able to see him in a striped uniform!
Sincerly
Susan Waldman
Perhaps you should you keep your BDS to yourself if you wish to be taken seriously.
Come on, wake up everybody! This weekend Roger spoke with Brian on the phone and they decided the best way out of this is to have Roger pony up some serious moolah while he gets to file a bogus lawsuit against Mcnamee. Brian promises not to file a counter suit and while the lawsuit is being thrown out of court as a frivilous suit, the timeline for Congrssional appearance passes. At the end of the day Brian has told the truth staying out of jail and picks up some well needed cash while ROger sticks to his pained story and lets the public debate whether or not he used streriods. Public opinion will always take a fairly bleeding heart approach so Roger keeps some of his reputation and slowly the story goes away. Hopefully as does Roger. Another soap opera and something for the sports media to hype and once again we all waste valuable time on meaningless tribble, congratulations! PS the plan is taking place as Macnamee cancels his ESPN interview, really only a resourceful way to tell Roger "better pony up the bucks or the story will continue and I will counter sue your ass and make you tell your story under oath"
Re: Clemens
Frankly, I am not there yet. It's still early in the game. It has to play out a little bit. I agree with Clemens that he is being hung quite prematurely. I do have some questions: Why would McNamee say he injected him if he really didn't? Merely because of gov't pressure? Where did Clemens get the stuff and how did he pay for it? Why is he so sure no one will be coming forward? McNamee said that Clemens supplied the juice and the bottles were marked with the names of different steroids, not the substances that Roger claims were used so how can these contradictions be reconciled? If Clemens is innocent and can somehow prove it, it sure will be nice to see all the writers and Yankees/Clemens haters eating crow.
Anonymous, what is/are BDS?
Listening to the call, it does nothing to help Clemens in my opinion. Never called McNamee on what Clemens alleges are false accusations etc. Seemed staged and scripted, not going to help. That lawsuit might really bite him in his pincushion. Makes out like the Feds induced false testimony, that type of claim brings some heavy heat from the G.
Re BDS, not sure where it would fit, but most often see it used as an acronym for Bush Derangement Syndrome.
Have to echo Anonymous at 16:12. Nowadays everyone is so simple that as soon as there's an accusation, they assume guilt. The news conference and phone call replay certainly made Clemens look good but also raised more questions. There are doubts about the credibility of everyone involved in this. There is more to this story.
NO.1, CONGRESS HAS BIGGER PROBLEMS TO DEAL WITH THAN STEROIDS. SPORTS HAS A GOVERNING BODY THAT DOES A BETTER JOB. ITS JUST POLITICIANS LOOKING FOR FACE TIME. THEY COULD CARE LESS! NO.2, JUDGING OUR PRESIDENT IS NOT YOUR JOB, AS THE MUD SLINGING, GRANDSTANDING, EGOMANIAC, LIBERAL WORD JOCKEY YOU ARE.
GET A REAL JOB!
FIRST OF ALL TOM ANDRIEZEK, "ALL CAPS" IS MY THING! BUT YOU ARE RIGHT ON THE MONEY. TAKING CHEAP SHOTS AT THE POTUS? WEAK!!! YOU CAN DO BETTER, KEN! JON E.; CONGRESS SHOULD SHUT DOWN MLB FOR A PROLONGED PERIOD OF TIME? ARE THERE NO BASEBALL FANS LEFT?
GOSSAGE GETS IN THE HALL AND NOT CLEMENS? LET'S TAKE THE VOTE AWAY FROM THE BBWAA! WHY MUST THE PENCIL-NECK WRITERS MAKE SOCIAL COMMENTARY WITH THEIR MEASLY VOTES. HOW ABOUT VOTING FOR THE BEST BALL PLAYERS FOR A CHANGE! MAYBE YOU SHOULD VOTE UP TOM HENKE. HE HAS MORE SAVES THAN THE GOOSE.
PITCHERS AND CATCHERS CAN'T COME SOON ENOUGH.
Ken - I got it right!!! The BBWAA deemed only Gossage worthy of enshrinement with the greatest of the great. Where do I apply for honorary BBWAA membership? Your man Jim Rice came close, with a nice increase in votes. I guess he's destined for the HOF, too.
Sorry for crowing, Ken. However, it's nice to see others agreeing that we can't open the floodgates to HOF membership.
To all of you Roger apologists!
The $%%#%#% did the %$#%%% steroids!
DO YOU GET IT? He got the needle injected into his body and JUICED UP!
Remember the old line "me thinks he doth protesteth to much!"
Roger "glow in the dark" roid man!
Guilty as all heck!
Tom, shouldn't judging the President be everyone's job?
POD 5000, YOU MAY VERY WELL BE RIGHT. AS I WROTE IN THIS POST, I THINK THE BBWAA WILL NO LONGER BE VOTING FOR THE HALL OF FAME BY THE TIME YOU AND I RETIRE AND GET FAT.
Jim, the beauty of the Hall of Fame is that 75% is a very high majority. So yes, it's very hard to gain induction, which is a good thing.
Judging the President is everyone's job, doing so in a sports forum might rub some folks the wrong way. There's a reason folks preach "no religion, no politics" in certain venues.
Ken, any thoughts on Hall of Fame hat tip votes? Writers tossing a bone to guys they covered and like(d). Receiving votes: Rod Beck 2, Travis Fryman 2, Robb Nen 2, Shawon Dunston 1, Chuck Finley 1, David Justice 1, Chuck Knoblauch 1, Todd Stottlemyre 1. I think it's no big deal, I've seen others who seem outraged.
Please, Clemens is guilty as sin. First of all, the shots he supposedly got that supposedly weren't steroids would only be given by a doctor with a prescription, and they would not be given in the butt, but directly into the joint. And yeah, he did look real nervous in the news conference, all sweaty, biting his lip and taking lots of drinks of water. And the minute the questions got hard, he ran for the hills. Clemens is like the backyard bully, the minute someone stands up to him, he runs and hides. Go away, Roger, we have had enough of your lies already.
OK, so if Roger believes he is 100% clean, then why did he say he no longer cares about getting into the HoF?
Maybe he's just a humble guy who was only joking when he humbly suggested that his humble likeness should wear a Yankees cap on a humble plaque in a humble museum.
Or maybe it's a tacit deal proposal with the press: He knows he'll never get in now (see McGwire), so he'll admit to juicing in exchange to just be left alone once the story goes away. It's still not too late for him to come clean and apologize... humbly.
Craig, I won't lose any sleep over those guys getting votes, but I think it's pretty lame of any writer to throw a vote toward a buddy.
Gary, while I agree with you that Clemens is guilty, I have to dismiss one argument (also propelled by "body-language experts" in other publications): I have been interviewing Clemens for nine years, and he always drinks a lot of water and bites his lips. Doesn't matter what the subject matter is.
BTW, for those of you who think I'm a liberal, please note that I have been extremely critical of Democratic Party stalwart George MItchell. I'm an equal-opportunity skeptic.
I've always enjoyed watching Dick Clark on New Year's Eve, but he's at the point where he looks like the next mannequin for Wayland Flowers and Madame. (If you're under 30, Google it.)
Hey Tom, let go of the Caps Lock.
Never apologize for having a liberal point of view; it just means you have a heart.