Posted on 02/11/2008 6:23:13 PM PST by canuck_conservative
Admit it, whatever happens between Roger Clemens and the United States government's House Oversight Committee Wednesday, almost every person reading this column assumes that Clemens was a user.
If he is exonerated, then fine. We'll accept that, too. But the headline, "Ageing Hall of Fame Pitcher Didn't Do Steroids" will come as a bit of a surprise, because let's face it: aren't all those guys juiced these days?
Clemens' team of lawyers would chastise us for looking at Clemens as guilty until proven innocent, and not the other way around. But the fact he even has a team of lawyers on his side - not to mention a public relations and crisis management expert who jumped into action again Monday - makes him look even more guilty, doesn't it?
Clemens has been actively proclaiming his innocence all the way along, starting with an 18,000-word report, complete with scads of pie graphs and charts, commissioned to prove that his career path was not in any way irregular. In Monday's New York Times, a team of four economics and statistics professors debunked that paper.
It seems Clemens' stats men compared him to the likes of Nolan Ryan, Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson - three pitchers whose numbers did improve after age 30. Compared to them, Roger is nothing special. But the refuting eggheads point out that, in any accepted statistical study, a broader base must be used. They selected 31 "durable pitchers" who started at least 10 games in at least 15 seasons and pitched at least 3,000 innings.
By that criteria, one of the professors said, "The statistics do not point to innocence. We are not saying that the numbers show guilt, but we are saying that the statistics show that something unusual happened in Clemens' career as he entered his 30s."
As that news broke Monday, Clemens was in the middle of what was expected to be a three-day tour of Congress, where he signed items and posed for pictures with the same politicians who we will expect to cast an unjaundiced eye upon him Wednesday.
The last time baseball took us to this place, Mark McGwire was penning his final act as someone the baseball world still respected. Sammy Sosa, who everyone around baseball had spoken to at length in English, became unilingual that day. Rafael Palmeiro pointed his finger while guaranteeing his cleanliness, only to test positive shortly thereafter. And sadly, not for Viagra.
Now it is Clemens turn, and it is awfully difficult to think he isn't as guilty as sin. This, Roger, is simply the bed that you baseball players have made for yourselves.
Like used car salesmen and injury lawyers, baseball players are entirely responsible for the cliché that has come to define what they do. Today, any player whose accomplishments improve in his 30s or 40s, or who discovers fitness in the twilight of his career that he never had before, has become a player to be suspicious of.
We looked at Nolan Ryan, back in his day, and concluded that he was just a freak of nature. We don't think that way about today's players.
Every now and again we'll be wrong. We could be wrong with Clemens. But we come at them from this side of the verdict now, rather than the innocent-until-proven-guilty side, because baseball has proved to all of us that we will be wrong far less frequently when we suspect, rather than when we trust.
We have become accustomed to being lied to. In fact, I'd venture to say baseball fans have made a bit of a sport of it, which should make Wednesday's theatre well worth watching. Clemens will appear along with long-time friend, teammate and training partner Andy Pettitte, as well as Brian McNamee, the trainer who admitted to injecting both pitchers with either steroids or Human Growth Hormone.
Pettitte admits he was a short-term user, and thus far the stories told by he and McNamee have jibed. Chuck Knoblauch is also expected to testify that McNamee's accounting of steroids administered is accurate. McNamee says he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone at least 16 times in 1998, 2000 and 2001, claims flatly denied by Clemens.
So on Wednesday there will be two polar-opposite pitches in Washington. McNamee, armed with syringes, gauze and other DNA evidence he claims will incriminate Clemens, will tell the politicians how, where and when he injected steroids into Clemens. Clemens will deny it all.
One of the two will be committing perjury. Live and in colour, one of Clemens or McNamee will lie to a House sub-committee on Wednesday - lending a new meaning to the term "forkball." It will be a defining moment in the war against steroids, because this time around, everyone involved realizes that the politicians are serious.
McGwire has been tried and convicted in absentia by the court of public opinion. Barry Bonds will go back to answer for some of the half-truths he told the last time around.
Wednesday is Roger Clemens' Day. And this one doesn't come with a bobblehead.
"One of the two will be committing perjury. Live and in colour, one of Clemens or McNamee will lie to a House sub-committee on Wednesday - lending a new meaning to the term "forkball." It will be a defining moment in the war against steroids, because this time around, everyone involved realizes that the politicians are serious."
Now I betcha Rohn Rocker testifies... against A-ROD
seee Foxsports.com
The next time Roger Clemens and/or his wife are thwarted from trying to attack or kill me, I will be sure to thank Congress.
The word...Ironic.... doesn't begin to describe the minds of those who hold the highest offices of our nation. Now do not take me wrong, but I would prefer real problems be addressed. There are more pressing problems than killer ballplayers, just as you stated. And I thank you for stating such.
You’d think they’d have more useful things to do, like defending our country or solving the energy crisis.
The lawyers are loving this one. Both sides with deep pockets.
Kicking Roger Clemens is a laudable and patriotic act.
I can only hope they finish this investigation so they can get onto the Congressional investigation of Bottled Water. The Dems are gravely concerned about the “alarming growth of Bottled Water”
And all the unnecessary jobs it creates. New job growth is only permitted in 3rd world countries. They must stop the growth of US jobs.... “this growth is alarming”
I'm sure your are being sarcastic but the truth of the matter is that most of the time we would be better off with the Dems wasting their time like this rather than passing a bunch of screwball legislation that would simply make our life worse not better. On subjects such as steroid use in major sports the Dems can run the hearings just fine and, IMHO, it keeps them from their normal troublemaking.
And it ain't gonna be pretty.
Maybe we could get the Brits to sack Washington DC one more time.
Since they do forcibly remove our money from our wallets each day.
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