Roger Clemens

Roger Clemens had to know it would come to this. He had to know his high-stakes game of chicken with steroid investigator George Mitchell and the steroid grandstanders in Congress would end with a perjury investigation and maybe a federal indictment. He had to know it because any first-year law school student could have told him so, and most assuredly his high-priced legal team laid out the whole thing right from the beginning. Which means this might have been part of the plan all along.

WASHINGTON -- He has become known for challenging baseball's mightiest players and officials about steroids, the man who memorably told superstar Roger Clemens on Wednesday: "It's hard to believe you, sir. I hate to say that. You're one of my heroes." Rep. Elijah E. Cummings said it pains him each time he sees another baseball superstar accused of using illegal performance-enhancing drugs. That's because Cummings, 57, a Baltimore Democrat, is a devout baseball fan. In some ways, he's still a kid - these days a heartbroken one - when it comes to the sport he played as a boy, wearing a jersey donated by a local business and using a broomstick because he couldn't afford a bat. A 12-year congressional veteran and trial attorney before that, Cummings sounded more like a fan than a House member when he spoke Friday about his encounter with Clemens.

Roger Clemens has played out his hand in the sad steroid saga that has - no doubt - permanently stained his great career. Now, all that's left for him to do is move on and hope he has done enough to erode the credibility of former personal trainer Brian McNamee and discourage the Justice Department from pursuing a perjury case. So why is attorney Rusty Hardin still on the offensive when there's nothing left to gain and so much still at risk? That's a question that's still rattling around in my head after reading his comments blasting California Congressman Henry Waxman, the chairman of the House committee that grilled Clemens and McNamee for nearly five hours Wednesday in Washington.

An ESPN poll yesterday showed that folks sitting in front of a computer were inclined to believe the former personal trainer-turned-accuser over the star pitcher by a 2-1 margin. So if those were the people that Roger Clemens was hoping to win over, he wasted a trip to Washington. Oily as he may be, Brian McNamee is simply believed by more people, in part because just about everything else he said about other players has been corroborated. But Clemens did get to make a couple of speeches, courtesy of some sympathetic Congress people, to a national television audience about not taking shortcuts to success and learning from his mother and grandmother the virtue of hard work, and maybe that made it all worth it for him. Another problem is that the one witness whom a couple of members of Congress, including House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform chairman Henry Waxman and Baltimore's Elijah Cummings, gave so much credence to wasn't even there.

WASHINGTON -- Before a packed congressional hearing room, Roger Clemens, one of the best pitchers in baseball history, fought to save his reputation yesterday as he angrily denied using steroids. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform heard nearly five hours of testimony about - and from - Clemens during a stormy hearing that ended with committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman slamming his gavel and ordering the pitcher not to interrupt his closing statements. Several times, Waxman had to remind Clemens' lawyers that only their client could speak, not them.

When pitching great Roger Clemens and his former trainer, Brian McNamee, answered questions from a congressional committee yesterday about Clemens' alleged steroid use, one of them wasn't telling the truth. That disconnect in credibility, rather than steroids or human growth hormone, was the theme of the nearly five-hour hearing. Congressmen spent much of the session picking at the stories of Clemens and McNamee. "Someone's lying in spectacular fashion," Rep. Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican, said in setting up the thrust of questioning.

Baseball Steroid hearings 10 A.M. [CSPAN3, ESPN, COMCAST SPORTSNET] This might get higher ratings than the last World Series. Roger Clemens and his former personal trainer, Brian McNamee, get to tell their versions of reality as it applies to the Rocket's alleged involvement with steroids and human growth hormone. Clemens said he never touched the stuff. McNamee said he personally injected Clemens. College basketball Maryland@Duke 7 P.M. [ESPN] The Terrapins (16-8, 6-3 Atlantic Coast Conference)

WASHINGTON -- Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee will face off at a hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform tomorrow without testimony from two other ballplayers or a steroid distributor who had also been scheduled to testify, the committee announced last night. Clemens, the seven-time Cy Young Award winner, says he never used performance-enhancing drugs. McNamee, the former trainer, says he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone. They will be joined by Charlie Scheeler, a Baltimore lawyer, who led the staff work on the investigation into the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball compiled by former Sen. George Mitchell.

Brian McNamee told congressional investigators he injected Roger Clemens' wife with human growth hormone as she prepared for a Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition photo session five years ago, the New York Daily News reported yesterday. McNamee testified during his Capitol Hill deposition on Thursday that he injected Debbie Clemens at her husband's direction, the Daily News said on its Web site, citing an unidentified Washington source. Clemens' attorneys did not directly address the accusation when asked.

WASHINGTON -- Attorneys for Roger Clemens' former personal trainer yesterday showed a House committee photos of vials, gauze and a needle that they allege was used to inject the seven-time Cy Young Award-winner with steroids. Attorney Richard Emery told reporters that the photos - one showed a half-crushed beer can said to contain spent needles - depict "hard evidence" from 2001 and 2002 showing that trainer Brian McNamee is telling the truth about steroids and Clemens is lying. "The issue is clear.