Well, what an interesting turn of events for Roger Clemens and baseball.  Instead of falling in line and admitting to your wrongs, or just keeping silent like many in the Mitchell report, Roger Clemens has decided to strike back.  Just like one of his blazing fastballs, high and tight, Clemens held nothing back and went for the jugular.  Just one thing … I hope it wasn’t his own jugular!

There is no doubt that “The Rocket” has decided to proclaim his innocence.  There is also no doubt that if he isn’t 100% innocent, he will go down in flames.  But Roger is right about one thing, proving a negative is as hard as hitting one of his split-fingered fastballs.  The public’s mind is already made up.  Did Clemens’ press conference and playing of a 17-minute phone conversation help him in the public eye??  Maybe?  But for anyone with an ear and a brian, you know that, what we knew AFTER listening to that tape is the same as what we knew BEFORE we heard it!  Neither Clemens nor Brian McNamee admitted or recanted anything!  Some will say, “if he is going this far, he must be telling the truth” … okay, I can believe that to a point, but people who are more guilty have gone farther (see Michael Vick).

Roger Clemens got fired up at a reporter who dared ask him about the Hall of Fame and his legacy.  The Rocket fired back something like, “Do you think I give a damn about the Hall of Fame?”  Well, actually, YES!  No professional athlete plays the game with the intention of going to the Hall of Fame in any sport.  But when you put up numbers that are more than worthy of that honor, you care.  And you deserve it, so you should care!  Roger you are worried about the Hall. 

In that light, the voters only selected Goose Gossage to the Hall in 2008.  The one thing that no one noticed wasn’t Jim Rice falling 16 votes short, it was that Mark McGwire got the SAME EXACT number of votes he did last year, 128.  That tells you one thing, the same 128 writers voted for him again.  So what does that mean for Roger Clemens and the rest of the apparent users in the “steroid era?”  That your legacy is attached to steriods if steroids have been attached to you.  Any writer who feels now that Clemens cheated and won’t vote for him, probably won’t EVER vote for him!

So Roger Clemens is right.  It’s hard to prove a negative.  But he’s going about it the right way because unless he is found 100% innocent, this Rocket is nothing but a dud.

Posted on Wednesday, January 9th, 2008 at 5:27 pm.
Categories: 1300 News.
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