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Clemens Continues to Deny Steroid Allegations
by
findingDulcinea Staff
As the date of his Congressional testimony approaches, Clemens ramps up efforts to clear his name in the media. But has the ordeal already jeopardized his future in the Hall of Fame?
30-Second Summary
With 354 wins and seven Cy Young awards, Roger Clemens is widely considered one of the greatest pitchers of all time.
In fact, before Brian McNamee told the Mitchell Commission that Clemens had used performance-enhancing drugs, many considered the “Rocket” a shoe-in for the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.
But now his legacy is in doubt.
New York Daily News writer Bill Madden believes that many, including himself, will not vote for what he calls a “steroid cheat.” Madden goes no to say that since he “has been on record as saying I won’t vote for any of them … that now has to include Clemens.”
On Dec. 13, 2007, former Sen. George Mitchell released a 409-page report on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in professional baseball. Clemens was the most notable of the 86 players named as PED users.
The report’s allegations against Clemens hinged on the testimony of his former trainer, Brian McNamee.
McNamee testified that he had injected Clemens with steroids during the 1998, 2000, and 2001 seasons. He also stated that the pitcher’s on-field performance “showed remarkable improvement” after the 1998 injections.
Although the report named fellow Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte as well, he immediately confirmed the allegations and admitted to taking Human Growth Hormone.
Clemens, on the other hand, more than a week to publicly address the situation, now defiantly maintaining his innocence.
He has filed a defamation lawsuit against McNamee and repeatedly questioned his credibility and character in the media.
Clemens and McNamee will appear before congress on Feb. 13, 2008, and testify under oath about steroid use. Both men face charges of perjury if they are found to be lying.
In fact, before Brian McNamee told the Mitchell Commission that Clemens had used performance-enhancing drugs, many considered the “Rocket” a shoe-in for the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.
But now his legacy is in doubt.
New York Daily News writer Bill Madden believes that many, including himself, will not vote for what he calls a “steroid cheat.” Madden goes no to say that since he “has been on record as saying I won’t vote for any of them … that now has to include Clemens.”
On Dec. 13, 2007, former Sen. George Mitchell released a 409-page report on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in professional baseball. Clemens was the most notable of the 86 players named as PED users.
The report’s allegations against Clemens hinged on the testimony of his former trainer, Brian McNamee.
McNamee testified that he had injected Clemens with steroids during the 1998, 2000, and 2001 seasons. He also stated that the pitcher’s on-field performance “showed remarkable improvement” after the 1998 injections.
Although the report named fellow Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte as well, he immediately confirmed the allegations and admitted to taking Human Growth Hormone.
Clemens, on the other hand, more than a week to publicly address the situation, now defiantly maintaining his innocence.
He has filed a defamation lawsuit against McNamee and repeatedly questioned his credibility and character in the media.
Clemens and McNamee will appear before congress on Feb. 13, 2008, and testify under oath about steroid use. Both men face charges of perjury if they are found to be lying.
Headline Links: Clemens faces the media
On Jan. 7, Clemens held a press conference during which he played a recording of a phone conversation between him and McNamee. Although Clemens appeared to be trying to shore up his defense, “McNamee never says that he lied to the Mitchell Commission,” reports ESPN. The Web site provides a video of the press conference and the entire 17-minute recorded conversation.
Source: ESPN
On Jan. 4, Congress asked Clemens, McNamee, Pettitte and two others mentioned in the Mitchell Report to testify before the House Oversight Committee. They are scheduled to deliver their testimonies on Feb. 13.
Source: The New York Times
Analysis: Clemens on ’60 Minutes’
Clemens appeared on the Jan. 6 edition of CBS’ “60 Minutes” to address the Mitchell Report. During an interview with Mike Wallace, he repeatedly denied using steroids, insisting he took only vitamin B12 and lidocaine from McNamee. Video of the full interview is available from CBS News.
Source: CBS News
Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman interviewed McNamee as he watched Clemens on “60 Minutes.” According to Heyman, McNamee expressed admiration for Clemens even as he dismissed his answers as “ridiculous” and “hogwash.”
Source: Sports Illustrated
Newsday’s Jim Baumbach believes he caught Clemens in a lie during his “60 Minutes” interview. Clemens told Mike Wallace that he did not know that he was in the Mitchell Report until it was released, but days before its release “two private investigators, representing Clemens, were at McNamee's door to find out what he told Mitchell. McNamee spoke to them,” Baumbach writes.
