Asterisks ...with a side of Perjury

According to a member of the Congressional House Oversight Committee that is investigating the use of steroids in baseball, Andy Pettitte provided members of Congress with a testimony that implicates seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens as a steroid user. On Monday, Pettitte, along with former teammate Chuck Knoblauch and former New York Mets trainer Kirk Radomski, was excused from the public hearing scheduled for this upcoming Wednesday.

It is unclear as to why the three were excused from the hearing. Speculation has led a number of experts to believe that the information the three provided at their individual private hearings last week, is harmful towards Clemens and his claim that he has never used steroids or any other form of performance-enhancing drugs.

At first, I was unsure what to think about the latest allegations by former trainer Brian McNamee about Clemens alleged steroid use. Last week when McNamee claimed to have physical evidence that could implicate Clemens, I found it VERY hard to believe. Considering the fact that Senator George Mitchell specifically asked McNamee if he had any physical proof that could implicate the persons’ he alleged used steroids (Clemens/Pettitte), McNamee claimed at the time he did not. After he miraculously turned over the evidence to Congress last week, I immediately thought that McNamee had manufactured the evidence.

Now I am unsure what to think. The greatest pitcher of my lifetime could REALLY be a steroid user. (Go ahead and argue with me, no one pitcher compares to “the Rocket” over the past 20 years, statistically) I have tried very hard over the last month to remain unbiased on my opinion of Clemens and his alleged steroid use. I gave him the benefit of the doubt, which most people denied him. I am a strong believer in innocent until proven guilty; however I am also a strong believer that friends don’t lie about their friends. Therefore, if Pettitte really did state Clemens used steroids, then I am going to have to believe Pettitte.

Pettitte and Clemens have spent the last 9 seasons working together on the same teams. Pitching every other day and working out on their off-days together helped them develop a strong friendship. If anyone knows the truth about Clemens, it’s Pettitte.

Pettitte has already admitted that Brian McNamee injected him with human-growth-hormones in the 2002 season. Furthermore, Pettitte immediately made his guilt known following the release of the Mitchell Report which McNamee implicated Pettitte and Clemens as steroid users.

Therefore, I find it hard to believe that Pettitte would lie to Congress about him and Clemens’ steroid use. Pettitte is devout to his Christian faith and beliefs (think of the retreat he went on in December 2007 after admitting his steroid use). Pettitte is a stand-up guy, a class-act and, above all, honest! IF PETTITTE SAYS CLEMENS TOOK STEROIDS, THEN CLEMENS TOOK STEROIDS.

I guess we will find the truth in the next coming days. Unless of course that is Clemens attempts to maintain his innocence before the Congressional Committee tomorrow morning. Which would then mean that Clemens or McNamee is committing perjury, which is a felony that is not taken lightly in the American Justice System.

So there goes Roger Clemens the “Greatest Pitcher of the Last 20 Years” ****…..I guess now we can start with the asterisks next to all those achievements….