The other possibility is that Clemens’ will claim that McNamee dosed him with illegal, banned substances without his knowledge. This is a variation of the claim made by Barry Bonds where he claimed he didn’t know what he was given and thought it was flaxseed oil.
If Clemens says that McNamee drugged him without his knowledge or consent, the pitcher should then initiate a lawsuit against his former trainer and pressure the authorities to prosecute McNamee. Certainly if Clemens was given these drugs without his consent a crime was committed and he would be justified in pursuing legal action against McNamee in an effort to clear his name as well as make sure his trainer is punished for committing an egregious breech of trust.
It’s worth mentioning that despite Bonds’ claim that he didn’t know what he was being given, he never pursued legal action against BALCO Labs, Victor Conte or Greg Anderson.
Unless he asks probing questions, Mike Wallace will add nothing more to this story, and Clemens’ interview on 60 Minutes will be nothing more than a puff piece that gives the pitcher a chance to stem the tide of bad news. If Sunday’s interview doesn’t get into the grit of the excuse hopefully others in the mainstream sports media will pick up the slack and get to the bottom of this issue.
Article comments
1 - DB21
didn't McNamee say that Clemens supplied the PEDs? So how could Clemens not know what they were?
2 - Joe R
I've not seen anything that says McNamee was handed a vial of PEDs and he filled the syringe with it. What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty beyond a resonable doubt? Even if Clemens did use steroids how exactly did it give him a benefit? He still had to throw the ball and everyone still had the opportunity to hit it. He didn't gain any speed in his fastball. In fact as time went on his speed declined. He wasn't able to avoid injury problems. As time went on his Career ERA went up. He did have some good years with the Astros but I believe it's because he was in a different league with more hitters who never faced him before. If you look at his overall career stats he was nothing more than consistent with moderate decline in his later years. Look at Nolan Ryans career. He had a strong workout regimine and pitched into his mid 40's. Does it mean he used PED's? If PED's really helped that much why is Clemens the biggest name in the report? Why aren't more of those names worthy of HOF potential?
One guy with a criminal past opens his mouth against you and you don't even get the benefit of the doubt before people want to throw away a career. Why? Because the Mitchell farce would be nothing without throwing a big name in it. Why release a report without more proof? This is turning into a game of one mans word against anothers. Unless you show me more evidence (i.e. video or audio proof of what the injections were, or a credible witness to the incidents) I say INNOCENT! PUT HIM IN THE HALL! It shouldn't be about Clemens having to prove his innocence but about Mitchell and MaNamee proving his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
3 - sal m
and who better to know how to break the rules than one who has broken the rules? people like you don't understand the fact that dirty people are the ones who can expose the dirty secrets.
you also want someone like peter gammons to be the guy who can blow the whistle on the dirty players, rather than accept the fact that a dirty player is going to be undone by his dirty co-conspirator.
people like you also conveniently overlook the fact that clemens decided to continue his relationship with "one guy with a criminal past" - mcnamee - well past the time when he was let go by the yankees, and that clemens apparantly was the only person in baseball who wasn't aware of the fact that his trainer was dirty.
you are also so intellectually lazy that you cannot grasp the fact that a guy like clemens has access to the finest minds in the fields of strength and conditioning, medicine and athletic training, and yet decided to hitch his wagon to "one guy with a criminal past," a guy who hasn't a stitch of expertice when compared to the well-known experts that populate major university strength staffs and professional strength staffs througout the country.
yet clemens apparently let this guy with a criminal past inject him with "vitamins and lidocaine." makes a lot of sense.
4 - Jon Haltom
The excuse that I hate from athletes is the, "Oh, it must have been a tainted supplement."
Maybe as part of the solution to the steroid and hgh problem, the union and the owners can set up a system for supplements to be tested. Anything that the athletes send in that proves them right will protect them from punishment. If the sample aren't tainted, to bad.