Clemens to sue McNamee

http://yankees.lhblogs.com/


January is usually a slow month for baseball news. But fear not, we’ve lined up a series of guest bloggers to entertain you. Next up is Mike Plugh from Canyon of Heroes and Baseball Japan.

It’s our honor to have Mike posting here. He is a regular contributor to Baseball Prospectus and is an expert on players in Japan. His reports on Daisuke Matsuzka were widely read last year. Mike splits time between New York City and Akita City, Japan and is the proud father of Hiroto, a future Yankees centerfielder.

Here’s his post:

In the year Showa 9 (1934) a team of American baseball players traveled to Japan to participate in an exhibition series, delighting enormous crowds eager to get a glimpse of the legendary George Herman Ruth, otherwise known as “Babe.” The games were held at Tokyo’s Jingu Stadium and were sponsored by the Yomiuri Shimbun, owner of the powerful Giants of Tokyo. The courtesy of the host nation was evident as fans ran umbrellas out to the players in the outfield during long stretches of wet weather. The barnstorming Americans left an impression on the Japanese that has never quite dissipated after all the years since that event. Babe Ruth and the Yankees were household names in the baseball crazy land of the rising sun and continue to enjoy a kind of reverence that, in many respects, can only be found in the Bronx.

The Showa 9 exhibition played an important role in my assimilation to life in Japan, as a member of an extended Japanese family by marriage. My wife’s grandfather is an older gentleman, and a veteran of the Second World War. Before I met the man, I was introduced to this fact and told that in addition to his military service he was a strict school principal and had little love for the U.S., although he loved Europe and had traveled extensively with his wife throughout the continent. Needless to say, this made for a nerve-wracking introduction. In his later years, my wife’s grandfather has slipped a bit and has increasingly succumbed to Alzheimer’s. His periods of clarity are distinct in the quality and depth of detail that a man of his great experience can produce, but they come less frequently all the time.

On the day I entered his home, anxious and hoping to find some common ground, I was fortunate to enjoy more than a few moments of clear and thoughtful dialogue that eased the tension and bridged the perils of history. Chief among the moments that afternoon was the description of The Babe provided by an old man with a twinkle in his eye, peering back to the memories of a child growing up in Tokyo. I heard of the great size of the man and his broad smile, and the casual fraternization that occurred with the Japanese fans that ended in a small boy’s thrill, hanging from the bicep of the otherworldly American slugger.

A learned man I know tells of a tradition he shares with his college frat brothers. When the opportunity presents itself to shake the hand of the person who shook hands with a great historical figure, one must leap at the chance to forge a transcendental bond with the past. My opportunity came in an intimate and extremely tenuous meeting in an old man’s living room in Tokyo. In that fleeting afternoon I found the bridge over the troubled waters of history. It was George Herman “Babe” Ruth.

1. Buddy Biancalana January 7th, 2008 at 12:26 am

Wow, excellent post Mike!!!
2. Andrea January 7th, 2008 at 12:27 am

That’s a great story, and though it’s a pretty unique one, the situation isn’t. So many people, I’m sure, find common ground in baseball. Thanks for sharing your story!
3. EdFL January 7th, 2008 at 12:29 am

Very nice, Mike. Very philosophical.
4. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Save the Three Musketeers! January 7th, 2008 at 12:32 am

My brother once got a children’s book called ‘Baseball Saved Us’, about Japanese kids playing baseball in the WWII internment camps in death valley.

It’s amazing how one came can unite so many.
5. mel-I'm psyched! How about you? January 7th, 2008 at 12:34 am

Very nice, Mike. Can you explain the Yankees popularity in Japan, from a historical perspective? Does it trace back to that tour in 1934, or is it more of the fact that the Yankees are ‘Ichiban’?
6. Peter Abraham January 7th, 2008 at 12:38 am

Thanks again to Mike for posting here. Great job.
7. mel-I'm psyched! How about you? January 7th, 2008 at 12:39 am

Testing:

いちばん
8. mel-I'm psyched! How about you? January 7th, 2008 at 12:39 am

Pete,

What is this “Potting” that you speak of? lol.
9. Yazman January 7th, 2008 at 12:40 am

Thank you, Mike. Wonderful story.

And well said, Rebecca. Though just a game, baseball is wonderous in its ability to unite. Remember after 9/11?

