Clemens & McNamee sittin’ in a tree

The dust has settle in the aftermath of the Clemens/McNamee Congressional hearing. So what does it all mean?

 

What does it mean?

Clemens: C -

People see a nervous and stuttering Roger Clemens testifying and they see a liar. What do I see? I see someone that doesn’t do a whole lot of public speaking who is probably scared shitless whether he lied or not. It’s not every day that you go and testify in front of a Congressional Oversight Committee, but the people who analyzed this thing made it seem like an every day occurrence. Even savvy politicians can go up there and make total idiots of themselves (see Michael Mukasey and Alberto Gonzales). So, when you put all of that together, it’s no wonder that Roger Clemens came off the way he did. What did you expect?

McNamee: B+

It is obvious to me that McNamee is used to the whole process of answer questions in front of government officials. He looked smooth and calm for the entire 4+ hours of questioning and he almost looked conformable. Even after being attacked personally by a Replublican who called him a liar, he just sat there like he was watching the weather channel. He did the same when another member tried to get him to admit to being a drug dealer, and when he was pressed on if he was going to write a book over this situation.

 

What does it all mean? NOTHING!! What people don’t seem to realize is that the only way Clemens is going to get nailed is if there is a smoking gun. And, sorry to burst your bubble, there isn’t going to be one. This whole process is a waste of tax payer money and a waste of time by government officials who should be conducting GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT (which there is no shortage of) instead of worrying about a matter that should be handled internally by Major League Baseball. Instead, the MLB sat on its hands and made it a government matter the moment they announced George Mitchell was leading the investigation into steroids in baseball. MLB sold out their players in favor of getting some good PR, but now it is coming back to bite them. It is all a matter of public opinion and not a matter of true or false, and it is a shame. Any player who is linked to steroids via a Mitchell Report or another players admission is automatically guilty in the public eye, regardless of the truth. It sets up a dangerous premise of guilty and never innocent, no matter what actually happened. What if Roger Clemens was somehow cleared of steroid use tomorrow? Would public opinion change back to viewing him as the greatest pitcher of the last decade, or would they view him as a cheater that just got lucky? Isn’t that what history is going to think of Barry Bonds? A cheater that just got lucky? This hearing has more implication on Clemens future in the Hall of Fame than it does to steroids in baseball. So why isn’t the MLB handling this? It is a dangerous game to begin to play, and it becomes even more dangerous when you throw these people into a Congressional Hearing simply because the real guilty party, the MLB, has passed its responsibility onto someone else.

Who is right or wrong? It really doesn’t matter to me because it happened years ago and doesn’t mess with the policies that baseball has today. Clemens could be lying or McNamee could be lying. In the end, it is a sad day that ends with baseball having a black eye. What is even sadder is that the black eye on baseball is self inflicted.