Does Acquittal Mean Clemens Heading For Hall?

After being acquitted by a jury, Roger Clemens carries no official taint of steroid use. But will his acquittal make a difference to Hall of Fame voters?

Roger Clemens Gets Animated...

Roger Clemens Roundup: Not Guilty, And Not Going Away

Roger Clemens is not guilty of lying to Congress. Whew, glad that's ov ... aw, dang it.

Roger Clemens Not Guilty On All Charges

Former major league pitcher Roger Clemens has been found not guilty on all charges in his federal perjury trial. NBC Sports:

Former major league pitcher Roger Clemens was found not guilty Monday on all charges of lying to Congress in 2008, the latest blow to the government’s prosecution of athletes for allegedly using performance-enhancing substances.

Jurors had resumed deliberations Monday morning after a four-day break.

Clemens, who won 354 games in the major leagues and was seemingly headed to a Hall of Fame induction, perhaps as early as next year, instead found himself on trial in federal court on perjury charges for allegedly lying about his use of illegal steroids or human-growth hormones.

This year’s trial was actually the second such event; a mistrial was declared last year because of supposed mistakes prosecutors made in presenting their case.

Clemens’ former trainer Brian McNamee and former teammate Andy Pettitte testified in the trial, and frankly, it was a mess — so dull that jurors were caught falling asleep during the proceedings.

Roger Clemens Trial: Jury Begins Deliberations

After 33 days of the Roger Clemens federal perjury trial and over four hours of closing arguments, the jury retired to begin deliberations on Tuesday.

The prosecution painted a picture of a Roger Clemens who knew exactly what he was doing when he told members of Congress in 2008 that he never used steroids or human-growth hormone.

From MLB.com:

"One of baseball's most storied pitchers of all time ... had to keep his secret safe. Roger Clemens created a cover story," Guerrero said, adding, "Someone [else] was going to be the fall guy, not Roger Clemens."

The defense attacked the character of accuser and star witness Brian McNamee throughout most of the trial, and they continued to do so in the closing arguments.

"This wasn't advice (that Clemens gave to Andy Pettitte). This wasn't some kind of sit-down conversation. This wasn't some kind of confession. Hogwash. Hogwash. ... The government can't prove their case so they do things like this. It's not fair. It's not right. But that's why you're here," Attanasio said.

The jury now has to deliberate and reach a decision, which could take a while.

By way of reference, the jury deciding Barry Bonds' federal trial heard 11 days of testimony and deliberated for three days and four hours. On the other hand, the jury in the O.J. Simpson double-murder trial heard more than eight months of testimony and returned a verdict after four hours of deliberations.

Could be a day, could be a week. But the active part of the Roger Clemens trial is now over.

Clemens Trial: Government Rests Case In 7th Week

In the Roger Clemens perjury trial, the Justice Department has finally, mercifully, rested its case:

The government called the last of its 24 witnesses Tuesday, concluding 19 days of testimony. The last witness was a toxicologist from the FBI who testified about the various forms of vitamin B12.

Including jury selection, the trial is now in its seventh week. It was originally expected to take four to six weeks.

Clemens' lawyers say they will need about two weeks to call their witnesses.

Here's what I want to know ... Who's the genius who was doing the original expecting? Because that dude was way, way off.

Maybe that same guy can estimate how much money our government's going to spend on this trial. Once we've got that figure, we can add 50 percent and we'll probably have a good idea.

People ask me why all the fuss. Well, there should be some penalty for lying to Congress, and perhaps a big trial like this one will serve as a deterrent. Especially if Clemens loses.

Of course, we'd all be better served by a system that penalized Congressmen for lying. But that's too much to hope for.

Roger Clemens Trial: Yankees GM Brian Cashman Testifies

There's a pretty good chance you aren't interested in the Roger Clemens trial. Well, why did you click on the link, dummy? It's not like I titled it "15 of the Hottest Wives in Baseball."

But if there were ever a day to be interested in the Roger Clemens trial, it would be Thursday, when Yankees general manager Brian Cashman testified. Cashman is still a working GM who affects the game of baseball to this very day. Surely he could make this interesting, right?

"Do you know what the baseball Hall of Fame is," Durham asks. Cashman says, "It's the highest honor you can receive." Is Clemens in? "No."

— Jim Baumbach (@jimbaumbach) May 10, 2012

Oh, man.

That's the sort of questioning that Cashman underwent for almost five hours, not including a break for lunch.

Why is it harder to compete when a player grows older? "Your body becomes older," Cashman said.

