Roger Clemens

Clemens has been the focal point of several controversies. His reputation has always been that of a pitcher unafraid to throw close to batters. Clemens led his league in hit batsmen only once, in 1995, but he has been among the leaders in several other seasons. This tendency was more pronounced during his earlier career and has since tapered off. Still, Clemens' reputation precedes him. After the 2000 ALCS game against the Mariners where he knocked down future teammate Alex Rodriguez and then argued with him, Seattle Mariners manager Lou Piniella called Clemens a "headhunter."  His beaning earlier that year of Mike Piazza, followed by the notorious broken-bat incident in the 2000 World Series, cemented Clemens's surly, unapologetic image in the minds of many detractors. Clemens was ranked 9th all-time in hit batsmen after the 2007 season.  Clemens has also attracted controversy over the years for his outspoken comments, such as his complaints about having to carry his own luggage through an airport and his criticism of Fenway Park for being a subpar facility.  On April 4, 2006, Clemens made a racially insensitive remark when asked about the devotion of Japanese and South Korean fans during the World Baseball Classic: "None of the dry cleaners were open, they were all at the game, Japan and Korea." Toward the end of his career, his annual on-and-off "retirements" have revived a reputation for diva-ish behavior.

Clemens has also received criticism for receiving special treatment from the teams that sign him. While playing for Houston, Clemens was not obliged to travel with the team on road trips if he was not pitching. His 2007 contract with the New York Yankees has a "family plan" clause that stipulates that he not be required to go on road trips in which he is not scheduled to pitch and allows him to leave the team between starts to be with his family. These perks were publicly criticized by Yankee reliever Kyle Farnsworth. Most of Clemens' teammates, however, did not complain of such perks because of Clemens' success on the mound and valuable presence in the clubhouse. Yankee teammate Jason Giambi spoke for such players when he said, "I'd carry his bags for him, just as long as he is on the mound."

Accusations of steroid use

In José Canseco's book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big, Canseco alleges that Roger Clemens had expert knowledge about steroids and suggested that he probably used steroids, based on the improvement in his performance after leaving the Red Sox. While not addressing the allegations directly, Clemens was dismissive of Canseco, stating "I could care less" and "I've talked to some friends of his and I've teased them that when you're under house arrest and have ankle bracelets on, you have a lot of time to write a book." Clemens did admit to using the prescription pain reliever Vioxx before it was withdrawn from the market.

Clemens has faced steroid scrutiny when it was reported that pitcher Jason Grimsley had allegedly named him, as well as Andy Pettitte, as users of performance enhancing drugs. According to a 20-page search warrant affidavit signed by IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky, Grimsley told investigators he obtained amphetamines, anabolic steroids and human growth hormone from someone recommended to him by former Yankees trainer Brian McNamee. McNamee was a personal strength coach for Clemens and Pettitte.  McNamee was hired by Clemens in 1997, the year in which he had one of the best seasons of his career. At the time of the Grimsley revelations, McNamee denied knowledge of steroid use by Clemens and Pettitte.  Initial media reports alleged that Pettitte and Clemens were both named specifically on the Grimsley affidavit. These reports were shown to be false when the affidavit was released and made no mention of Clemens or Pettitte.

Clemens' name was mentioned 82 times in the Mitchell Report on steroid use in baseball.  In the report, McNamee stated that during the 1998, 2000, and 2001 baseball seasons, he injected Clemens with Winstrol (the drug for which Ben Johnson tested positive at the 1988 Summer Olympics). Clemens' attorney Rusty Hardin denied the claims, calling McNamee "a troubled and unreliable witness" who changed his story in an attempt to avoid criminal prosecution. He noted that Clemens has never tested positive in a steroid test. Former US Senator George Mitchell, who prepared the report, has stated that he relayed the allegations to each athlete implicated in the report and gave them a chance to respond before his findings were published.

On January 6, 2008, Clemens appeared on 60 Minutes to address the allegations. He told Mike Wallace that his longevity in baseball was due to "hard work" rather than illegal substances and denied all of McNamee's assertions that he injected Clemens with steroids, saying that they "never happened".  On January 7, Clemens filed a defamation lawsuit against McNamee, claiming that the former trainer lied after being threatened with prosecution. Clemens and Hardin held a press conference that day, and revealed a recording of a January 4 phone conversation between McNamee and Clemens. Hardin noted that McNamee did not refute Clemens' denials of steroid use during the conversation, and argued that this should be considered as evidence that Clemens was being truthful.  McNamee told SI.com that he testified truthfully regarding Clemens' steroid use, but that Clemens may be able to pass a polygraph test because "He might actually believe that he's telling the truth."

