This story appears in the April 27, 2009 issue of Sports Illustrated.
With Barry Bonds' perjury trial postponed until later this year, the other headliner in baseball's Steroid Era takes center stage. Roger Clemens remains the subject of a grand jury proceeding, which centers on whether Clemens knowingly lied to Congress in February 2008. If the grand jury finds there is probable cause that Clemens knowingly lied, then it will indict Clemens for perjury and he would then face a federal trial. Clemens is also the plaintiff in a defamation lawsuit against his former trainer, Brian McNamee, who has been the leading source of evidence connecting Clemens to steroids. The civil lawsuit is being heard in a federal district court in Houston, Texas.
Roger Clemens and his legal team may receive much-needed positive news with Tuesday's publication of Kirk Radomski's new book, Bases Loaded: The Inside Story of the Steroid Era in Baseball by the Central Figure in the Mitchell Report.
"How do we believe you because you lied, lied, lied, lied? Roger Clemens is a baseball titan...." -- Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) to Brian McNamee, Feb. 13, 2008
If the philosopher Diogenes thought he had trouble finding an honest man in ancient Greece, imagine how frustrated he would have been in the 21st century world of American sports. After watching Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee play "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire" in front of a Congressional panel on Wednesday, it would have been hard to blame him if he'd thrown up his hands, given up the search and headed for Cabo with Jessica Simpson.
Though stumbling on a couple of questions and leaving several others unanswered, Roger Clemens nonetheless emerged favorably from Wednesday's hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Keep in mind, Clemens' primary goal was not to preserve or rehabilitate his baseball reputation or even to convince the legions of fans who disbelieve him -- as others have written, he may have failed miserably on those ends -- but rather to avoid perjury charges. Unless verifiable physical evidences emerges to the contrary, it seems unlikely the available evidence would lead to a conclusive finding that he committed perjury. Here's why, along with other observations:
Roger Clemens said Wednesday he received only vitamin shots from Brian McNamee, but the ex-trainer insisted before a House panel that every injection contained steroids or other performance enhancers.
By the end of an often absurd hearing, the only thing clear was that either the pitcher or his steroids accuser was lying
It was a day of misremembering, misunderstanding, and mystifying inconsistencies, and, in the end, committee members' conclusions about whether or not Roger Clemens used steroids and human growth hormone seemed to hang on how credible Andy Pettitte is, or how credible Brian McNamee isn't.
Editor's Note: Richard Deitsch is blogging live during today's congressional hearing in Washington, D.C., which includes testimony from Roger Clemens, Brian McNamee and Charles Scheeler, a partner with George Mitchell's law firm, DLA Piper. SI's David Epstein is at the hearing and will offer periodic first-hand accounts. Senior writers Tom Verducci and Jon Heyman will also weigh in. And you should feel free to add your observations.
This story appears in the April 27, 2009 issue of Sports Illustrated.
With Barry Bonds' perjury trial postponed until later this year, the other headliner in baseball's Steroid Era takes center stage. Roger Clemens remains the subject of a grand jury proceeding, which centers on whether Clemens knowingly lied to Congress in February 2008. If the grand jury finds there is probable cause that Clemens knowingly lied, then it will indict Clemens for perjury and he would then face a federal trial. Clemens is also the plaintiff in a defamation lawsuit against his former trainer, Brian McNamee, who has been the leading source of evidence connecting Clemens to steroids. The civil lawsuit is being heard in a federal district court in Houston, Texas.
Roger Clemens and his legal team may receive much-needed positive news with Tuesday's publication of Kirk Radomski's new book, Bases Loaded: The Inside Story of the Steroid Era in Baseball by the Central Figure in the Mitchell Report.
"How do we believe you because you lied, lied, lied, lied? Roger Clemens is a baseball titan...." -- Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) to Brian McNamee, Feb. 13, 2008
If the philosopher Diogenes thought he had trouble finding an honest man in ancient Greece, imagine how frustrated he would have been in the 21st century world of American sports. After watching Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee play "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire" in front of a Congressional panel on Wednesday, it would have been hard to blame him if he'd thrown up his hands, given up the search and headed for Cabo with Jessica Simpson.
Though stumbling on a couple of questions and leaving several others unanswered, Roger Clemens nonetheless emerged favorably from Wednesday's hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Keep in mind, Clemens' primary goal was not to preserve or rehabilitate his baseball reputation or even to convince the legions of fans who disbelieve him -- as others have written, he may have failed miserably on those ends -- but rather to avoid perjury charges. Unless verifiable physical evidences emerges to the contrary, it seems unlikely the available evidence would lead to a conclusive finding that he committed perjury. Here's why, along with other observations:
Roger Clemens said Wednesday he received only vitamin shots from Brian McNamee, but the ex-trainer insisted before a House panel that every injection contained steroids or other performance enhancers.
By the end of an often absurd hearing, the only thing clear was that either the pitcher or his steroids accuser was lying
It was a day of misremembering, misunderstanding, and mystifying inconsistencies, and, in the end, committee members' conclusions about whether or not Roger Clemens used steroids and human growth hormone seemed to hang on how credible Andy Pettitte is, or how credible Brian McNamee isn't.
Editor's Note: Richard Deitsch is blogging live during today's congressional hearing in Washington, D.C., which includes testimony from Roger Clemens, Brian McNamee and Charles Scheeler, a partner with George Mitchell's law firm, DLA Piper. SI's David Epstein is at the hearing and will offer periodic first-hand accounts. Senior writers Tom Verducci and Jon Heyman will also weigh in. And you should feel free to add your observations.
For those expecting another predictable round of wild accusations between Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee during Wednesday's hearing on Capitol Hill, with no clear-cut resolution as to who is telling the truth and who isn't, take note: At least one member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said he already has a pretty good idea of who's lying.
