Roger Clemens heads to court

Roger Clemens-circa 2000 or so

We will soon know probably a little more than we might like to about retired baseball superstar pitcher Roger Clemens.

That's because Clemens' perjury trial starts today in Washington D.C.

For the few of you unfamiliar, let's catch up with things. Clemens was accused a couple years ago of using steroids to enhance his performance. His former "Personal Trainer" Brian McNamee was the man making the accusation. The investigation was a part of a federal investigation into steroid use by professional baseball players, something roughly akin to what Barry Bonds was dealing with.

During the series of investigations, and really before McNamee came out and made his allegations, Clemens spoke to Congress about an anti-steroid lifestyle. According to the government investigators and NcNamee, he lied about it under oath.

Read a brief primer from the New York Daily News RIGHT HERE

FBI Investigators have spent 3-years trying to dig up evidence against Clemens and quite honestly, nobody is really sure what they've found.

We know McNamee says Clemens began taking steroids some 10-years ago while pitching in Toronto. And according to the variety of stories done on him, there's a pretty big trail of evidence. Clemens himself hasn't helped his case by giving often confusing or conflicting statements about whether or not he did anything wrong.

Over the next couple of weeks, we should find out if he lied about it and we are a bit conflicted over this. While yes, we probably want to know if he was "Juicing" to make himself a superstar longer, it's been a long time since it happened. It's over with. And the government is spending an awful lot of money to prove a case that will just essentially say Clemens lied.

Really, for that, Clemens will get probation, a fine or at worst, spend a few months at Club Fed. And we wonder, aside for tarnishing memories, what really will it prove?

Here's the testimony that kind of got this whole thing going back in 2008:

DEVELOPING: Clemens To Be Indicted

The New York Times reported on its website that federal authorities have decided to indict Roger Clemens on charges of making false statements to Congress about his
use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Michael Schmidt's piece says it based its report on information from two sources briefed on the matter and said an announcement should come fairly soon.

Clemens and his former trainer, Brian McNamee, testified under oath at a hearing before a House committee and contradicted each other about whether Clemens had used the banned substances. Clemens denied and claimed McNamee "misremembered."

The committee held the hearing in February 2008.
Here's Clemens opening statement, thanks to our friends at CSPAN


McNamee has told federal agents, baseball investigator George Mitchell and the committee that he injected Clemens more than a dozen times with steroids and human growth hormone from 1998-01.

Here's coverage from our friends at MyFoxHouston and Fox26...
Sibila Vargas takes the lead indoors...

McNamee Sues Clemens For Defamation

((HT: CP))

Roger Clemens' former personal trainer sued him Friday over allegations of steroid use, claiming the Major League Baseball star ruined his reputation by branding him a liar.

The defamation lawsuit filed in federal court in Brooklyn alleges Clemens launched an "intense and co-ordinated public relations offensive" against Brian McNamee ((pictured, thanks Chip Somodevilla/Getty)) after the trainer told federal investigators and Congress that he injected Clemens more than a dozen times with steroids and human growth hormone from 1998 through 2001.

In his own testimony and interviews, the seven-time Cy Young Award winner has repeatedly denied using performance-enchancing drugs.

"Rather than acknowledging the truth of McNamee's allegations, Clemens waged a defamatory public relations campaign against McNamee," the suit says. "Clemens' campaign ... was intended to deceive the public and Congress into falsely believing that McNamee is a liar."

The lawsuit quotes Clemens saying in a YouTube video in 2007 that McNamee "did not inject steroids into my body either when I played in Toronto for the Blue Jays or the New York Yankees."



It also cites an interview with ESPN in May in which Clemens, when asked about McNamee, responded that it was a case of "somebody out there that is really crawling up your back to make a buck."

The suit, which seeks unspecified damages, claims Clemens' statements have "humiliated McNamee, destroyed his reputation, both personally and professionally, and caused him severe emotional distress."

The former pitcher's lawyer, Rusty Hardin, said the suit wouldn't hold up in court.

"I mean, think about it," Hardin said. "Essentially, we have a lawsuit saying (McNamee's) reputation was harmed by saying, 'No, you, you did not give me illegal drugs."'

Clemens is under investigation by a federal grand jury in Washington that is trying to determine whether he lied when he told a congressional committee in 2008 that he had not used steroids.

He has a pending defamation claim against McNamee in a Houston court.

We figured we'd also go ahead and re-post the interview Clemens did with Mike Wallace and "60 Minutes." Here's Part 1, thanks to our friends at CBS

Report: PED Found On Clemens Materials

((HT: CBS Sports))

Federal authorities have found performance-enhancing substances on the materials Brian McNamee said he used to inject Roger Clemens, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

McNamee turned over the syringes, vials and gauze pads to federal investigators last year, after he told baseball investigator George Mitchell he injected the pitcher with steroids and human growth hormone. The Washington Post reported February 6 that tests linked Clemens' DNA to blood in the syringes given to investigators by McNamee.

Clemens has said repeatedly that McNamee, his former personal trainer, injected him with B-12 and the painkiller lidocaine.

"I assumed, and I am not surprised, that the tests were positive for both DNA and for performance-enhancing drugs, because that's what Brian said all along, and there's not much doubt that Brian's been telling the truth," McNamee's lawyer, Richard Emery, told the Associated Press. "The confirmation of that fact, once again, just seems to me to be another significant step towards jail for Clemens."

A federal grand jury in Washington is investigating whether Clemens lied when he told a congressional committee last year that he didn't use illegal performance-enhancing substances. McNamee, testifying before the same committee, said he repeatedly injected Clemens with steroids and HGH.

Rusty Hardin, Clemens' lawyer, did not return a telephone call seeking comment.