BASEBALL and STEROIDSpage 2 of 2 ( go to page 1 )

by Jonathan Sarshik

If the government indicts Clemens, Canseco’s association with the notorious pitcher may prove almost as important as the testimony of McNamee and Pettitte.  Canseco, a teammate of Clemens on three separate occasions, submitted an affidavit to the House Committee in which he denied that Clemens had attended his barbecue.  He also claimed to have no knowledge of whether Clemens used PEDs.  However, in his new book, Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars, and the Battle to Save Baseball, Canseco writes, "I admitted to Mike [Wallace] that I had never seen Clemens shoot up, but that I had my suspicions.  All those Cy Young awards.  The way he was throwing, hard and fast and steady, without seeming to break a sweat.  The way he seemed to be getting stronger as he got older. What else could it be? Good genes?  Hell, while most of Clemens's peers were sitting on porches, in rocking chairs, with old dogs at their feet, he was still pitching rockets."  While Canseco again repeats that he is unsure whether Clemens in fact used performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), the book does reveal that Clemens made references to them in Canseco’s presence.

Vindicated certainly does not spare Clemens.  But it focuses more on Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who Canseco claims he introduced to Max, a “known supplier of steroids.”  Canseco states that Max later called him to say that Rodriguez had “signed on.”   Although his steroids claims have not been proven false, his critics argue that Canseco is an opportunist trying to remain in the public eye and make some money in the process.  Canseco’s Nightline interview on March 27th will do nothing to dispel these doubts – he is already backpedaling from the accusations he leveled against Clemens in Vindicated.  "If I were an investigator and I had to go on pure evidence that I have on Roger Clemens ... then I would say, ‘No,'" Canseco states.  "So you don't believe he did?" interviewer Martin Bashir asks.  "No," Canseco responds.

Another avenue investigators have begun to pursue is Clemens’ connection to a Houston-area clinic owned by Shaun Kelley.  A former employee of the fitness center claims he was contacted by Internal Revenue Service agents and asked whether he had any knowledge of whether the clinic supplied Clemens with PEDs.

Jeff Novitzky, the IRS Special Agent who led the investigation of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO), is also coordinating the investigation of the Houston clinic.  In the course of investigating Barry Bonds’ connection to BALCO, Novitzky rummaged through the facility’s trash for evidence and joined the slugger’s gym.  Novitzky’s aggressive tactics, which led some to claim he had a vendetta against Bonds, paid off when a search of the home of Bonds’ trainer, Greg Anderson, produced evidence linking Bonds and other client athletes to steroids.  Novitzky later secured confessions from McNamee and former New York Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski, who also supplied PEDs to players.

If an ESPN online poll is any indication of how a jury of his peers might find, Clemens should be concerned.  Sixty-eight percent of respondents thought Clemens should be indicted and seventy-eight percent of respondents said they believed McNamee more than Clemens.  The Rocket can only hope to get the win in a court of law that he was denied in the court of public opinion.