Is Having Clemens At Their Pitching Camp The Best Decision?

Updating an earlier post, Roger Clemens decided to attend the Houston Astros' mini-camp that starts today. Apparently he's looking forward to speaking with the Astros' prospects, though there's no word on whether that will include tips on taking injections and denying published reports.

The Astros kept an open invitation for Clemens to participate in the minicamp, a precursor to spring training next month. Clemens planned to throw batting practice and talk to the Astros prospects.

"I'm doing everything I love to do. I mean, I'm not going anywhere," he said. "So I love to do these things, and the Astros and the other teams that I've worked with have always been real supportive. And like I said, if I can share any insight to these young kids at this level while they're trying to reach their goals, reach their dreams, it's all the more better."

Honestly, I am a bit surprised that the Astros invited Clemens to the camp. I understand that his presence is a huge draw, but it also seems to be something that could blow up in their face. Right now, the Clemens talk has died down, but with Andy Pettite prepared to corroborate Brian McNamee's statements next Monday the "Clemens did steroids" hype machine is about to get back into fullswing. Just in time for the Astros to have to field questions about why they invited him to the camp this year. To me, it just seems like a situation that is just waiting to become a problem for Houston, and one that could have been easily avoided.

Clemens Staining Nolan Ryan's Pitching Camp?

This coming Monday, the annual Nolan Ryan Elite Pitching Camp and Jeff Bagwell Elite Hitting Camp begin. In the past, Roger Clemens has assisted with the pitching camp, though due to the recent steroid use allegations it's unclear whether or not he'll be at the camp this year. However, the Astros have extended an invitation to him.

Roger Clemens is deciding whether to accept an invitation to appear at a Houston Astros pitching camp next week.

"He knows he is welcome and appreciates the Astros standing by him," Clemens' agent, Randy Hendricks, wrote Tuesday in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "He would love to be with the kids, but doesn't want to be a distraction. He will decide later what to do."

Well, that's nice. First the Astros sign Miguel Tejada, who was also listed in the Mitchell report, and now they're inviting The Rocket to come mentor the kids. I am somewhat surprised by this considering what Nolan Ryan had to say about the subject of steroids last May.

Ryan, 60, now a special assistant to the general manager of the Astros, said he thought steroid use has been a “big stain” on almost all sports.

“It probably has impacted baseball more than any other sport, mostly because of the history of the game,” said Ryan, who retired with 5,714 strikeouts and 324 wins.

“There were benchmarks that when approached were indicative of what kind of season a player was having. Steroids has changed that.”

Obviously Ryan believes that steroids have negatively impacted the game of baseball. Which is why I can't believe that he would let the Astros invite Clemens to a camp that bears his name. Unless he's just setting up Clemens so that he can put him in a headlock and punch him a few times. Now that's something that everyone would probably enjoy seeing.

If It Wasn't For Date Rape Brian McNamee Might Never Get Laid

When he made his statements about injecting Roger Clemens with steroids, Brian McNamee had to know that everything he's done or said would be scrutinized. Anything salacious and/or illegal would be sought out, and he would be hounded by questions and accusations. It might have taken a little while, but now we know that Mr. McNamee engaged in some questionable sexual conduct, and that that was the reason he was fired by the Yankess.

The records released Tuesday by the St. Petersburg police show McNamee was suspected of raping a woman he had met at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort in October 2001. The Yankees were in town to close out the regular season against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and many players and support staff were staying at the upscale resort.

McNamee was having sex with the woman in the resort's pool and didn't stop when confronted by security, the documents say. Police were notified. When they arrived, they found McNamee had helped the woman out of the pool and get dressed, according to the documents. Groggy and incoherent, she was taken to the hospital, where the documents said she was found to have GHB, the "date-rape drug," in her system.

The woman told detectives she could not remember details of the encounter in the pool. She said she did not give McNamee permission to have sex with her, and witnesses told detectives they had heard her saying "no" during the encounter, according to the documents.

Detectives later recovered some of her jewelry, an empty beer can and a water bottle containing GHB at the side of the pool.

Police interviewed McNamee hours later, according to the documents, and he denied having sex with the woman or knowing Yankees batting practice pitcher, Charles Wonsowicz, who was also in the pool. McNamee refused to submit a saliva sample for DNA analysis, the documents said.

Although the state attorney's office decided not to press charges, the accusations ended McNamee's career with the Yankees.

Clemens knew of the accusations, but hired McNamee as his personal trainer anyway. Though, it might have had something to do with the fact that McNamee would do anything to help someone.

According to the pitcher's lawsuit, McNamee told him that his actions were "actually a life-saving attempt.

Yep, saving someone with non-consentual sex. I knew I should have taken that CPR class!

The Mitchell Report

The Mitchell Report was released today, and it provides a pretty good insight into steroid(HGH, etc.) use in Major League Baseball. I'm not going to go into it too much in this post because I'm still reading through it. If you want more expansive coverage, then head on over to Deadspin.

One thing I did want to address was the inclusion of Roger Clemens in the report. It appears that Clemens has utilized "steroids" quite frequently since at least 1998. How will this information affect his legacy?

Personally, I don't believe that it will affect it much.

This is based primarily on the fact that Clemens is a pitcher, and the belief that the public sees a pitcher using steroids differently than they see a hitter that uses steroids. And remember, that the court of public opinion is often the harshest of all.

I think that when the public hears about a pitcher using performance enhancers a majority of them justify it by tying the use to rehabilitation and not gaining a competitive advantage. I feel that many people hear about a pitcher like "The Rocket" using HGH, or injecting Winstrol, and they, in their own minds, see it as a way for him to keep his arm fresh. Not make it more powerful. They don't feel that Clemens is doing it to get a leg-up, but rather that he's trying to prolong his career.

On the other hand, when they hear about hitters like Giambi, Palmeiro, Sheffield or Bonds using a performance enhancer they instantly envision homeruns flying out of ballparks. They feel that the hitters are gaining a competitive advantage, and that they're tainting the game. They will vilify the hitters for the rest of their lives, while giving the pitchers a "free pass" of sorts. All because of their perception of how performancing enhancers relate to each position.