So this is what it’s come down to – obsessing, like 13-year-olds, over whether someone made it to a party. For a subject as potentially serious as widespread steroid and performance-enhancing drug use in baseball, it’s almost enough to make me bang my head against the wall.
In case it slipped through the cracks in the Super Tuesday news rush last week, the latest round in the Roger Clemens steroid saga involves, among other salacious bits, allegations that Clemens attended a party at Jose Canseco’s house in June 1998, and first discussed steroids with trainer Brian McNamee, the man accusing Clemens of steroid use, soon after. To counter that, Clemens’ side has turned over evidence to federal investigators to show that he wasn’t in Canseco’s home. In fact, Clemens’ attorney, Rusty Hardin, says the evidence includes an affidavit from Canseco supporting Clemens’ story. These allegations come while Clemens is due to speak to a congressional panel this week, where it’s expected that he’ll refute what McNamee has alleged and continue to deny the allegations in former Sen. George Mitchell’s steroid report that he used steroids and human growth hormone during his time in the Major Leagues.
And although Clemens and his legal team have produced a 45-page report using his statistics in an attempt to prove that he never used performance-enhancing drugs, four economics and statistics professors at the University of Pennsylvania refuted that in their own analysis this week. In their report, the professors compared Clemens’ career numbers to those of 31 other “durable pitchers” who started at least 10 games in at least 15 seasons and pitched at least 3,000 innings. They concluded that Clemens’ success as an older pitcher “raises some suspicion,” and Justin Wolfers, one of the professors, said, “You cannot use his statistics to prove that he is innocent. It is not statistically possible. What they are doing is a good example of lying with statistics.”
There’s not a ton more to say about Clemens at this point – without hearing his testimony this week, it’s impossible to know whether he’s going to perjure himself or come clean in front of Congress, or whether he might actually even be clean. I highly doubt it, but stranger things (Giants win the Super Bowl!) have happened. More interesting to me is what an absolute circus this coverage has become. ESPN has never been known for “subtle” news coverage, but even compared to the Michael Vick fiasco from last year, this depth of coverage is over the top.
Consider the following storylines that have emerged while Clemens prepared to testify this week:
• McNamee provided the government with used syringes, vials and bloody gauze pads alleged to contain Clemens’ DNA that the trainer says he used while injecting Clemens in 2001.
• McNamee also claimed to have injected Clemens’ wife, Debbie, with human growth hormone (at Roger’s request) in 2003, while the couple was preparing for a photo shoot for Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue.
• Yankees’ pitcher Andy Pettitte, who was named in the Mitchell Report and is one of Clemens’ closest friends, backed out of testifying this week, leading to speculation that Pettitte’s testimony during an earlier deposition was damaging to Clemens.
• In a story in the New York Times, Hardin told a reporter that if IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky, a key prosecutor in the BALCO drug cases (which Barry Bonds is involved in), attended the Clemens’ hearing, “If he (Novitzky) ever messes with Roger, Roger will eat his lunch.” Hardin was then rebuked by Rep. Henry Waxman, who wrote in a letter to the lawyer, “I do not know your intent in making this statement, but under one interpretation it can be seen as an attempt to intimidate a federal law enforcement official in the performance of his official duties. It is not your client’s prerogative to dictate who attends or does not attend the hearing.”
I mean, this is the stuff of daytime TV, and the fact that it’s playing out around a pitcher many consider to be among the best of all time is sad indeed. It’s depressing that the conversation about steroids has shifted from the potential negative health impact and the damage they’re doing to young athletes who try them to whether Clemens had a burger or two at a Jose Canseco barbeque. Don’t forget that the reason Congress got involved in the first place is that steroids are illegal, and although human growth hormone is not, the idea of controlling the use of performance-enhancing drugs is a good one. But set amid this environment, something feels wrong about the whole thing. There’s talk about Clemens meeting with congressmen prior to the hearing, dishing out autographs and getting a feel for the case. While there’s nothing technically wrong with it (congressmen have gotten autographs from other ballplayers who testified in the past, including Mark McGuire), the idea of Clemens mingling with the people who are in charge of his questioning makes me wonder how much of the testimony is congressional grandstanding, rather than an honest attempt to fix the problem.
But let’s be real – it’s not going to get any better at this point, not until Clemens is either exonerated or charged with perjury. The minute he denied the allegation’s in Mitchell’s report, that’s the path he set for himself. With Bonds due to stand trial on federal perjury charges later this year, at least we’ll have a template for how it all might play out for Roger. Until then, expect the news to keep getting weirder.
Did anyone hear who Derek Jeter invited to his sleepover?