The Clemens Hearings: Who Do You Trust?

Many have wondered how Roger Clemens, one of the winningest pitchers in Major League Baseball history with 351 victories, was able to pitch at a high level into his mid-40s. After testifying in front of a congressional panel Wednesday, we're still wondering.

Clemens, who was cited in the Mitchell Report on steroid use in baseball, told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform under oath that he had never used performance-enhancing drugs.

His former personal trainer Brian McNamee (who was sitting a few feet from Clemens) and former New York Yankees teammate Andy Pettite (who wasn't involved in the hearing, but did issue a statement) begged to differ. Both said that Clemens was injected with human growth hormone (HGH) and other performance-enhancers.

This spectacle was televised live on several cable networks and led the network evening news, something you wouldn't get for a hearing on, let's say, bean futures. Considering the contradictory nature of the testimony, wouldn't an appearance on Dr. Phil or The Oprah Winfrey Show have been more appropriate?

The testimony also included descriptions by McNamee of how he injected HGH into Clemens' buttocks, as well as his wife Debbie (which Clemens claimed he knew nothing about), in preparation for a feature in Sports Illustrated's 2003 swimsuit issue. Then there was also talk about what Clemens' nanny heard. At least we were spared details about the Clemens' sex life.

In the end, for all the partisan questioning (Democrats on the committee railing against President Bush's buddy Clemens, Republicans berating McNamee) and finger-pointing, the matter of who's telling the truth remains unresolved. It is now up to the Justice Department to decide who, if anybody, is facing major prison time for lying under oath.

But was this hearing really necessary? Congressman Henry Waxman, the Democrat from California who chaired the committee, told the New York Times that it never should have happened, and that Clemens and his attorney were the ones pushing for it.

Why is Congress (if you'll pardon the expression) injecting itself into an issue that Major League Baseball should have addressed years ago? It's not as if they don't have more important things to do, such as protecting the American people from President Bush's security excesses, or hold more hearings on the latest school shooting, this one at Northern Illinois University which left five dead including the shooter.

In the next few years, Clemens, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds will all be eligible for induction into baseball's Hall of Fame. Since those names and others have been accused of using performance-enhancing drugs, voters will be extremely reluctant to give them the keys to immortailty. Which means only one thing: Bert Blyleven finally has a shot at the Hall.