For me, it started when my Dad first took me to Yankee Stadium, and it’s been such a fun bond between us ever since. And last year I first took my boys to the Stadium. They already tell people that they saw one of Alex’s home runs in one game, and had the dubious distinction of seeing the worst two innings or Roger’s career in another.
10. Bronx Liaison January 7th, 2008 at 12:49 am

Great job Mike. Matsuzaka Watch was the blog of the offseason a year ago.

My dad used to speak of Warren Spahn, Bob Feller and Stan the Man. To me, they were larger than life. Characters in an epic story whose history somehow extended into my living room when I’d watch Donnie Baseball steal a kid’s popcorn.

There’s no such thing as a bad first step into baseball. Even if it’s taken by a kid with a red B on his cap.
11. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Save the Three Musketeers! January 7th, 2008 at 12:55 am

Yazman:

For my take on baseball after 9/11 check this out

http://community.livejournal.com/project_gen/894.html#cutid1
12. from a Japanese January 7th, 2008 at 1:55 am

A great story. This reminded me that what brought courage and livelihood back to Hiroshima was a creation of a city-owned baseball team. It is highly ironic, but also very symbolic of the strength of baseball.
13. Begged Pete for a gues blogger spot but he said no January 7th, 2008 at 2:34 am

Yes, finally a worthy post, a story only the guest blogger could tell. Excellent work! Now the only thing you need are some hilarious stories and photoshops that our blog could have provided in a guest post but no worries, we still luv ya.
14. iYankees January 7th, 2008 at 2:36 am

Great post Mike. Really nice stuff.
15. sean k January 7th, 2008 at 2:40 am

I frequently visit Mike Plugh’s blogs and read his articles whenever I see them - his outstanding guest-post here is an example why.
16. butterball January 7th, 2008 at 3:01 am

Cool, I once shook Joe DiMaggios hand. In fact, I bussed his table. All the other busboys were Iranians and the owner heard me in the back trying to explain to these guys that this was one of the greatest baseball players of all time. They all had an attitude of “baseball, who cares…”

But the owner realized I was a fan so he introduced me. I was so shy I didn’t say squat.
17. Ummm.... January 7th, 2008 at 6:20 am

All I can say is…

We need….

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!

(more)
18. pat January 7th, 2008 at 6:57 am

Per Houston Chronicle, Cledmens has filed a defamation suit againsy McNamee. This could prevent them from testifying in front of congress because of a pending lawsuit.
19. pat January 7th, 2008 at 6:57 am

edit: Clemens
20. murphydog January 7th, 2008 at 7:01 am

pat:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5432752.html

Great choice of forum for Roger. Think a Texas jury would believe McNamee and disbelieve Roger?
21. butterball January 7th, 2008 at 7:02 am

“”I don’t know if I’ll ever get the naysayers back. I don’t know what I’m going to get. Maybe some of my name back,” Clemens said to the Chronicle Sunday. The report also revealed Clemens’ stance that the lawsuit will not keep him from testifying before Congress on Jan. 16, which he plans to do without asking for immunity or invoking any rights.”

From:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080107&content_id=2340522&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
22. Yanks26 January 7th, 2008 at 7:03 am

Great post Mike. I still check your website everday for an occasional post.

http://modernrooters.blogspot.com/

I don't know how many other people just caught the interview, but I thought it was pretty interesting. Clemens was visibly angry, but he seemed as nervous as he was angry. Clemens was licking his lips so often that it looked as if he was wearing lip gloss. When the camera panned away, you could see that he was fumbling with something in his left hand. At times, his right eye even seemed to twitch. It would be interesting to see if any body language "experts" dissect the interview.

One of his main defenses seemed to be, why would he take something that would cause him to break down? He even specifically mentioned the negative affects of steroids on flexibility. And Clemens seemed to act as if he never suffered under similar issues. Any injuries that caused Clemens to break down later in his career could be related to his age, and not at all to steroids use, but I think it's pretty clear that Clemens did suffer from such injuries.

Here are some actual excerpts from the interview. They aren't exaggerated, but rather taken word for word from the transcript.

Wallace: Why would Brian McNamee tell the truth about Andy Pettitte and lie about you?

Clemens: Andy's case is totally is, is totally separate. I was shocked to learn about Andy's situation. Had no idea about it.
...

Clemens: Why would I want to get tight or lose my flexibility, put something harmful in my system that's gonna cause me to break down when I've had a 24 year career?

