Between the Lines with Bruce Allen
Allen: Clemens finally passes Bonds
Well, it appears that Roger Clemens has finally achieved his goal. He
has officially passed Barry Bonds on the "most troubled over-40 steroid
era baseball superstars determined to ruin their Hall of Fame chances"
list.
The similarities between the two are actually incredibly eerie. Consider:
- Both had incredibly productive - some of
their most productive - seasons late in their careers, even as they passed 40.
- Both have "celebrity" trainers
who worked with other high profile athletes that have been named as PED users.
(Greg Anderson, Brian McNamee)
- Both
have long-time mistresses who are doing "tell all" books about their
affairs. (Kimberly Bell, Mindy McCready)
For years, Bonds has been the poster child for the steroid era, and has been
vilified as an evil, scheming, ego-driven manipulator. His case was talked
about on a daily basis on sports radio for months at at time. Even before there
was actual evidence, he was identified as a user, and as a vile human being for
the way he conducted himself. (Who can forget Curt Schilling tearing into him
on one of call-ins to WEEI?) During that same time, you might have heard an
occasional whisper wondering how exactly Clemens was able to continue pitching
at a very high level even into his 40's, but he was always given the benefit of
the doubt. It was chalked up to his fanatical workout routines.
While Bonds was eviscerated by the national media, Clemens, despite all the
recent incidents that are piling up on him, is being portrayed as simply dumb.
I haven't heard anyone go after Clemens in the same way that they went after
Bonds. Yet, you could say that all the evidence that we have now on Clemens and
the things he's done could well surpass what Bonds did. When you consider the
bombshell this week that Clemens had a long-time relationship with country
music star Mindy McCready - which began when she was 15 years old, you could
say Clemens has surpassed Bonds on the scumbag list.
Consider this as well. Bonds' trainer, Greg Anderson, went to jail rather than
testify against Bonds. There were likely other factors involved, but at the
very least you could make the case that Anderson felt that Bonds was worthy of
his loyalty. Think about that. Anderson went to jail for Bonds. Brian McNamee
obviously has no such feelings toward Clemens. Quite the opposite. He's doing
all he can to make sure that Clemens is the one who ends up in jail.
Fittingly, it seems that the careers of both of these players came to an end
last season. Traditionally, they would've made for an all-time Hall of Fame
class in a few years. When that time comes, there's a pretty good chance that
they're both going to be in prison, rather than making speeches at Cooperstown
in August.