Roger Clemens: New Revelations In Book

Roger Clemens book coming out next month.

The last thing Roger Clemens needed in his life is a 464 page book about his use of steroids and his personal life that can only further damage his reputation which already is in shambles.

The book American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens And The Rise of Steroids in America’s Pastime will be on bookshelves on May 12 and was written by New York Daily News Sports I-Team Editor Teri Thompson and reporters Nathaniel Vinton, Michael Okeeffe and Christian Red.

The book includes allegations that Clemens had apartments in twelve cities so he could meet with his girlfriends when on the road. The book reportedly is well documented and if it is it will be difficult for Clemens to deny the allegations in the book.

Clemens is already facing possible perjury charges for his testimony before a congressional committee on February 13 of 2008.  If he had admitted his use of steroids after being named in the Mitchell Report he may have prevented some of the revelations about his personal life from becoming public.

If the grand jury does indict Clemens and they delve into his alleged use of steroids it will be interesting to know what year his steroids use began.

Clemens was 20-18 over his last two seasons with the  Boston Red Sox in 1995 and 1996. He was 41-13 in his two seasons combined with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1997 and 1998. That is a huge jump in wins but that doesn’t necessarily mean he was on steroids those years unless it is documented.

This is just my opinion but I think that Clemens hit Mike Piazza in the head with a pitch on July 8 of 2000 in a steroids rage. It is true that Piazza had hit Clemens hard so he had every reason to throw inside but to hit him in the head tells me he meant to hit Piazza.

Once again when the Yankees faced the Mets in the 2000 World Series Clemens seemed to lose control of his emotions when he flung a piece of a broken bat in the path of Piazza who was running to first base.  We may never know if Clemens hit Piazza in the head or flung the bat at him intentionally but it sure looks that way till proven wrong.

It will be very surprising if Clemens makes the Hall of  Fame despite him being eighth on the all time wins list with 355 wins. He is third on the all time list in strikeouts with 4672 with only Nolan Ryan with 5714 and Randy Johnson with 4808 ahead of him.

However, these numbers will mean nothing to the voters of the Baseball Hall of Fame if it is proven in court that he took steroids. The thing that could hurt Clemens the worst  if he is proven guilty of lying to the congressional committee investigating steroids is that he lied to the American people on Sixty Minutes.

It is sad to see a great pitcher like Clemens have his baseball career questioned because of steroids but he apparently chose the steroids route and will have to suffer the consequences.

The latest allegations about him being with women on the road can only harm his marriage more unless he has already told his wife Debbie about the ladies he was meeting in apartments in twelve different cities.

In the next few weeks we should find out if the grand jury finds Clemens guilty of perjury before a congressional committee. If he is he will be given his day in court to tell his side of the story.

This article is about Clemens and in no way disparages the teams who he played for during his career. I have never read anything that shows that any team he played for knew of his steroids use.

All we can do now is wait and see what other allegations will be revealed when the book is published in about three weeks. You can be sure Roger Clemens will be reading it from cover to cover even if he denies reading it.