Wallace: Look, because you're at the end of your career, and because you you don't want to give up the career and give up the fame and so forth. So if it's necessary to stick something into you—

Clemens: I didn't play my career to get fame or go to the Hall of Fame or worry about all that. That's nice. That, all that's nice. Again, it's not who I am. I've worked my tail off to get where I'm at. I'm not gonna put something in my body for a quick fix that's gonna tear me down.

...

Wallace: In two of the three years that McNamee claims that he injected you—'98 and 2001 you won 20 games and the Cy Young award as the American League's best pitcher.

Clemens: I won—in 1997 I won the Cy Young Award. 2004 when he supposedly, I wasn't doing it.

Wallace: Yeah, but these are the years in which McNamee claims that he injected you.

Clemens: It didn't happen. It didn't happen. It just didn't happen.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/mlb/01/06/clemens.mcnamee/index.html


Perhaps no one was watching Mike Wallace's interview of Roger Clemens on 60 Minutes on Sunday night more intently than Richard Emery, the attorney for Brian McNamee. McNamee is the personal trainer who told former senator George Mitchell and federal investigators that he had injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone.

Last Thursday, Emery made it known that McNamee would bring a defamation lawsuit against Clemens if the seven-time Cy Young winner continued the attack on McNamee's reputation that began on Dec. 13, as soon as the Mitchell Report became public. That day, Clemens' lawyer Rusty Hardin characterized McNamee as a "troubled man." Following the 60 Minutes interview broadcast, Emery told SI.com that Clemens had indeed defamed McNamee by painting him as a liar, but that it was unlikely that damages significant enough to warrant a lawsuit would result, because "most people will continue to believe McNamee."

Answering questions for the first time since the Mitchell Report was released, Clemens expressed bewilderment at McNamee's accusations. "Never happened," he told Wallace of McNamee's contention that the personal trainer injected him with steroids. He called the idea that he used performance-enhancing drugs "hogwash" and "ridiculous."

With his blatant denials of McNamee's statements to Mitchell, Clemens "defamed Brian," Emery said. "Clemens pretty much flat out contradicted [McNamee] in ways that are potentially damaging to [McNamee's reputation]."

Still, Emery said, the 60 Minutes segment alone will probably not lead to legal action, because the interview will not result in damages to McNamee's ability to make a living or his social standing. "I don't think Roger convinced anybody with this interview," Emery said, "so the question of whether it requires a lawsuit to redress the harm to McNamee's reputation is still an open issue."

Clemens did agree with his former personal trainer on one thing: that McNamee had given him injections. But Clemens insisted that they were only of the pain killer lidocaine and vitamin B12. "It's for my joints," Clemens said, "and B12 I still take today." Clemens' claims that the injections were only a pain killer and a vitamin were revealed by CBS on Thursday, and quickly drew skepticism.

Lidocaine is a local anesthetic used to numb an area of the body for surgery or as a pain killer. The utility of lidocaine as a pain remedy for athletes, however, is limited. According to Dr. John R. Green, chief of sports medicine in the Department of Orthopedics and Sports Medicine at the University of Washington, lidocaine, being a local anesthetic, only soothes pain in the area of injection, and causes numbness that could inhibit performance.

"You would not inject lidocaine into the knee joint, for example, before any kind of competition," Green says, "because then you would not be able to feel the knee joint. That's an important thing, to be able to feel. You need that feedback to be able to balance." He did add, though, that lidocaine could be injected into the bursa, or fluid sac in a joint, if it was inflamed, to relieve some pain without inhibiting performance. But "lidocaine, I believe," Green says, "is a prescription drug. I don't know of any personal trainers who inject it [regularly for pain relief]."

Green added that it's not unusual for athletes and non-athletes alike to take vitamin B12, but that the impact is probably minimal. "I don't know whether Roger's a vegetarian or a vegan," Green says, "but a vegan is who you might think of not getting enough B12. It's pretty uncommon for a young, healthy person to have a B12 deficiency, but some people take it anyway."

Following his impassioned self-defense, Clemens told Wallace that he's so tired of scrutiny that he'd sooner retire than submit to an endless line of questions. "That's why I will not ever play again," Clemens said. But Wallace promises to be just the first of his inquisitors. On Monday, Clemens will face the mass of reporters who show up at his press conference in Houston, and, last Friday, the Congressional Committee on Oversight and Government Reform asked Clemens to testify at a hearing on steroids in baseball on Jan. 16.

