Roger Clemens: Grasping for Straws
Christmas came early this year with the release of Major League Baseball’s Mitchell Report. Though I’d rather be writing about the game on the field, if baseball has to be drug through the mud before moving on what better player to get muddy than Roger Clemens. That I haven’t spent every day since the report’s release gloating and screaming I told you so to anyone within shouting distance shows a measure of restraint I never knew I possessed.
Though a Clemens’ critic, I also think of myself as fair. So I’ve decided to hold off burying discussing the Rocket until he finally gives his side of the story, which he’ll do on January 6th on 60 minutes.
I’m sure the false L.A. Times story that mistakenly named Clemens as one of the secret names on the Grimsley affidavit will be a big piece of his defense. It’s the one bit of good news for Clemens since the Mitchell Report damned him with eye-witness testimony.
Clemens in his self published video:
I faced this last year when the L.A. Times reported that I used steroids. I said it was not true then, and now the whole world knows it’s not true, now that that’s come out.
From MSNBC:
Clemens’s lawyer said the Los Angeles Times error backed up the pitcher’s insistence that he did not take steroids.“When this grossly inaccurate story broke in October 2006, Roger said it was untrue and the Los Angeles Times chose not to believe him,” lawyer Rusty Hardin said in a statement.
“As the record now clearly proves, Roger was telling the truth then, just as he continues to tell the truth today.
Sounds great, but it’s nothing more than a red herring.
The L.A. Times made a mistake and rightfully apologized. They guessed, and they guessed wrong. That doesn’t mean the names on the report were wrong. And it certainly doesn’t undermine the Mitchell Report nor add to Clemens’ defense.
Roger Clemens’ name did not appear on the Grimsley affidavit. It did appear on the Mitchell Report. The same could be said for most of the names on the Mitchell report. If Clemens’ name had been on the Grimsley affidavit and then the report debunked, he would have a case. But it wasn’t, and he doesn’t.
The fact that Clemens chose 89 year old Mike Wallace, a friend and Yankee fan often seen in George Steinbrenner’s suite, has already raised eyebrows. If Wallace allows Clemens to hang his hat on a broken piece of logic that’s nothing more than smoke and mirrors then the interview will be worth as much as the Rocket’s word over his career.
Not much.
