Clemens Striking Out When It Matters Most

Clemens Striking Out When It Matters Most

Roger Clemens didn’t get to where he is today by backing down to anyone.  His 354 wins and record 7 Cy Young awards are a testament to his determination and his greatness.  However, this time, the Rocket appears to be in over his head.

On Thursday, Clemens was indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly lying to congress about taking steroids.  Clemens stated emphatically in front of a House committee in 2008, “let me be clear, I have never taken steroids or HGH.”

After the news of his indictment came out Thursday, Clemens reiterated his innocence by Twittering, “I never took HGH or steroids and I did not lie to Congress.  I look forward to challenging the Governments accusations, and hope people will keep an open mind until trial.  I appreciate all the support I have been getting.  I am happy to finally have my day in court.”

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If this were only a “he said, he said,” case between Clemens and his former trainer Brian McNamee, the Rocket might have a shot of convincing us all of his innocence.  Neither appear to be the most credible witnesses.

What’s killing Clemens is the testimony of his best friend and current Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte.  Pettitte didn’t want to testify against his best friend, but when under oath, he admitted to doing HGH himself which was provided by McNamee.  He also said that Clemens had told him that he, too, also acknowledged using HGH.

When faced with this dilemma back in 2008, Clemens response was that Pettitte had “misremembered” their conversation.

I don’t know about you, but when a future hall of fame pitcher admits in confidence to cheating, I am pretty sure that it would be a conversation that I would remember vividly for the rest of my life.  Which is what makes Clemens defense an almost impossible sell.

If Clemens were smart, he would have admitted to using HGH back in 2008 when he was outed so that this whole ordeal could have been laid to rest right then and there.  Pettitte came clean and has suffered little repercussion as a result.

But we are now beyond that point.  The question for Clemens is, are we beyond the point of no return?  He and his attorney Rusty Hardin appear to be taking that approach by continuing to profess his innocence.

If they were smart, they might try to cut a deal with prosecutors whereby Clemens admits to lying about his HGH use and agrees to however many hours of public service in exchange for no jail time.  But it might be too late for that.

Roger Clemens struck out 4,672 batters in his illustrious career, twice fanning 20 in a single game while pitching for the Red Sox.  Unfortunately for him, he now appears to be striking out in the game of life by sticking to an unbelievable story.

In Clemens 24 seasons in the big leagues, he was able to pitch himself out of countless jams.  Something tells me he might have trouble working his way out of this one.