Credibility Issues For "Mac"

From the New York Times:

Brian McNamee told federal authorities last summer that Roger Clemens developed an abscess on his buttocks about the same time that McNamee said he was giving him steroid injections during the 1998 season, according to a lawyer with knowledge of details of the case.

But did Clemens have an abscess in 1998? Three members of the Blue Jays’ organization that season, including one of the team’s two trainers, said in recent interviews that they did not recall any abscess associated with Clemens that year.

In addition, Clemens’s lawyer, Rusty Hardin, said Friday that McNamee had made the same assertion about an abscess to Hardin’s investigators Dec. 12. He said they followed up by contacting both Blue Jays trainers from that season, neither of whom backed McNamee’s account.

First I want to say that part of me does believe Roger Clemens cheated, however I do still have my doubts, primarily because of McNamee, and his lack of credibility. Yes, I know he told the truth about Pettitte, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s telling the truth about Clemens. It has already been shown that he’s a liar, when it was reported that he lied to police during the investigation of a rape in 2001.

Don't you think one of his trainers would have noticed if Clemens had an abscess? Then there was this from KHOU TV in Houston, about Dr. Fran Pirozzolo, a sports psychology who worked for the Yankees from 1996-2002. His locker was also apparently next to Roger’s for three seasons.

“I was with him a lot and I never saw anything illicit take place,” Pirozzolo said.

He said he used to play golf and workout with Clemens. He even took injections of B-12 and painkiller at the same time as him.

But he never saw anything involving steroids.

“Because of our close relationship, I would think he would have shared that with me, like some young players did,” said Pirozzolo. “And I would always tell them no.”

“Pirozzolo maintains when Pettitte says he took human growth hormone, he was actually rehabbing at Yankee headquarters in Tampa.”

An unreliable witness that has lied to police in the past, claiming the best pitcher of this era did steroids, and the entire country believes the former, wow. Now I’m not saying that Roger is innocent, but I’m not about to jump to any conclusions, and I think it’s foolish to do so. A lot of people have been coming to Roger's defense, people very close to the situation, and yes, maybe they're just protecting a buddy, but maybe they're actually telling the truth. Everybody needs to wait and see how this whole thing plays out before we decide whether Clemens in guilty or innocent.