A surreal article on Roger Clemens

[Gregory Pratt]

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...;pagewanted=all

 

Read through it, and there are all sorts of moments that stand out: the closeness with McNamee, his remark when told that Jesse Jackson took his mistress to the White House during the Lewinsky scandal, and all sorts of other moments. In 2001.

 

What really gets me going about steroids in baseball is that most journalists have a good idea but don't investigate a damn thing anymore except for a couple of good souls at the Chronicle in SF and the NYDN, but they didn't get to work until after the Mitchell Report. I mean, I can't believe that stories would run in the late 1990s about how McGwire and Sosa and all the others got to where they were with "hard work."

[knightni]

RALLY CORNCAT!

[Swingandalongonetoleft]

Good read, and it really kinda provides some nice background info on the McNamee/Clemens relationship. Based on his apparant self-centeredness, it's easy to see how he could so suddenly turn on a former friend to protect his rep. That said, steroids or not, there is no arguing that he was extremely dedicated to his craft, and he worked his ass off more in one off-season than many will in their entire lives. He reminds me of the way George W. is portrayed in "Little Bush".

 

Some quotes I enjoyed or found interesting:

 

"Hell, brushback pitches were accepted years ago. Today, it's a federal case. "

 

"I didn't want his bat in my life anymore.

 

"I'm going to find out where you live and come after you this winter.''

 

"Pettitte has been working out with Clemens during the off-season for two years, picking up between three and four miles per hour on his fastball during that time."

Edited May 24, 2008 by ChiSox35