Roger Clemens faces purjury

Roger Clemens, former all-star pitcher, has been indicted for allegedly lying to a congressional hearing about steroid use. The perjury indictment, which caries criminal ramifications, marks the latest in a series of high-profile cases wherein some of the baseball’s best players have been wracked by substance scandals.

The indictment is a result of Clemens apparently lying to lawmakers while under oath in 2008 in 15 different statement. The six-count indictment includes Clemens denying he had used performance-enhancing steroids and human growth hormones.

Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young award winner as the best pitcher in baseball, contradicted testimony given by his trainer during the 2008 hearings.

Trainer Brian McNamee had said that he personally injected the athlete at least 12 times with hormones and steroids between 1998 and 2001. McNamee reiterated the statements to federal agents, high-profile investigator George Mitchell and the congressional panel.

Clemens has denied those claims, and he said so while under oath: “I couldn’t tell you the first thing about it,” he said during testimony. “I never used steroids, never performance-enhancing steroids.”

Clemens’ lawyer, Rusty Hardin, did not immediately comment on the charges.

According to former Rep. Tom Davis, the charges result from Clemens’ own unnecessary decision to appear at the hearing two years ago.

“Clemens was not under subpoena. He came voluntarily. He wanted to come to the committee and clear his name,” Davis told The Associated Press.

“And I sat there in the office with (committee chairman) Henry Waxman and said, ‘Whatever you do, don’t lie.”‘

Davis was the highest-ranked Republican on the panel at the time of Clemens’ appearance.

Baseball heroes like Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGwire and slugger Barry Bonds, to name a few, have been implicated in the ongoing steroid scandal. Jose Canseco famously wrote about his own steroid use in his book “Juiced.”

Clemens was a starting Major League Baseball pitcher for 23 years. He wracked up 4,672 with strikeouts with the Boston Red Sox, the Jays, the Yankees and the Houston Astros.

He also notched 354 wins and finished his last season with a lifetime earned run average of 3.12. Clemens turns 48 later this month.

The first public hints of Clemens’ substance use came to light when he was cited 82 times by the Mitchell Report, which was MLB’s official probe into performance-enhancing substances. In total, 85 players were named in the 409-page report.

But shortly after the Mitchell report was released, Clemens denied the claims that he had taken the substances.

“I want to state clearly and without qualification: I did not take steroids, human growth hormone or any other banned substances at any time in my baseball career or, in fact, my entire life,” he said at the time.

“Those substances represent a dangerous and destructive shortcut that no athlete should ever take.”

No date has been given for Clemens’ trial, but it is believed that U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton will preside over the case. Walton gained fame for presiding over the case of Lewis (Scooter) Libby, Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff.

What do you think about this latest development and do you believe players who are proven to use steroids should have their records not included for future comparisons.

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