"I'm interested to see how he handles the press conference and a hearing," says Emery, who noted that a defamation lawsuit is still an option should Clemens attack McNamee in either of those forums.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/01072008/sports/giants/oh__boy__giants_ready_for_third_shot_at__187535.htm


January 7, 2008 -- TAMPA - Why, Justin Tuck was asked, after losing twice this season to the Cowboys, should anyone believe the third time in the playoffs will be any different?

“You ain't got to believe," Tuck said forcefully. “These 53 [players] and these coaches believe. You can think what you want to think. Let's find out on Sunday."

Opinions will no doubt leave the Giants nowhere near the role of the favorite when Sunday afternoon they face the Cowboys in an NFC divisional playoff game at Texas Stadium. The prize for the Giants after yesterday's 24-14 victory over the Buccaneers is a meeting with the No. 1 seeded Cowboys, who are the favorite to make it out of the conference to Glendale, Ariz., for Super Bowl XLII.

“I think all their 11 starters made the Pro Bowl this year," Tuck said jokingly.

The Giants in two games with the Cowboys this season were outscored 76-55, with Tony Romo throwing an outrageous eight touchdown passes in the two games. The season-opener was a passing duel won by Romo and the Cowboys 45-35 and the rematch at Giant Stadium turned into a 31-20 Cowboys victory, as the Giants faltered after playing to a 17-17 halftime tie.

“You always think about it," left tackle David Diehl said of another meeting with the Cowboys. “Obviously it's the way things panned out, you always hope when things don't go your way you get another opportunity and this is our opportunity."

Perhaps the best way for the Giants to prevent Romo from torching them again is to make sure Jessica Simpson is on the scene this weekend.

“We go on the road next week to Dallas, they're a great team, they've been playing well all year, they got a plethora of weapons on offense and their defense is big, strong, fast," said Plaxico Burress, who had three touchdown receptions in the season opener. “It's going to be a tough challenge."

It will not be an unfamiliar challenge.

“We love playing them," Amani Toomer said. “We love going down to Dallas. We've had a lot of success down there. It's probably going to be one of the easier weeks to prepare, not because they're not good or anything, but we know what they do and they know what we do. We're ready to play and I know we're excited about going down there after the way we started the season down there, playing well and coming up short. I know everybody on our team's real excited to get another chance at them."

Michael Strahan said he loves going to Dallas because his family lives there.

“I think some of us are looking forward to it," Strahan said. “Hopefully the third time's a charm for us."

Twice bitten

A look at the two Giants-Cowboys games this season:

COWBOYS 45, GIANTS 35

Sept. 9 at Dallas

In the season opener, Eli Manning and Tony Romo each tossed four TD passes as the teams combined for 916 total yards. Plaxico Burress caught three of the TDs and had 144 receiving yards. The Giants proved resilient but several injuries, including one to Manning late, hurt any chance of a victory.

COWBOYS 31, GIANTS 20

Nov. 11 at Giants

The game was tied at halftime, but the Giants were held to three points in the second half as Romo again scorched the Big Blue D with four TD passes, two to Terrell Owens. Manning had a TD and two INTs.

paul.schwartz@nypost.com

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=neyer_rob

You know what's disappointing to me?

It's not that Roger Clemens might have cheated. If he did cheat, he was just one of hundreds, and he's still a Hall of Famer in my book. It's not that if he did cheat, now he's lying about it. Most of us will dissemble about our misdeeds if we think there's a decent chance we won't get caught.

What's disappointing to me is that Clemens, with all his money and having been a family man for many years, still behaves like someone who never has grown up. A few snippets from the "60 Minutes" interview:

"I'm angry that what I've done for the game of baseball and the personal, in my private life, what I've done, that I don't get the benefit of the doubt," Clemens says. "The stuff that's being said, it's ridiculous."

"It's hogwash for people to even assume this," Clemens says.

"Twenty-four, 25 years, Mike. You'd think I'd get an inch of respect. An inch," he adds. "How can you prove your innocence?"

…

[Wallace voice-over:] Clemens may appear as requested at a congressional hearing in 10 days. His challenge is getting people to believe him.

"I don't know if I can defend myself, I think people, a lot of people, have already made their decisions," Clemens says.

"Well, a lot of people have made …," Wallace says.

