Imagine Joe Montana or Troy Aikman having the banners pulled down and the rings confiscated. Picture Roger Clemens being hounded by steroid allegations.Though minorities – Black folks in particular – have turned a deaf ear to the game of baseball, the game has a storied history. And in that history, Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson are one, two and three in strikeouts (K) with 5,714 (Ryan), 4,672 (Clemens) and 4,616 (Johnson).
The Cy Young Award is equivalent to the Most Valuable Player Award of other sports for pitchers. No one has more than Clemens (seven), who was called “Rocket” for the 98-mile per-hour fastball he would often throw.
So when you see one of the greats of the game, someone who once struck out 18 batters in a single game (Aug. 20, 1998, against Kansas City) in this situation, you want to know the truth.
Clemens has been fighting back against allegations by his former personal trainer, Brian McNamee, who said he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormones on more than one occasion. They both had to testify at a hearing of a House Committee last week.
Clemens’ former teammate, New York Yankee right-hander Andy Pettite, even went so far as telling the media that Clemens once talked to him about using performance enhancing drugs in 2004, the year Clemens won his last Cy Young.
Yes, Clemens is looked at as a legend. But instead of us seeing that 18K performance in Toronto, or the 3.12 career earned-run average (ERA) or the Hall of Fame numbers, we will always want to know: Was it true? Was he cheating?
Picture Michael Jordan in the courtroom, shame on his face. Joe Montana on the stand, trying to stick to his guns. Or maybe even Roger Clemens testifying before Congress trying to prove his innocence.