Roger Clemens

July 15th, 2008 filed in Baseball

In José Canseco’s book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big, Canseco alleges that Roger Clemens had expert knowledge about steroids and suggested that he probably used steroids, based on the improvement in his performance after leaving the Red Sox. While not addressing the allegations directly, Clemens was dismissive of Canseco, stating “I could care less” and “I’ve talked to some friends of his and I’ve teased them that when you’re under house arrest and have ankle bracelets on, you have a lot of time to write a book.” Clemens did admit to using the prescription pain reliever Vioxx before it was withdrawn from the market.

Clemens has faced steroid scrutiny when it was reported that pitcher Jason Grimsley had allegedly named him, as well as Andy Pettitte, as users of performance enhancing drugs. According to a 20-page search warrant affidavit signed by IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky, Grimsley told investigators he obtained amphetamines, anabolic steroids and human growth hormone from someone recommended to him by former Yankees trainer Brian McNamee. McNamee was a personal strength coach for Clemens and Pettitte. McNamee was hired by Clemens in 1997, the year in which he had one of the best seasons of his career. At the time of the Grimsley revelations, McNamee denied knowledge of steroid use by Clemens and Pettitte. Initial media reports alleged that Pettitte and Clemens were both named specifically on the Grimsley affidavit. These reports were shown to be false when the affidavit was released and made no mention of Clemens or Pettitte.

Clemens’ name was mentioned 82 times in the Mitchell Report on steroid use in baseball. In the report, McNamee stated that during the 1998, 2000, and 2001 baseball seasons, he injected Clemens with Winstrol. Clemens attorney Rusty Hardin denied the claims, calling McNamee “a troubled and unreliable witness” who changed his story in an attempt to avoid criminal prosecution. He noted that Clemens has never tested positive in a steroid test. Former US Senator George Mitchell, who prepared the report, has stated that he relayed the allegations to each athlete implicated in the report and gave them a chance to respond before his findings were published.

On January 6, 2008, Clemens appeared on 60 Minutes to address the allegations. He told Mike Wallace that his longevity in baseball was due to “hard work” rather than illegal substances and denied all of McNamee’s assertions that he injected Clemens with steroids, saying that they “never happened”. On January 7, Clemens filed a defamation lawsuit against McNamee, claiming that the former trainer lied after being threatened with prosecution. Clemens and Hardin held a press conference that day, and revealed a recording of a January 4 phone conversation between McNamee and Clemens. Hardin noted that McNamee did not refute Clemens’ denials of steroid use during the conversation, and argued that this should be considered as evidence that Clemens was being truthful.  McNamee told SI.com that he testified truthfully regarding Clemens’ steroid use, but that Clemens may be able to pass a polygraph test because “He might actually believe that he’s telling the truth.”

On January 28, 2008, Clemens’ agent, Randy Hendricks, released an 18,000-word statistical report to rebut the allegations. The main assertions of the report are that Clemens’ performance showed normal year to year variation for long-lasting MLB pitchers, and that his performance did not show any apparent benefit from the alleged steroid use. However, according to four professors from the University of Pennsylvania, there was unusual variation in his statistics in his early 30’s and 40’s. These professors concluded the report by saying that they were not sure if this was caused by performance enhancing drugs. As stated by one of the professors who wrote the report, “The statistics do not point to innocence. We are not saying that the numbers show guilt, but we are saying that the statistics show that something unusual happened in Clemens’ career as he entered his 30s.”

Clemens and his lawyers demanded a day in court, and they got it: on February 13, 2008, Clemens appeared before a Congressional committee, along with Brian McNamee, and swore under oath that he did not take steroids; that he did not discuss HGH with Mr. McNamee; that he was not at a party at José Canseco’s where steroids were the topic of conversation; that he was only injected with B-12 and lidocaine; and that he never told Andy Pettitte that he (Clemens) had taken HGH. This last point was in contradiction to testimony Mr. Pettite had given under oath on February 4th, 2008, wherein Pettitte said he repeated to McNamee a conversation Pettitte had with Clemens. During this conversation, Pettitte said Clemens had told him that McNamee had injected Clemens with human growth hormone. Mr. Pettitte said McNamee reacted angrily, saying that Clemens “shouldn’t have done that.”

The bipartisan House committee in front of which Mr. Clemens appeared, citing seven apparent inconsistencies in Mr. Clemens’ testimony, recommended that the Justice Department investigate whether Clemens lied under oath about using performance-enhancing drugs. In a letter sent out February 27 to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Henry Waxman and ranking Republican Tom Davis said Clemens’ testimony that he “never used anabolic steroids or human growth hormone warrants further investigation. The case is currently in the hands of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.