Friday, February 15, 2008By Mike Steffanos
I never cared much for Roger Clemens, but the incidents with Mike Piazza, culminating in the infamous World Series bad shard throwing incident, cemented a place for the large-buttocked pitcher in my Hall of Personal Enmity.
These feelings have only intensified over the years. Of particular irritation to me was the yearly brouhaha over whether Roger would pitch and for which team. I once compared him to "an aging beauty queen still desperately drinking in the attention of men." I thought it was one of the more ridiculous recurring stories of the last few years. Although there was plenty of speculation that the primary reason to start each season so late was to cover continued use of steroids over the winter, many sources treated the annual return as Roger's gift to all of us.
It occurred to me as I watched Clemens toss his wife under a bus (ironic after whining during his testimony that she felt like a pawn in his ex-trainer's game) and accuse Andy Petit of "misremembering" things that I had actually found a reason to appreciate Roger Clemens.
I believe that someday, someone who is a star player will come clean on his steroid usage. He will discuss honestly the pressures that caused him to make that unfortunate decision, and he will ask the public to forgive him. Given all of the prevarication and disingenuousness that others have resorted to, I will no choice but to grudgingly respect the courage of someone who actually has something to lose and is still willing to be honest.
I liken it to one of those Law and Order shows on tv, where the perps are put in separate rooms and told there is a deal to be made for whoever spills his guts first. The first star player -- either present or former -- who bucks the trend and comes across as honest and repentant will earn respect and gratitude that will at least somewhat offset the taint of PED usage.
I'm so glad that Roger Clemens isn't that man. I dislike Clemens because I believe him to be a bully and a blowhard. I dislike him because so many were willing to make silly excuses for throwing the bat at Mike Piazza in the World Series -- an act that would have led to an ejection in any level of the sport down to T-ball. There aren't quite so many apologists around now as the vultures circle and respect for Clemens free-falls like one of those Michael Milken junk stocks in the late 80s. Thanks, Raj... you incredible douchebag.
Back to posting everyday
Beginning next week, we will posting daily, whether it's myself or one of my co-bloggers. I'm going to make that commitment through the end of the season, and do my best to honor it.
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Comments (4)
looking forward to your everyday posting. This is the time of year, as a kid in Brooklyn( man about 50 years ago!) we would be sawing off our mothers broom handles and getting our fathers electeic tape to tape up the ends, buy a new spalding rubber ball no grass to play on; Just the city streets with sewer lids to use as our ground rules and get ready for a new baseball season. As the real teams reported to Fla. We put on our snaekers and T-shirts and started our spring training on the streets of Brooklyn with the call of "lets play ball".With snow and ice outside my window, Somehow spring is in the air. Lets go Mets.
Posted by REV AL | February 15, 2008 6:04 PM
i didn't watch too much of the hearing. I still find it incredible that we foot the bill for this crap. I can't figure out the importance of this on a goverment level. I was not suprised at the incredible ego Roger displayed but it still fascinates me. I really don't see any difference between Roger and Barry but I really believe that there would be a lot more outrage from other players if they weren't involved themselves.I may be wrong but wouldn't Piazza say something at this point if he was clean himself. I still believe that over 70% of the ballplayers were involved and that the Mitchell report just scratced the surface. We are going on what two informants stated. 2 informants, that is like saying that one could clean up a high school by taking out 2 dealers. It's much bigger than that and I can't even blame the players. The fans love the Homerun ball. Players still want to play even when they age. Kids will do anything to make "the show" and most of us would have done the exact same thing. I certaintly don't mind seeing arrogant Roger and Barry look like morons but enough is enough. Put a testing system in place that levels the playing field but let's not waste anymore tax dollars on this farce.
Posted by Jim | February 15, 2008 7:57 PM
hi mike, good blog about clemens..he is and always will be a clown.i wanted to say more about the hearings but i suddenly "misrembered" what i wanted to say.did u read the pedro article in the post yesterday about him only taking an advil or mango juice for pain?maybe mcnamee in addition to "only giving b12 shots" was injecting clemens with mango juice too..just not steroids or hgh.
Posted by gary | February 16, 2008 8:53 AM
I wouldn't assume that Mike Piazza is guilty of anything.
For one thing he HAS stated that he never used any of that stuff; he said so in at least one place I remember. I don't know if he was asked the question by the Mitchell commission.
Did you know that Piazza is a Catholic that takes his religion seriously? I didn't, not until my next door neighbor showed me an interview he did for some Catholic publication. It had to do with my neighbor's boy getting ready for first communion or something. My point is, the fellow looks up churches when he is traveling with his team, and I never heard him mention it once.
Mike Piazza is actually reticient on private matters; he actually has class in the old-school sense of the word. But how could we recognize it, if we've hardly ever seen an example. It's like training your binoculars on a treetop and seeing an Ivory Billed Woodpecker; are you really going to know what you're seeing?
Posted by dd | February 16, 2008 5:07 PM