Roger Clemens: Cheater or Hall of Famer?

Although boxing is the primary focus of my blog, I felt as a fan of all sports it would be appropriate to switch topics a little bit and give my thoughts on the Roger Clemens debate. Clemens, who is widely regarded as the best pitcher of this generation, has been accused by his former trainer that he had taken performance enhancing drugs. Clemens has vehemently denied these allegations; however, the mere connection of Clemens' name to steroids might be enough to ruin his legacy. In five years Clemens will be up for nomination into the Baseball Hall of Fame and it is very likely that Clemens will not get in, even though he has all to credentials to do so, based on his alleged steroid involvement.

I feel that Roger Clemens should not get into the Hall of Fame. Even though there is no definitive proof linking Clemens to steroids, I feel that the amount of evidence against Clemens is starting to become overwhelming. Clemens's fellow teammate, Andy Pettite, a man whom Clemens stated was an honest person, testified under oath that Clemens told him that he took steroids. Clemens then said that Pettite "misremembers" the conversation that they had and that he was mistaken. Unlike Clemens who has his baseball legacy at stake and McNamee who is trying to shorten the time that he has to spend in prison by cooperating with federal agents, Andy Pettite has nothing to gain by lying.

Like many other people I was skeptical when I heard that Clemens allegedly had taken steroids and when Clemens came out and on 60 Minutes called all of the accusations false, I started to believe him. However, Pettite's testimony was enough for me to believe that Roger Clemens is lying. Had Clemens came out from the very beginning and said that he had taken steroids then I would support him getting into the Hall of Fame, but I cannot support him getting inducted when it is clear that he is lying.

"Shoeless" Joe Jackson

The voters for who gets into the Hall of Fame have already set a precedent by not allowing several worthy players from getting in, because they broke a rule or were involved in cheating. "Shoeless" Joe Jackson was a player that definently possessed Hall of Fame credentials; however, he was accused of fixing the 1919 World Series along with seven other players for money. A Chicago jury eventually aquitted Jackson for fixing the World Series, but just his alleged involvement has been enough to keep him from getting into the Hall of Fame.

Pete Rose
Another player that had accumulated Hall of Fame credentials throughout his career is Pete Rose. Rose is the all-time career hits leader in baseball history, was a 17 time all-star, was the MVP of the league in one of his seasons, and was voted into the Major League Baseball All Century Team. Rose's Hall of Fame credentials are equal, if not superior to those of Clemens; however, he has not been inducted because while he was the manager of the Cincinatti Reds he gambled that his teams would win. Although gambling on baseball games is against the rules for all players and managers, Rose has maintained that he never bet against his teams to win.




Neither of these two players took any kind of drug to help gain an edge on the competition, but they are connected to some form of cheating. It does not seem to matter that they had amazing careers because one event has prevented them from getting into the Hall of Fame. I believe that if these two players have not yet been inducted into the Hall of Fame then Roger Clemens should not be inducted either.



I believe that Roger Clemens took steroids to help gain an edge on the competition. I also feel that for the past month he has been lying. Lying to the media. Lying to his fans. And ultimately lying to himself. He is lying to himself if he believes that he can just use his money to hire the best trial lawyers in Texas and buy his way out of the mess he created. Roger Clemens was my favorite pitcher in baseball whenever he played for the Astros; however, I feel that being immortalized in baseball's Hall of Fame, a place that takes into account integrity and honesty, would be privilege he does not deserve.