Roger Clemens' claim that he didn't attend the now-infamous Jose Canseco-hosted party in June 1998 is unlikely to score big points for him at Wednesday's hearing, people connected to the House Oversight Committee told SI.com.
I love this story. I really love it. I can't help it. This has everything that you could possibly ask for in a good yarn. Drama. Mystery. Loyalty and betrayal. A good dose of tragedy. A healthy touch of the absurd. And you know what's best about this real-life struggle between Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee?
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Roger Clemens and his accuser, Brian McNamee, will be the main witnesses at a House hearing on the Mitchell Report after New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte and two others were dropped Monday night.
About the only thing Roger Clemens may have going for him these days is his celebrity, which is why I don't entirely blame him for his Campaign Across Congress, a tour meant to lobby for his no-steroid story with the aid of autographs and pictures.
1) What physical evidence did Brian McNamee provide the government?
As Roger Clemens opens a new chapter in his career -- the one where he defends everything that came before: the seven Cy Youngs, the 354 wins, the 4,672 strikeouts -- one aspect of the journey should be familiar to him. As was the case when he stared down hitters from the mound, Clemens has a single adversary with whom to do battle: his former personal trainer Brian McNamee.
Perhaps no one was watching Mike Wallace's interview of Roger Clemens on 60 Minutes on Sunday night more intently than Richard Emery, the attorney for Brian McNamee. McNamee is the personal trainer who told former senator George Mitchell and federal investigators that he had injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone.
With Chuck Knoblauch having agreed to meet with the congressional Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the full batting order is set for the Feb. 13 congressional hearing. On Wednesday, Andy Pettitte will meet privately with committee staff members, with Roger Clemens, Brian McNamee, Knoblauch and Kirk Radomski heading to Washington D.C. in the following days.
Late this week came the news that Brian McNamee's quest for immunity in his testimony to the congressional Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is not going as swimmingly as his lawyers had hoped. "[McNamee] wants to testify," says his lawyer Earl Ward, "and we're still trying to work out a solution that would allow him to testify."
Roger Clemens had another bad outing on Tuesday. And this time, it didn't come from a pitching mound, in front of a television camera or behind a microphone.
WASHINGTON -- Major League Baseball is toeing the foul line. Members of the congressional Committee on Oversight and Government Reform are still far from convinced that MLB can wage a successful, long-term war on performance-enhancing drugs, but the consensus among committee members following Tuesday's hearing was that they heard just enough so that legislative intervention will not be immediately forthcoming.
It's hard to gauge the impact that the playing of a 17-minute, recorded phone conversation between Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee during Clemens' press conference on Jan. 7 had on public opinion. But it doesn't seem to have impressed members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform who will hear testimony from the two men next month. SI.com interviews with seven committee members suggest that the Congressmen and women who will be grilling Clemens and McNamee found the recording, at best, to yield little informational value. At worst, they saw it as tasteless.
The Mitchell Report dropped bombshell allegations from former trainer Brian McNamee that he injected Roger Clemens with steroids during Clemens' brilliant career. Now the Rocket is launching a serious of denials in a campaign to salvage his reputation.
Most of you never heard of Ralph Beard -- or if you did, had forgotten him -- by the time he died a few weeks ago just short of eighty.
HOUSTON -- Roger Clemens' Monday news conference -- his first since the Mitchell Report revealed former trainer Brian McNamee's allegations that Clemens used steroids -- left reporters with as many questions as answers. Let's look at them.
Brian McNamee sits mostly stone-faced as Roger Clemens, his onetime client, brings the heat. "Ridiculous," "hogwash" -- terms used by the seven-time Cy Young Award winner to discredit McNamee's bombshell testimony in the Mitchell Report, in which the longtime personal trainer told investigators that he had injected Clemens with HGH and anabolic steroids -- fail to break McNamee's calm.
I want to believe Roger Clemens. I really do. The man seems so hassled, so under siege, so scarily angry right now. He seems so ... desperate. Wouldn't it be easier on everyone -- well, maybe not Brian McNamee, but almost everyone else -- if the great Clemens, the best pitcher of this generation and maybe any other one, were actually telling the truth?
On Monday, Roger Clemens held a news conference in which he played a tape of his Friday telephone conversation with the man who has accused him of using steroids, his former trainer, Brian McNamee. SI.com's Michael McCann tackles legal questions raised by the news conference, including Clemens' options in his possible appearance before Congress.
On Sunday, Roger Clemens spoke to 60 Minutes in his first interview since the release of the Mitchell Report. SI.com's Michael McCann tackles the legal questions surrounding the allegations and denials by Clemens and his former trainer, Brian McNamee. He also analyses the defamation lawsuit Clemens filed against McNamee on Monday.
Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte were asked Friday to testify before a congressional committee on Jan. 16, along with their former trainer, Brian McNamee
Roger Clemens said former trainer Brian McNamee injected him with the painkiller lidocaine and the vitamin B-12 -- not any performance-enhancing drugs.
After three news conferences, almost 80 named players, more than 300 pages and just one brave soul in an entire union, what are we to make of the Mitchell Report? Glad you asked. Here's the nuts and bolts of it.
Former major league reliever C.J. Nitkowski, a longtime client of baseball trainer Brian McNamee, said that after he "strongly considered'' resorting to steroids in late 2001, he decided against it after consulting with McNamee. Nitkowski also said that McNamee -- a key figure in Sen. George Mitchell's report on steroids -- was not any sort of steroid dealer or pusher and only had his "clients best interests at heart.''
The following is excerpted from Pages 167 to 175 of the Mitchell Report; footnotes are not included here.
Seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens and Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte were the first names to emerge Thursday from the Mitchell report
| Most Viewed | Most Emailed | Top Searches |
© 2009 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