"And that's our country, isn't it? Guilty before innocent. That's the way our country works now. And then everybody's talking about sue, sue, sue. Should I sue? Well, let me exhaust. Let me just spend. How about, let's keep spending," Clemens says. "But I'm gonna explore what I can do and then I want to see if it's gonna be worth it, worth all the headache."

It's not fair to expect our sports heroes to be articulate and emotionally mature. After all, nobody ever told Clemens to grow up. Why should he? Becoming articulate does take time, and it's not as if Clemens wasn't working hard at his craft all those years. It strikes me, though, that if the Rocket really does want to defend himself, change the minds of a lot of people, it sure would help if he'd learned at some point to come across as something other than a spoiled, petulant millionaire who thinks he did something for baseball. Rather than the other way around.

P.S. If those snippets seem like sparse evidence, here's plenty more

http://baby-bombers.com/News/07Archive/Articles/39.htm

What would you say was the hardest part of the 2007 season?

Personally, the injury. As a team, the playoff losses


Would you say that the rivalry between the Brooklyn Cyclones and Staten Island Yankees rubbed off on some of the players and helped motivate them to do better against the Cyclones?

Definitely, there was that one game where both benches cleared and tension ran high, and that kind of atmosphere makes for a high level of play.

Where do you see yourself next season?

Not sure, I guess I'll have to see after spring training.

http://baby-bombers.com/News/07Archive/Articles/37.htm
What was your favorite moment of the 2007 season?
My favorite moment of the 2007 season would have to be the opening night game in Staten Island in front of a sold out crowd.

How did it feel having two 6-RBI games in one month and hitting your first professional grand slam?
Having those two big games was certainly a pleasant surprise. Being able to have my first professional homerun be a grand slam and have some family at the game was something I will never forget.

Were you upset from the team’s early exit from the 2007 Playoffs?
Yes, I was upset with the way the playoffs ended for us. I felt as if we were playing good baseball down the stretch and we all had high expectations for the post-season.

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=neyer_rob

You know what's disappointing to me?

It's not that Roger Clemens might have cheated. If he did cheat, he was just one of hundreds, and he's still a Hall of Famer in my book. It's not that if he did cheat, now he's lying about it. Most of us will dissemble about our misdeeds if we think there's a decent chance we won't get caught.

It's not fair to expect our sports heroes to be articulate and emotionally mature. After all, nobody ever told Clemens to grow up. Why should he? Becoming articulate does take time, and it's not as if Clemens wasn't working hard at his craft all those years. It strikes me, though, that if the Rocket really does want to defend himself, change the minds of a lot of people, it sure would help if he'd learned at some point to come across as something other than a spoiled, petulant millionaire who thinks he did something for baseball. Rather than the other way around.

Friends
By Pat Jordan

It's nice to have friends, especially friends one makes during the course of business. It's even nicer if those new friends are celebrities. Take Mike Wallace, for example. At 89, Mr. Wallace has made a lot of celebrity friends during the 40 years he has been a reporter for CBS's "60 Minutes." Not friends like Yassir Arafat, maybe, but friends like George Steinbrenner, the owner of the New York Yankees, of whom Mr. Wallace says, "I like Steinbrenner, he likes me, we became good friends." It was through his friendship with Steinbrenner that Mr. Wallace made friends with one of Steinbrenner's celebrity hirelings, Roger Clemens, of whom Mr. Wallace says, "He became my friend. He trusts me." Which is no doubt why, when Mr. Clemens' name appeared prominently in the Mitchell Report, he turned to Mr. Wallace to help clear his name from accusations by his former trainer, Brian McNamee, that Clemens took steroids and Human Growth Hormone in his late 30s and 40s to enhance his pitching career.

Tonight on "60 Minutes," Mr. Clemens will sit for an interview with Mr. Wallace, because, Mr. Wallace says, "He trusts me." Hopefully, Mr. Wallace can be, as he says, "objective." Tomorrow, according to Rusty Hardin, Mr. Clemens' lawyer, Clemens will submit to questions from a host of reporters, the first time he will speak off-the-cuff so to speak, to a roomful of reporters, some of whom may not be his friends. Previously, Mr. Clemens has denied Mr. McNamee's allegations that he injected Mr. Clemens with steroids and HGH through press releases emitted by his lawyer and his agent, and through a staged video in which Mr. Clemens denies McNamee's allegations directly to a camera.

