Clemens is Not Out of the Woods

The contents of the affidavit that Jason Grimsley made in 2006 were revealed yesterday, and curiously the names of Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte were not in it. Nor were a few other names in the Mitchell Report, like Miguel Tejada, Brian Roberts or Jay Gibbons. (Grimsley did mention such players as Sammy Sosa, Allen Watson and Pete Incaviglia.)

An article in the Los Angeles Times in 2006 said that Clemens and Pettitte were a part of it, and their names were redacted out of it. The unsealing of the document proves they were not named in it, and the Times is planning on running an apology in the paper tomorrow about it.

Listening to Clemens' lawyer, Rusty Hardin, you'd think this makes Clemens an innocent man who has finally been let off the hook.

"When this grossly inaccurate story broke in October 2006, Roger said it was untrue and the Los Angeles Times chose not to believe him. As the record now clearly proves, Roger was telling the truth then, just as he continues to tell the truth today. Roger Clemens did not take steroids, and anybody who says he did had better start looking for a hell of a good lawyer."

Clemens is far from out of the woods. All the Grimsley affidavit proves is that Grimsley either didn't supply or witness Clemens taking steroids. He's still up to his neck in trouble with Brian McNamee's testimony to the Mitchell commission, and the fact that he wasn't in the Grimsley affidavit sure doesn't make him an innocent man. Let's see Clemens testify before Congress next year and take an oath that he never took performance-enhancing drugs. Otherwise, all that saber-rattling from him and his lawyer is just a lot of empty talk.