Liar, Liar – A Roger Clemens Trial Reaction
In a not too surprising decision Monday, a grand jury acquitted former Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens of all charges that he used using performance-enhancing drugs during his lengthy baseball career. Though he is one of the faces of baseball’s steroid era, the jury believed that The Rocket never used them, and trainer Brian McNamee, teammate Andy Pettitte, and other witnesses were proven wrong.
Although he posted ridiculous stats well into his 40s and did things no other athlete his age ever did (posting a 1.87 ERA at age 42 and having his lowest H/9 rating since 1986!), we’re now supposed to believe that it was simply a true testament of Clemens’ natural talent and skill.
As I’m sure you all can tell, this decision means absolutely nothing – Clemens is still the lying, cheating, steroid using slob he was when he hobbled off the field in the 2007 playoffs.
It’s not shocking, but rather disgusting that Clemens now gets to walk away from this with no consequences. The trial had gone on far too long, but if they already wasted so much tax dollars and time on this case, at least make the right and obvious decision. No matter how people try to defend him, you’d be a fool to think steroids didn’t contribute to at least the later years of his 24-season run in the bigs. The fact that he is now going to be on the Hall of Fame ballot this year literally makes me cringe.
Yet, there’s always been the belief that certain players already in Cooperstown cheated their way to fame and success. And that is probably the case, but Clemens’ PED use is as clear as day. Not that he will even get elected to the Hall, but he doesn’t even deserve a chance.
This was a terrific opportunity for MLB to send a message to the sports world and to other PED users that they will be caught and brought to justice. But now the poster boy of this whole mess is apparently not guilty, and Roger Clemens will continue living off the money and fame he got from a needle, and not from his actual talent and skills that he once naturally honed.
One argument people make is that his numbers before he started taking steroids are enough to get him into the Hall of Fame. Granted, they certainly were amazing, but that is just 13 out of the 24 seasons he pitched in baseball. So we now are going to induct every PED user based off of half, or maybe a quarter of their careers? At the end of the day, people aren’t inducted for what they did for a period in their careers, but for what they did consistently and diligently for the longevity of their baseball lives. Chew on this too – if the great Pete Rose is banned from the Hall of Fame for gambling off the field, how could Roger Clemens be let in for doing something that directly changed the course of each game on the field? That would be horrible.
To me, Clemens would have been a HOFer had he stayed off the ‘roids and played a normal and honorable baseball career. But the fact that he took performance enhancers that allowed him to stay at a high level and pitch much longer than any other pitchers did is simply unfair, unnatural, and an injustice to players everywhere. Baseball is a timeless game, but everyone eventually hangs up the spikes because they simply aren’t good anymore. Clemens delayed that inevitability far too long, just to rack up more wins, more Cy Youngs, and further establish himself as a legendary figure in MLB. From what our generation has seen, he will certainly be legendary, but for the wrong reason – as a liar.
I am no political analyst and I only remember Clemens’ second stint with the Yankees in 2007. But there’s no doubt in my mind Roger Clemens is a cheater and this ruling was just a way to get out of a mess of a case. The country needs to focus on much more important things than one sports figure, and I am glad that we can move on from this. But it’s an absolute failure by everyone involved with this joke of a trial that they couldn’t convict a clear steroid user who has lied to everyone just to protect his image.
Rot in Texas Roger.
Posted on June 20, 2012, in Personal Opinion and tagged Roger Clemens. Bookmark the permalink. 5 Comments.
Brian D.
fishjam25
jimmytoucan
Matthew B
Delia E.
Dan H.
Matthew S.
Michael P.
Mike D.
Actually its not unfair when at a minimum half of MLB players were using and probably more and it wasn’t banned by MLB. You can call him a liar but it is still just an assumption since he could not be convicted. Now there there is a great chance he used but again still just an assumption and quite frankly I don’t care whether he did or not. You have no idea who used and who didn’t and neither do I. Clemens is a HOF with or without roids and should be in there. I guarantee you there are or will be guy in that used because again people have no idea who used and who didn’t because MLB didn’t care that people were using. Pettitte got caught and I don’t see as many people saying these things about him just because he is more likable. I am consistent with everybody that they should be hall of famers.
I really get offended by those that are holier then others of us. I wonder how many of them have used or tried drugs or weed? Most of the guys in college use at some time or another. But, they say; “so I tried them so what, I was a kid!”. Now we know the drugs they took were against the law, whereas the drugs the ball players took were not against the rules of MLB.
One can say they still created but, what about the guy on the mound, is he using also?
Only a very few stars (mostly Yankees) were targeted in the leaks. Those are a very small percentage of users and most of us know it.
Just look at it from player A’s standpoint…he is hitting bombs all over the place, then move on to a team where most of the team is using…what do you think would happen? Right, he tried them also but, he and is wife didn’t like the idea of him using so, he quit…No proof to say otherwise! It just so happens he is in a park that has the ball flying out on it’s own…so, he hits many more then he had ever done before. Goes to another team and right away he starts getting tested because there is a rumor he used. Tests all come back OK but, then the story breaks….etc we all know the rest of the story.
Just because a player is likable shouldn’t give him a pass over another player people are jealous of.
Use or not, who cares anymore, no one did when everyone was using so why now?
I know I am in the minority on this one, but I say if a player has the numbers he should be in the Hall of Fame. There are many players in the Hall that were cheating in some way while they were playing. The lower batting averages the last few years is due to the elimination of amphetatmines in the game. Many of the current Hall of Famers took them. They were used alot when I was playing 50 years ago. I actually feel that amphetamines help a hitter more than steriods. Research had shown that this is true, yet all the talk is about steriods. Amphetamines make you react quicker, and when you have 4 tenths of a second to react on a 90 mph fastball the quicker reaction time really helps a hitter, besides the positive mental feelings from using this drug. Yesterday we had a pitcher using pine tar which is common place, add to that scuffing a ball, corked bats, spitballs, and various ways of stealing signals, all were acceptable ways of cheating for years. Something wrong with the writers selective judgement of baseball players. It’s a sad state when a player like Braun may get into the Hall, ahead of a player like A-Rod. It looks like the liars will win. A-Rod was outed while many others are not. The writers seem to be dead set on not letting steriod users in the Hall even though they don’t know who they are. All this means to me is the best players of this time period will not be in the Hall. All it means is lesser players who might have taken steriods like Piazza or Bruan get in because of a technicallity.
Ken/Doug – I’m with you guys on this. Steroids were so prevalent in the game during the decades from the 80s to mid 2000s, you simply can’t go back now and try to hold certain individuals responsible.
MLB and the MLB Players association dropped the ball and turned a blind eye. They knew people were juicing but EVERYONE was making money hand over fists. After the strike of 94, baseball needed help and the offensive explosion with HRs flying out of parks at record paces was just what the fans wanted to see.
Now that MLB has written rules and stringent testing, steroid use can be taken serious. It’s impossible to go back and blame people or keep people out of the HOF now when there was no testing or policy in place. People who get caught now shoud be kept from the HOF but you cant go back in time. Everyone knows that stats from the “Steroid Era” are somewhat warped but it’s impossible to go back and choose who was natural and who wasn’t. It’s a real shame for people that didn’t use performance enhancers that they had to play on an uneven field but we all have to move on.
I feel the same way Fish. So many of the stars were doing it. I’m sort of immune to it now and if others come out it’s not even a shock anymore it’s more like ok let’s move on.