I had a chance to become friends with Mr. Clemens in 2001, when I interviewed him for a profile in the New York Times Sunday magazine. But, alas, our friendship did not take. Despite the fact that I, like Mr. Wallace, felt I too had been objective in my profile, Mr. Clemens did not concur. In fact, he called me up after the story appeared and berated me over the telephone. When I asked him what he didn't like about the story, he said, "I didn't read it." I responded, "Then how do you know you don't like it?" He said he was told by his "friend," and the co-author of one of Mr. Clemens' books, Peter Gammons, the ESPN-TV analyst, that he should hate it. In fact, Mr. Clemens hated my profile so fervently that he had me banned from the Yankees' clubhouse during the years he remained with the team.

I would later learn that one of the many things Mr. Clemens hated about my profile of him was my description of his fawning relationship at the time with his friend Mr. McNamee, who lived in the pool house of Mr. Clemens' Houston estate. On the first day I interviewed Mr. Clemens in Houston I had dinner with him and Mr. McNamee at the most exclusive steak house in Houston. The bill was for over $400, which I paid. Mr. Clemens said, "I’ll get you tomorrow." The next day he bought me a taco at a Mexican Restaurant. But the point of my profile of Mr. Clemens was less about his parsimoniousness than it was his strange relationship with Mr. McNamee. During the dinner at the steakhouse Mr. Clemens asked Mr. McNamee for his permission to have a steak (McNamee nodded) and a baked potato (McNamee nodded again, but added a caveat, "Only dry."). The same scenario played itself out at the Mexican Restaurant. Clemens pointed to an item on the menu and Mr. McNamee either nodded, or shook his head, no.

During the three days I followed Mr. Clemens around Houston, he seemed like a child beholden to the whims of the sour, suspicious, and taciturn McNamee. It seemed as if Mr. Clemens would not do anything to his body, or ingest anything into it that Mr. McNamee hadn't approved. I found it strange that, at 38, Mr. Clemens still had to have someone dictate his diet and workout regimen down to the minutest detail at this late stage of his illustrious career. In fact, Mr. Clemens' devotion to Mr. McNamee's diet and workout routine seemed almost like a spiritual quest that must not be impeded. When Mr. Clemens and Mr. McNamee went on a long run one day and they came across another runner, lying on the ground, in the throes of a heart attack, they called for help. When Mr. Clemens related that story to me, he ended it by saying, "We were having a good run, too."

I also found it strange that, at 38, Clemens had the energy of a teenager. Clemens' workouts lasted 10 hours a day with only breaks for lunch and dinner. They began at 9 a.m. under McNamee's watchful eyes, with light weight-lifting for an hour, then an hour run, then a trip into Clemens' own personal gym, where he did a few hours of calisthenics, wind sprints, and throwing before going to lunch. After lunch, Clemens and McNamee went to an exclusive Houston men's gym (Clemens told me that President Bush worked out there), where Clemens pedaled a stationary bike for an hour and then performed a heavy weight-lifting routine for another hour. Then after dinner at home, Clemens worked out again until 9 or 10 in the evening.

Just watching Clemens work out over a day exhausted me. I wondered where he found the energy to sustain such a maniacal pace when I, at a similar age 20 years before, had been unable to work out for more than a few hours a day without being drained. At the time I interviewed Clemens, I was training for an amateur body building contest and, like Clemens, I adhered to a strict diet and a strenuous weight-lifting and calisthenics routine. But nothing I did at 41 compared to the 10 hours-a-day routine McNamee put Clemens through.

This brings me by a circuitous route to Tom Seaver, the Hall of Fame pitcher from the 1960s to the 1980s. Now Seaver and I were friends. Not the best of friends. Not intimate friends. Just friends. In the early 70s we lived only a few miles from each other in Connecticut. On the weekends we played one-on-one basketball games against each other at the Greenwich YMCA. They were rough, no-holds-barred games marked by a lot of uncalled fouls, bruises, and bloody noses. I always let Seaver win those games; after all, he was Tom Seaver, but he denies this.

Whenever Seaver pitched badly I'd call him every so often to give him advice.

"Tom, you're throwing too many breaking balls."

"You really think so?"

"Absolutely."

"What the hell do you know?"