On January 28, 2008, Clemens' agent, Randy Hendricks, released an 18,000-word statistical report to rebut the allegations. The main assertions of the report are that Clemens' performance showed normal year to year variation for long-lasting MLB pitchers, and that his performance did not show any apparent benefit from the alleged steroid use.  However, according to four professors from the University of Pennsylvania, there was unusual variation in his statistics in his early 30s and 40s.  These professors concluded the report by saying that they were not sure if this was caused by performance enhancing drugs.  As stated by one of the professors who wrote the report, "The statistics do not point to innocence. We are not saying that the numbers show guilt, but we are saying that the statistics show that something unusual happened in Clemens' career as he entered his 30s."

Clemens and his lawyers demanded a day in court, and they got it: on February 13, 2008, Clemens appeared before a Congressional committee, along with Brian McNamee, and swore under oath that he did not take steroids; that he did not discuss HGH with McNamee; that he was not at a party at José Canseco's where steroids were the topic of conversation; that he was only injected with B-12 and lidocaine; and that he never told Andy Pettitte that he (Clemens) had taken HGH. This last point was in contradiction to testimony Pettite had given under oath on February 4, 2008, wherein Pettitte said he repeated to McNamee a conversation Pettitte had with Clemens. During this conversation, Pettitte said Clemens had told him that McNamee had injected Clemens with human growth hormone. Pettitte said McNamee reacted angrily, saying that Clemens "shouldn't have done that."

The bipartisan House committee in front of which Clemens appeared, citing seven apparent inconsistencies in Clemens' testimony, recommended that the Justice Department investigate whether Clemens lied under oath about using performance-enhancing drugs. In a letter sent out February 27 to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Henry Waxman and ranking Republican Tom Davis said Clemens' testimony that he "never used anabolic steroids or human growth hormone warrants further investigation. The case is currently in the hands of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

As a result of the Mitchell Report, Clemens has been asked to end his involvement with the Giff Nielsen Day of Golf for Kids charity golf tournament in Houston that he has hosted for four years. As well, his name has been removed from the Houston-based Roger Clemens Institute for Sports Medicine; it will be renamed the Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute.

After Washington prosecutors showed "a renewed interest in the case in the final months of 2008," a federal grand jury was convened in January 2009 to hear evidence of Clemens' possible perjury before Congress.

Adultery accusations

In April 2008, the New York Daily News reported on a possible long-term relationship between Clemens and country music star Mindy McCready that began when she was 15 years old. Clemens' attorney Rusty Hardin denied the affair and also stated that Clemens would be bringing a defamation suit regarding this false allegation. Clemens' attorney admitted that a relationship existed, but described McCready as a "close family friend". He also stated that McCready had traveled on Clemens' personal jet and that Clemens' wife was aware of the relationship.  However, when contacted by the Daily News, McCready said, "I cannot refute anything in the story."

On November 17, 2008, McCready spoke in more detail to Inside Edition about her affair with Clemens. She stated that their relationship lasted for more than a decade, and that it ended when Clemens refused to leave his wife to marry McCready. However, she denied that she was fifteen years old when it began, saying that they met when she was sixteen and the affair only became sexual "several years later".

A few days after the Daily News broke the story about the McCready relationship, they reported on another Clemens extramarital relationship, this time with Paulette Dean Daly, the now ex-wife of Pro-Golfer John Daly. Daly declined to elaborate on the nature of her relationship with the pitcher, but did not deny that it was romantic and included financial support.

In addition, there have been reports of at least three other relationships Clemens had with women. On April 29, the New York Post reported that Clemens had relationships with at least two other women. One, a former bartender in Manhattan, refused comment on the story while the other, a woman from Tampa, could not be found. On May 2, the Daily News reported a stripper in Detroit called a local radio station to say she had an affair with Clemens. He also gave tickets to baseball games, jewelry, and trips to women he was wooing.

While Juiced is more noted for allegations of substance abuse, Canseco also takes two paragraphs to extol Clemens' apparent marital integrity, saying that Clemens was "one of the very few baseball players I know who never cheated on his wife."