Source: Newsday
Background: Clemens responds to allegations on YouTube
The doping allegations against Clemens began on Dec. 13, 2007, when former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell released the findings of a 20-month investigation into the use of performance-enhancing drugs in MLB. The report met with criticism over its methodology.
Source: findingDulcinea
On Dec. 23, Clemens made his first public denial of Mitchell’s findings by posting a short video on YouTube.
Source: YouTube
Reactions: McNamee's lawyers and Clemens's lawsuit
Brian McNamee’s lawyers are furious over Clemens’ secret phone recording, believing that he took advantage of the former Yankees trainer. McNamee attorney Richard Emery said that if Clemens “wants to play that game, he's going to get buried. I have no compunction about putting him in jail. It’s war.”
Source: New York Daily News
Sports Illustrated’s legal expert Michael McCann analyzes Clemens’ defamation suit and January 7th press conference. In it, he debunks the myth that the defamation suit will protect Clemens from testifying under oath to congress.
Source: Sports Illustrated
Opinion: Was ‘Rocket’ fueling up?
Defending Clemens
ESPN’s Jason Stark defended Clemens when the Mitchell Report was released, arguing that there was not enough evidence to include Clemens, or many other players, in the report. He does not believe it’s fair that “Clemens’s reputation has already gurgled down the drain” because of the testimony of one man without corroboration or physical evidence.
Source: ESPN
Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle writes an open letter to Clemens explaining why so few have given him the benefit of the doubt. He believes that Clemens remained quiet on the issue for too long: “Why did you wait so long? Your reputation was irreparably harmed by your silence.”
Source: Houston Chronicle
Criticizing Clemens
Newsday’s Wallace Matthews believes that Clemens deserves the same treatment that Barry Bonds has received for his alleged PED use. Although both had similar revivals late in their careers, only Bonds was suspected of doping. Conversely, Clemens was admired for his work ethic. The reason for this, Matthews argues, is that there is “one real difference between the two, and that is the color of their skin.”
Source: Newsday
ESPN’s Jemele Hill isn’t buying “Fraud-ger’s” defense. Hill believes that Clemens is risking prison time if his “well-constructed lies disguised as genuine outrage” are proven false.
Source: ESPN
‘Roger Clemens's Bid for Cooperstown Likely Will End with Strikeout’
New York Daily News writer Bill Madden analyzes Clemens’s chances of a Hall of Fame induction. Madden believes that many will not be willing to vote for a “steroid cheat,” noting that he himself “has been on record as saying I won't vote for any of them, and if I'm to be consistent in that stance, that now has to include Clemens.”
Source: New York Daily News
Reference Material: The Mitchell Report and Clemens’s lawsuit
Major League Baseball’s official Web site provides the full Mitchell Report as a PDF.
Source: The official Web site of Major League Baseball
ESPN offers the full text of Clemens’s defamation lawsuit against McNamee as a PDF.
Source: ESPN
Related Topics: Performance-enhancing drug use by other athletes
Barry Bonds, MLB’s all-time home run leader, was recently indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice for denying PED-use in front of a federal grand jury. Bonds has been at the center of baseball’s steroid scandal since he was linked to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO)—a producer of PEDs—in 2003.
Source: ESPN
Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter Marion Jones recently admitted to using “the clear,”—a steroid developed by BALCO—after years of denial. She has been stripped of her medals and was sentenced to six months in prison on Jan. 11.
Source: BBC Sport
Cyclist Floyd Landis, winner of the 2006 Tour de France, was stripped of his title and banned from cycling for two years after he tested positive for unusually high levels of testosterone.
Source: ESPN
The National Football League has had its share of PED users, including the Patriots’ Rodney Harrison and the Chargers’ Shawne Merriman. Both players served four-game suspensions, but have not faced the same criticism or legal trouble as dopers in other sports. Merriman was elected to play in the Pro Bowl the same year he failed the drug test. Teammate Luis Castillo currently graces the cover of the Spanish-language edition of NFL-licensed video game, Madden ’08, despite the fact that he tested positive for steroids in 2005. The Baltimore Sun’s Peter Schmuck examines this double standard.
Source: Baltimore Sun
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