Seaver and I had a lot in common. We were both big men in our playing days. Six-one, 200 pounds. We were both pitchers. Bonus babies. Tom signed with the Mets for a $50,000 bonus and I signed with the then Milwaukee Braves in 1959 for a $50,000 bonus. We both threw hard. I threw harder than Seaver, of course, but he will never admit that. He had better control than I did (at least I will admit that). And a longer career. His lasted 20 years. In the major leagues. Mine lasted three years, in the minor leagues. And then out. Back home, at 21, lugging bricks and mortar up a rickety scaffold for a Lithuanian mason.

Over the 40 years of our friendship, I still call Seaver every now and then, mostly to remind him that I threw harder than him. His response is always the same, "In your dreams." My response is always the same. "But I did, Tom, I did!" Then he will say, "Yeah, and between us we won 311 major league games." I say, "Precisely!"

Like Clemens today, Seaver in his day was considered the most dominating pitcher of modern times. He did win 311 games over a 20-year career, and would have won another 50 or so if he had pitched into his mid-40s like Clemens has. But he didn't. He lost his fastball at 38, pitched without it for several more seasons with varying results, and retired. During his career, Seaver, too, was famous for his strict diet and strenuous workout routine. In fact, he was one of the first baseball players to begin lifting weights to enhance his performance. It had been considered taboo, particularly for pitchers, likely to make them feel too muscle-bound and inflexible.

I visited Seaver once at his home in Greenwich, Conn., in the dead of a cold winter. Seaver lives in Calistoga, Calif., today. Seaver took me down into his basement where he had set up a net to catch baseballs. There, with a bucket of balls beside him, and his breath billowing in front of him, Seaver grunted and sweated for 30 minutes as he pitched baseballs into that net.

I was so impressed with his diligence that I asked him why he bothered to throw on such a cold, January day. He gave me a little sideways look as if I'd asked the stupidest question, and said, "Because it's my day to throw."

After the Mitchell Report on the use of performance-enhancing drugs was published, I checked the records of Seaver and Clemens. In his first 12 seasons with the Boston Red Sox, Clemens posted a 192-111 record. In his first 12 years with the Mets, and the Cincinnati Reds, Seaver posted a 219-117 record. Over Seaver's last eight years with the Reds, Red Sox, and Chicago White Sox, he posted a 92-78 record. Over Clemens' last 11 years with the Toronto Blue Jays, Yankees and Houston Astros and then the Yankees again, he posted a 162-73 record, a winning percentage appreciably better than in his younger years.

While Seaver struggled with that declining fastball in the latter stage of his career, Clemens kept throwing hard. Seaver's decline in those final seasons was the normal drop-off for a pitcher who had relied on an exceptional fastball for a good part of his success. Clemens' improved record in his later years was an anomaly for a fastball pitcher. (Knuckleball pitchers like Phil Niekro, and junk ball pitchers like Jamie Moyer have pitched successfully into their 40s because they rely on finesse, not strength.)

A fastball pitcher still throwing in the mid-90s after the age of 40, as Clemens did, is a true rarity, except if his name is Nolan Ryan, who was blessed by God. It goes against the laws of nature, although I suspect that a case can be made that Clemens' incredible late career success could be attributed to the strict diet and fabled workout routine of his former trainer and friend, now his adversary, Brian McNamee. Which I also suspect is the case Clemens will make to his friend, Mr. Wallace, when Mr. Wallace interviews him tonight on "60 Minutes."

Pat Jordan, author of "A False Spring," and "A Nice Tuesday," is a freelance writer. His latest book, "The Best Sports Writing of Pat Jordan" (Persea Books), which features profiles of both Roger Clemens ("Roger Clemens Refuses to Grow Up") and Tom Seaver ("The Best of Friends"), will be released next month.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/2008/01/07/2008-01-07_whole_truth_is_only_way_roger_clemens_wi.html?page=1





If Clemens does that, maybe the government just takes that as an admission McNamee is telling the truth, and leaves him alone. But if he tells the story to Congress he told to Wallace, tells it under oath, and the government does not believe him, then maybe Clemens will next hear from a federal prosecutor. And then he really is the pitching version of Barry Bonds."

It didn't happen, Clemens kept telling Wallace last night. No steroids, no HGH, nothing like that ever in his life. Didn't happen. It better not have. Or Marion Jones won't be the only star athlete of the last decade looking at jail time.

Clemens is the one who put himself into this box. Only the whole truth, and nothing but, sets him free.