Roger Clemens's long-awaited appearance on "60 Minutes" aired last night and viewers will draw their own conclusions. These are mine:
1. Clemens looks dirty. Given lack of a positive test (for steroids or human growth hormone), no paper trail, and the testimony of a single witness most of us have never met, it's an unfair conclusion, but that's what I came away with. The alternative simply makes no sense and history tells us that those alleged to be using performance enhancers almost always wind up being cheaters.
2. The must-see TV event will come Jan. 16 when (if) Clemens and his former personal trainer, Brian McNamee, sit side-by-side answering questions before Congress. Putting out a statement through your lawyer and talking to "60 Minutes" is one thing, speaking under oath to Congress is far different.
3. Mike Wallace is clearly in the twilight of his great career (the CBS legend will be 90 in May). Wallace is a Friend of Roger, was handpicked by the Rocket for the interview, and several times let Clemens off the hook when he could have swooped in for the killer question.
Clearly, Clemens is sticking with his game plan. After the Mitchell Report broke, the Rocket no doubt met with his attorneys and agents (the redoubtable Hendricks brothers) and mapped out a campaign to restore his image. There was an initial statement of innocence from his lawyer, then the infamous Christmas home video, and now the use of "60 Minutes" to spread the message (though still no lawsuit, to satisfy Curt Schilling). Clemens will answer questions at a news conference in Houston today.
The campaign may backfire. Clemens's onslaught basically dared the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to call him as a witness and it'll be interesting to see if the Rocket can stay on message in front of Congress. Perjury is a federal offense. If Clemens and McNamee stick to their stories, one of them has to be lying before Congress.
And according to Newsday, it's only a matter of time before Internal Revenue Service agent Jeff Novitzky - who has dogged Barry Bonds and brought down Marion Jones - gets on the Clemens case.
By now it's pretty obvious Clemens is not going to roll over, admit guilt, and ask forgiveness. Did we expect anything different? The Rocket was stubborn when he pitched here (192 wins, three Cy Youngs) and didn't change when he moved to the Blue Jays, Yankees, and Astros. He was never one to admit flaws or mistakes and he's not going to start now that his reputation has been trashed by McNamee's accusations.
"Totally false," was his response to most of the damning passages Wallace read from the Mitchell transcript. The Rocket challenged anyone to come forward who supplied syringes and drugs. Clemens said he was angry. "You'd think I'd get an inch of respect," he said. The Rocket told Wallace, "I don't know if I can defend myself, I think people - a lot of people have already made their decisions."
Wallace got Clemens to soften the stance he took on his self-made video. In the video Clemens stated "I did not provide Brian McNamee with any drugs to inject into my body." On "60 Minutes" Clemens admitted that McNamee injected him with "Lidocaine and B-12." He also said he gulped anti-inflammatory Vioxx pills "like it was Skittles."
Wallace let Clemens get off easy regarding Andy Pettitte. Pettitte is Clemens's former training partner and teammate. They share the same agents. Pettitte fessed up to McNamee's charges. Pettitte said the personal trainer was telling the truth about him in the Mitchell Report. So why would McNamee tell the truth about Pettitte and lie about Clemens?
"Andy's case is totally . . . is, is totally separate," was Clemens's answer. And Wallace let it go at that.
Asked what McNamee gained by lying, the best Clemens could do was, "Evidently not going to jail."
In fact, "not going to jail" was McNamee's reason for telling the truth (McNamee cooperated with Mitchell as part of a deal to avoid federal prosecution). McNamee faces going to jail only if he lied to Mitchell. Wallace then asked Clemens why McNamee would go to jail and the Rocket responded, "Well, I think he's been buying and movin' steroids."
Wallace then failed to ask a follow-up.
Now we wait to hear from McNamee's attorney, who threatened to sue Clemens if defamatory statements were made on "60 Minutes" (Newsday reported McNamee and Clemens spoke over the phone Friday night for an hour). Trashing McNamee is certainly in Clemens's best interests. The Rocket's body of work includes 354 wins and seven Cy Young Awards and a lot of fans now think he's a cheater . . . based solely on McNamee's charges.
"And that's our country, isn't it?" Clemens asked Wallace. "Guilty before innocent. That's the way our country works now."
Clemens said he did not talk to Mitchell on the advice of his counsel. He said he'd take a lie detector test. He said, "my body never changed" (that is patently not true) and he said that the ultimate penalty for those who take steroids would be "a self-inflicted penalty. They break down quick. It's a quick fix. They're in and out of the game."
He said he never would play baseball again. Sounding like Mark McGwire, Clemens said, "I want to slide off and just be a citizen."
"I didn't play my career to get fame or go to the Hall of Fame or worry about all that . . . "
That's not true. The Hall of Fame means a lot to every baseball player. Clemens knows his place in baseball history is under siege. That's why he's on the attack. And I wish I could say I believe him. I wish I could say he's being framed by a shady, wannabe, no-good personal trainer.
It's just that the argument makes no sense. And we've heard too many lies from those who came before and wound up guilty as charged.
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. His e-mail address is dshaughnessy@globe.com.
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