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Will Clemens Final Win in Court Make Him Hall Of Fame Worthy?

 

The Verdict of Roger Clemens yesterday resulted in one more day in the sun for the former 7 time Cy Young Award Winner. As the verdict was announced, the notoriously strong Clemens showed a great deal of emotion as he was found not guilty on all charges that he lied to congress, in denying he used performance enhancing drugs. 

Clemens case is the most recent case to finally reach its conclusion. His trial follows others such as Barry Bonds who was guilty on one count of obstruction of justice and Mark McGwire, who admitted to taking steroids. Perhaps the biggest reason for the not guilty verdict in the Clemens case was due to the inconsistent testimony of former long time strength coach Brian McNamee. McNamee stated that he injected Clemens with steroids in 1998, 2000 and 2001 and with HGH in 2000. His evidence included needles that indeed did contain Clemens DNA and was stored in a Miller Lite beer can. Although he did have the evidence presently, the defense called the evidence "manipulated by McNamee. In the end, McNamee was not truly honest and had far too many disagreements over details with Clemens. 

Now that Clemens name is technically not tampered after a long case that started in 2008, the next big question is whether Clemens will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Based on his numbers and resume alone , Clemens is as worthy of induction as nearly anyone. His career with the Red Sox, Yankees, BlueJays, and Astros left him with 354 wins, a 3.12 ERA, and 4,672 strikeouts, the third-most all time. He was an 11-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion. He also won seven Cy Young Awards during his career, the most of any pitcher in Major League Baseball history. However the MLB has been very hesitant to vote in players such as Clemens and has been seen in the careers of Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and Rafael Palmeiro. 

As great as it is for Clemens to get his named cleared of any convictions Clemens knows that a lot of damage has been done to affect his chances. Clemens himself told Congress at the 2008 hearing that "no matter what we discuss here today, I'm never going to have my name restored."Regardless of the verdict, peoples various opinions on the matter will always remain. It is so difficult to imagine a player of "The Rocket's" caliber not being a part of the Hall of Fame eventually. But the fact remains that although Clemens career was stellar, it also hurt the game of baseball. With that being said I ask you, do you think that Clemens belongs in the Hall of Fame? Let us know

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Good Luck Roger,

Aaron Granoff

Account Manager