— Jim Baumbach (@jimbaumbach) May 10, 2012

There were questions about Clemens' character, his statistics, and exhibits about Brian McNamee, the former Yankees strength and conditioning coach testifying against Clemens. The real meat of the testimony had to do with McNamee's accusation that Cashman said he "didn't care what the players were taking" as long as it didn't come back to him. To which Cashman replied ...

Cashman agrees he's been infuriated ever since he heard that. "Absolutely never happened."

— Jim Baumbach (@jimbaumbach) May 10, 2012

If you want the full rundown, check out Jim Baumbach's fantastic Twitter feed. There was a lot of testimony. Most of it as interesting as the testimony in a perjury trial. You were warned.

Roger Clemens Trial: Andy Pettitte 'Could Have Misunderstood' Clemens

Andy Pettitte, one-time teammate and long-time friend of Roger Clemens, continued his testimony at Clemens’ perjury trial on Wednesday morning.

Pettitte's Wednesday testimony, under cross-examination from defense attorney Mike Attanasio, could be damaging to the prosecution’s case:

When Attanasio asked Pettitte if he might have misunderstood Clemens in that conversation, Pettitte responded, "I could have."

And, in the moment of the morning, Attanasio asked Pettitte whether it was "50-50" that Pettitte correctly understood his conversation from over 12 years ago.

"I’d say that’s fair," Pettitte said.

In the government’s redirect questioning, U.S. Assistant Attorney Steven Durham asked Pettitte whether he remembered other details of that day’s conversation, and Pettitte said he hadn’t.

Clemens’ long-standing claim is that Pettitte “misremembered” the conversations the two of them supposedly had on this issue. This testimony could bolster Clemens’ claim.

The trial is expected to continue for several weeks. Pettitte, meanwhile, will continue his attempt to return to the Yankees with more minor-league starts.

Roger Clemens Trial: Andy Pettitte Testifies About Clemens' HGH Use

Andy Pettitte is busy getting ready to return to the New York Yankees with some minor-league starts.

In between those starts, he has another assignment that likely isn’t as pleasant — testifying in the federal perjury trial of his friend and former teammate Roger Clemens.

Today, Pettitte testified that Clemens admitted to HGH use in 1999:

In testimony on Tuesday, Pettitte told jurors that Clemens had spoken to him about drug use.

“Clemens mentioned that he had taken human growth hormone, it could help with recovery and that’s all I really remember about the conversation,” he testified.

Under questioning by prosecutor Steven Durham, Pettitte said the conversation occurred during a workout in 1999 with McNamee at Clemens’ home in Houston. Pettitte, who gave brief answers, said he had not heard of human growth hormone prior to that conversation. He said he later brought the subject up with their trainer, possibly the same day.

Pettitte himself admitted, years after the fact, to using HGH himself in 2002 and 2004, though that is not at issue in this trial, which is expected to last for several more weeks.

Now go watch some baseball highlights or something. Writing and thinking about legal proceedings is no fun for a sports fan, or sportswriter.

Roger Clemens Trial: Andy Pettitte Testimony Limited

Roger Clemens is on trial for perjury, which is absolutely thrilling for the three people who just couldn't get enough of the Barry Bonds trial. Actually, Clemens has been on trial for a while, but the original trial ended in mistrial. And now that a jury has been selected, District Judge Reggie Walton is setting the parameters for what is and what is not allowed. One of the things that will be limited is Andy Pettitte's testimony:

Pettitte is expected to say that he used HGH and that he had conversations with Clemens about HGH, but the judge ruled that Pettitte can't identify McNamee as a supplier because the jury might try to connect the dots and conclude that McNamee must have also supplied Clemens -- a case of "classic guilt by association," one of Clemens' lawyers said.

You might know Pettitte as a minor-league prospect, but it turns out he was pretty chummy back in the day. From Jon Heyman:

Walton is suggesting Clemens, an a (sic) great pitcher but fairly apparent scoundrel, shouldn't be tainted by his ties to Pettitte, a nice, religious fellow whose biggest failing as a Yankee was following Clemens around like a puppy dog in the Yankees clubhouse and doing whatever Clemens did.

Heyman then goes on to use "basically honorable" as a modifier for "Pettitte", which reminds me of the toast my father-in-law gave at my wedding. I'm still not sure if it's offensive or refreshing to read such a positive description of an admitted HGH user.

Roger Clemens Perjury Trial: Jury Selection Begins After July Mistrial

Following a mistrial in Roger Clemens' perjury trial, the re-trial begins on April 16 with jury selection. We take an initial look at Judge Walton's plans to keep both sides on the straight and narrow.