It’s not enough that Roger Clemens beat the rap on charges that he lied under oath of taking performance enhancing drugs, now, the 50-year-old is attempting a comeback. Clemens has signed with a minor league team, and bad teams like his former employer, the Houston Astros, in need of attendance, could be considering taking on the “tainted” left hander.
Roger Clemens was not very well liked, even among his teammates, which isn’t a requirement for the Hall of Fame by any means. He was selfish, vain, standoffish, and surly. As a result, there were a lot of people hoping that he would be hoist on his own petard in court, but the players having been winning in court, and now Clemens hopes to return to the majors.
But why? He wasn’t “vindicated” just found innocent of lying. Why come back? For the money? Does he need more glory, because he won’t be returning to a contending team? My friend and comic book dealer Carl Bonansera has the answer: “after being found not guilty of all charges, he’s staging a ‘clean’ comeback. You watch the Astros, who really suck and will need all the pub they can get for next years entrance into the AL sign him. Even if it’s only for one game, it changes his retirement date, and PUSHES HIS FIRST YEAR OF ELIGIBILITY FOR THE HALL OF FAME BACK 5 YEARS!!! 5 years more removed from his steroid BS. “
In other words, he gets the clock reset, and hopes that the 2016 or 2017 baseball writers will forget about his supposed transgressions and vote him into the Hall of Fame.
In my reply to Carl, there is only one ray of hope – he returns and despite the PEDs he’s found, the 50-year-old arm isn’t up to the level it once had, and Clemens starts getting toasted by minor league hitting. OR even if not minor league hitting, if the Astros do sign him and he has a 10+ ERA. Sucking where he used to be dominant would probably eat Roger Clemens up. I don’t think he could take being a mediocre or worse pitcher.
I’m reminded of one of my favorite stories about Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson. Long after his playing career was over, he was a coach for the Atlanta Braves. One day, he was pitching batting practice and then first baseman Chris Chambliss (before his Yankee years) hit a ball into the second deck at old Atlanta Fulton County Coliseum. Gibson, who was a surly pitcher when he played and was not at all shy at throwing at hitters, whizzed the next pitch at Chambliss’ head. Getting up off the ground, Chambliss was a little upset, asking Gibson why he threw at him, and the Hall of Famer reportedly said “no one hits a ball that far off of me.”
Could you see Roger Clemens with a 7 ERA? He’d be beside himself. Perhaps that’s the only penalty he will ever face for taking steroids?

Speaking of performance enhancing drugs, a week or so ago, it was San Francisco Giants’ All-Star outfielder Melky Cabrera failing a drug test and got suspended by baseball for 50 games (and he reportedly tried to set up some fictitious website to prove his innocence.) Now, former Cy Young winner currently with the Oakland A’s Bertolo Colon, who has been a marvel of longevity at 39-years-of-age, has also tested positive for testosterone and will get his own 50 game suspension.
Victor Conte, the BALCO chief behind Barry Bonds and Marion Jones, among many others who have proven or are rumored of using PEDs, estimates that 50% of current players are using synthetic testosterone, and that the only players who will get caught are the dumb ones.
It certainly appears that baseball’s drug policy, especially after NL MVP Ryan Braun’s suspension was overturned due to handling of evidence, is a shambles and is stopping no one. And the man who should be most remembered for being in charge during the steroid era, Commissioner Bud “Head in the Sand” Selig is still saying that the drug policy is sound.
Cheating hits at the very integrity of sports. It hurts the players that don’t cheat; it can cause serious physical damage to the ones that do use them. It harms the sport; it causes the fans to turn away.
It certainly appears that the steroid era is far from over fans. Are any records, any accomplishments, worth marveling over anymore?

New on the Tony Scott suicide: ABC News erroniously reported that the 68-year-old director had inorperable brain cancer, which I picked up on and reported here yesterday. Like everyone else, I retract the comment (although I can’t really edit it) and apologize. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for my family member.

Work and family have conspired to keep me away from Evilopinion for the past couple of weeks. Not that I haven’t had evil opinions, just no time to get them posted, but hopefully things will be better, and I’ll be more regular from now on….

The big news today is that for the first time in its 80-year history, Augusta National Golf Club has admitted women in time for the new session in October. The home of the Masters, which has suffered protests every year for the last decade due to its all-male membership, invited former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore to become the first women in green jackets.
Of course, I’m no fan of the former Secretary of State, and can only imagine what the politics of Ms. Moore probably are, but it is a welcome first step and long past due. I just wonder if the ladies will face the difficulties women and minorities have faced when they broke racial/gender barriers.
Perhaps the most important question will only be answered in 5-10 years: are these ladies still members, and how many women are members in that time?

You know that Drew Peterson is getting off, don’t you? He is the guiltiest innocent man since O.J, Simpson, but like O.J., he will get off. He appears to be a highly functioning sociopath who knows enough of the system to have figured out how to get away with murder. The hearsay/circumstantial case is ephemeral and the prosecution seems to teeter on the verge of a mistrial every day.
I hate the thought that the smirking schmuck will be running around free, but I don’t see how he won’t be. Unless of course, Stacy Peterson’s (the missing fourth wife) body gets found one day.

Film director Tony Scott apparently committed suicide yesterday. Probably forever known as the brother of director Ripley, Tony Scott nevertheless did direct some major hits including “Top Gun,” “Enemy of the State,” “The Last Boy Scout:” “True Romance” and “Crimson Tide,” which led to a long relationship with actor Denzel Washington. “Tide” was followed by “Man On Fire,” the remake of “The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3” and “Unstoppable, all starred Mr. Washington.
What makes this even sadder is that he apparently had inoperable brain cancer, which is a diagnosis which is affecting a member of the Indignant Family, and I know how hard it is to deal with it. As someone who is in a very similar situation, I understand all of the emotions and I hope for the best for their family (and mine, for that matter).