Major League Baseball

Clemens could have avoided this mess

Published Aug. 19, 2010 11:03 p.m. ET

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Ken Rosenthal

Don't know about the Hall of Fame, but the Hall of Indictments sure is growing.

Barry Bonds, now Roger Clemens.

Both indicted for perjury, a charge that is difficult to prove. Both innocent until proven guilty. Yet, both permanently stained by their alleged activities — and by their arrogance.

My initial reaction to Thursday's news about Clemens was to yawn, knowing that Bonds was indicted on Nov. 19, 2007 and will not face trial until March 2011.

I'm guessing most fans will yawn, either because A) they are no longer shocked by such developments or B) they believe that the government has better things to do than prosecute alleged users of illegal performance-enhancing drugs, no matter how famous.

I get it. I'm tired of writing about this crap. You're tired of reading it. But let's not treat this news like it's some innocuous tweet about a Pittsburgh Pirates roster move. Bonds was accused of lying to a grand jury. Clemens is accused of lying to Congress. Serious stuff.

I don't have the expertise to compare the cases. I wouldn't even try. But I know this much: Both Bonds and Clemens could have avoided this path. Instead, both treated the government as if it were just another inferior opponent.

Both were too preoccupied with protecting their legacies — and banking on the competitive edge that made them great in the first place — to see the forest for the trees.

It did not have to be this way. Bonds and Clemens could have admitted to some form of drug use, asked for forgiveness and moved on. Remember, they were not indicted for using PEDs; they were indicted for allegedly lying about it.

Ask Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte and a host of others — the Official Steroid Confessional is now as much part of the game as the Official Baseball Rules.

I know, I know — no two situations are analogous. A-Rod had nowhere to hide after Sports Illustrated revealed his steroid use. Pettitte was a much lesser name and more likable figure; fans wanted to forgive him.

Yet, Bonds and Clemens are less sympathetic than even A-Rod, who often comes off as phony, but is more self-absorbed than anything else. From Bonds and Clemens, you get the same hubris, the same antagonism, the same aggressive sense of entitlement. No one in Clemens’ camp even saw the indictment coming, a troubling sign on several levels.

Clemens, like Bonds, clearly believed he was bullet-proof — he actually requested to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, seeking to clear his name. Someone should have talked him out of it. But who could ever talk Roger Clemens out of anything?

I believe that both Bonds and Clemens used steroids, along with hundreds of other athletes in virtually every sport. Proceeding under that assumption, I believe that Bonds knew he was lying to the grand jury in the BALCO trial, but thought he could get away with it.

Clemens is not nearly as bright as Bonds, far less calculating, far more delusional. Indeed, Clemens strikes me as the type who worked himself into such a state, he actually believed his lies. Inject, deny, inject, deny.

So, away we go. Bonds' former trainer, Greg Anderson, went to jail rather than testify against him. Clemens' former trainer, Brian McNamee, is expected to take the opposite position, serving as the government's star witness.

What does it all mean? Check back in a few years, if this sucker ever makes it to trial. Bonds is still waiting, still stewing. But in the Hall of Indictments, he no longer is alone.

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