Outside the main entrance of the Rayburn House Office Building, two statues – “Spirit of Justice” and “Majesty of Law” – stand as sentinels.
Inside Hearing Room 2154 this morning, truth, steroids, justice, human growth hormone, law and the national pastime will be examined. The show starts at 8 a.m. MST.
Baseball is back on Capitol Hill.
Seems rather commonplace.
In Washington, the greatest pitcher of all time, arguably, will testify in front of a congressional committee.
In San Francisco, the greatest home run hitter in history, arguably, awaits trial.
Seems rather un-American.
What happened to the game? Performance-enhancing drugs happened.
And the federal government investigates.
Roger Clemens, winner of 354 games and seven Cy Young Awards, claims he did not take steroids or human growth hormone.
Barry Bonds, hitter of 762 home runs and recipient of seven MVP awards, claims he did not take steroids or human growth hormone.
Strikingly familiar, except for one significant difference. Clemens’ former friend and trainer said he injected Clemens with the PEDs. Bonds’ former friend and trainer went to jail instead of saying anything.
Another sad episode in a sick saga.
We will watch the hearings, and we will make our own determinations.
Just as we did when other “great” baseball players spoke in front of Congress — one declining to discuss the past, another vehemently denying he ever took steroids and a third acting as if he didn’t understand English. The first has retreated into seclusion, the second tested positive for drugs, and the third returned to baseball and can speak English again.
Today Brian McNamee, Clemens’ ex-personal trainer, will assert that he stuck needles containing steroids and HGH into Clemens.
Or he will admit he lied.
Clemens will counter that he took only B-12 and lidocaine shots.
Or he will admit he lied.
Don’t expect any confessions.
We will just hear more of the same charges and counterattacks, with twists and spins. And we will hear the words from the deposition Andy Pettitte, Clemens’ teammate, gave to the committee before asking that he not be subjected to appearing publicly today. Pettitte reportedly asked McNamee why he wasn’t given the same injections as Clemens. “Because it’s illegal,” McNamee is supposed to have replied.
There won’t be a Watergate hearing moment (“Conversations were taped!”). There will be softball questions and hardball questions, and a couple of curves, and the 41 committee members will sort through the testimony, ask Clemens for autographs and photographs, send McNamee away, then offer a recommendation to the justice department.
Clemens says this is not his first trip to D.C. It’s not his first rodeo, either.
Clemens and McNamee will meet once more in court in several months, and soon enough Bonds will have his day(s) in court.
Meanwhile, pitchers and catchers report, and spring training will commence. And there will be a new season, and we’ll wonder about the Rockies and the Red Sox.
I don’t really care about Clemens and Bonds and even less about Greg Anderson, Bonds’ trainer, and McNamee, a pair of hangers-on who hitched themselves to baseballers.
Anderson and McNamee helped Clemens and Bonds reconstruct their bodies, using whatever methods, and Clemens and Bonds entertained and set records.
Who I really do care about are the kids. At the Super Bowl a hostess whose husband is a bright minor-league prospect provided more insight than the House Oversight Committee will get from Clemens and McNamee.
“My husband considered using steroids. He saw how much money there is to be made and how famous major-league players can become. There are lots of players around him who did the drugs. But when it came down to it, he wanted to do it on his terms, naturally, and he will.”
The player will make it to The Show this season.
Clemens and Bonds have made it to The Circus, at Congress and in court. Will the “Spirit of Justice” and the “Majesty of Law” prevail in hearing room 2154? Not very likely.
Woody Paige: 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com
