Not Exactly A Home Run

Roger Clemens continues to pay the cost for waiting so long to speak up about the accusations in the Mitchell Report – and for being less than direct in getting his story out. Right after the report was released, Andy Pettitte went a long way toward taking himself out of the spotlight by getting out there right away with what seemed like a reasonable explanation for his inclusion in the report. Clemens remained silent, on advice of his attorney.

And the Clemens story just gets “curiouser and curiouser,” doesn’t it? I heard what Clemens attorney’, Rusty Hardin, said as the explanation for why he wanted Roger to wait so long, but I didn’t really understand it. Maybe that was the point. What info did they need to gather, anyway? I would think he either did it or he didn’t. If he didn’t, he should have said so – soon and often.

At his news conference, Roger sounded mad, which is appropriate, but he seemed to be mad at the fans, as well as the sports writers. Don’t the fans and sports writers make up the audience he needs to win over? Clemens said he’s amazed he wasn’t given the “benefit of the doubt.” Well, he might have gotten it if he’d actually come out right away and said: “That’s a damned lie! I never, never took steroids or human growth hormone!” And what’s with all the whining? So you’re in a tough spot, Roger. You also got millions of dollars for “working your butt off.” We might still give you the benefit of the doubt, but we’re not going to feel sorry for you.

It would have been a very different story if Clemens had gotten out there early, said he didn’t do it, and stuck with that same message. Did you see him on 60 Minutes? And what happened to the Big, Bad Mike Wallace. (Coincidentally, apparently a pal of Clemens.) The term is “follow-up questions,” Mike. Where were yours?

On that same program, if you look at it from a pure communications standpoint, you could argue that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf did a better job of explaining his relationship to Benazir Bhutto and his actions before and after her assassination. Overall, he sounded very reasonable and straightforward. (One misstep, General: Don’t blame the victim. You got led into saying it was Bhutto’s own fault for getting shot. Oops! )