The Rocket Has Landed

This Wednesday, Roger Clemens may have ruined his chances of being in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Or maybe it was December 12, the day the Mitchell Report was released. Or maybe it was when Clemens’ best friend and teammate Andy Pettitte testified about Clemens’ HGH use under oath.

Regardless, Clemens is fighting an uphill battle. In sports today, if you are linked to steroids or performance enhancing drugs, you are guilty until proven innocent. Not in a “prosecuted-in-court” sense. But in the court of public opinion. But for someone with a tremendous legacy like the Rocket, this is probably more important.

To be honest, Clemens is one of the first players I thought of when former MVP Ken Caminiti claimed that more than half of baseball used ‘roids in 2002, opening a controversy that has raged until now. This is because Clemens seemed washed up as far back as 1996, when he was 34.

Then the Rocket had an amazing resurgence, winning four more Cy Young Awards after this decline. Even more amazingly, he pitched until age 46, and was superstar quality until age 44. This is unpreceded in baseball history, with the exception of Nolan Ryan. In baseball circles, it was commonly speculated that Clemens was using drugs. He was even falsely accused by the LA Times last year, before anything had come to light.

But in a surprising move, Clemens decided to fight back. He hired a high-powered lawyer team and went on the offensive, denying any allegations and filing lawsuits against anyone who did accuse him. Especially his former trainer, Brian McNamee.

So the government held a hearing in response to his remarks about the Mitchell Report. And in this case, there was no blowout win. McNamee was proven to be a liar with a fake medical degree from an online diploma factory. He was also proven to have poor character. McNamee went so far in trying to prove himself that he sold out two of his best clients AND he kept old needles and gauze from when he injected Clemens. What kind of person does things like that?

But Clemens was hurt terribly by Pettite, who said they discussed Clemens’ drug use. This is some of Pettite’s deposition to Congress:

Question: “What did you ever talk to Clemens about with respect to HGH?

Pettitte: I remember a conversation in 1999 where Roger had told me that he had taken HGH … That’s really all I can really remember, you know, about it. I can’t remember specifics about the conversation. That’s just, you know — that’s really all I can remember about the whole conversation. ”

For more about this testimony, read Rob Neyer’s blog.

In the end, Clemens’ testimony and attempts to discredit McNamee were pretty successful. He was composed and seemed to light up the courtroom. It was obvious some of the committee members were fans. In fact, he even had some valid points to counteract some of the toughest criticisms and evidence against him. Sports and Law professor Michael McCann says “Clemens Stands Tall.”

But the Pettitte testimony will probably be the public relations tipping point. Sorry, Rocket – your Hall of Fame ship has crashed.