MLB All-Star Pitcher Roger Clemens Steroid Use

Roger Clemens, one of baseball’s greatest pitchers for the Boston Red Sox, breaking record after record, has been in battle with the U.S. Congress after being accused of perjury, lying about his steroid use, in court, back in 2008.

Roger Clemens career started in 1984, after graduating from the University of Texas, pitching for the Boston Red Sox.  He went on to play for many other teams after the Sox, including the Toronto Blue Jays, the New York Yankees, the Houston Astros, and again in 2007, the last year of his career, the Yankees.  He has had numerous career highlights and awards, everything from eleven All-Star Game appearances to two World Championships.  He retired in 2007 due to a re-aggravating hamstring injury, but the MLB and now the U.S. government was not through with him yet.  In 2005, José Canseco, a fellow All-Star player and outfielder wrote a book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big, claiming that Clemens had vast knowledge on performance enhancing drugs and later wrote he probably did use them.  Clemens denied such rumors made by Canseco saying, “”I could [sic] care less” and “I’ve talked to some friends of his and I’ve teased them that when you’re under house arrest and have ankle bracelets on, you have a lot of time to write a book,” but his nightmare wasn’t over; it was just starting.  Later, Clemens was again allegedly suspected of steroid use by pitcher, Jason Grimsley, stating that he acquired amphetamines, anabolic steroids and human growth hormone from someone recommended to him by former N.Y. Yankees trainer Brian McNamee who was hired by Clemens in 1998.  McNamee denied all claims that he was involved or even ever heard anything concerning Clemens using steroids.  However, McNamee stated that during the 1998, 2000, and 2001 baseball seasons, he injected Clemens with Winstrol, an anabolic steroid that Olympic athlete, Ben Johnson tested positive for in the 1988 Summer Olympics.  Further investigation ensued, endlessly going back and forth between accusation and denial in court between both parties.  Clemens denied ever using, talking about, or receiving any kind of performance enhancing drugs but this contradicted with what fellow baseball player, Andy Pettitte stated under oath saying that Clemens had told him that McNamee had injected him with human growth hormone (HGH).  In 2009, it was declared that federal grand juries convened to listen to evidence of Clemens possible perjury and in 2010 they indicted Clemens on charges of making false statements to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs in his connection to his 2008 hearing.  In 2011, Clemens had a mistrial due to evidence being revealed to the jury by prosecutors that was not to be shown.  On June 11, 2012, the testimonies of all forty-six witnesses over a twenty-five day period ended the trial.  Roger Clemens surprisingly did not testify and this long-awaited judgment will be decided the following day, on June 12.

Work Cited:

Jeff Wilson, “MLB Insider: Clemens’ trial could taint game’s reform push” Star – Telegram June 11, 2012

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