The Truth Will Be Unpleasant

The IRS has joined the long list of federal agents investigating claims that Roger Clemens perjured himself before the Congressional hearings. This brings the tally to date to the US Attorney's special investigators, the Secret Service, agents from the ATF and DEA and FBI, and the US Marshall's Office.





I still hold that Roger may be innocent, as his attorneys, lead by Rusty Hardin are still representing him, and they like him have much to lose if Roger is indeed lying. I base my opinion on two facts:

• One, that Clemens by suing McNamee for slander in court and possibly perjuring himself on Capital Hill could spend his golfing years locked up in a federal white collar prison. I contend he isn't that stupid and neither are his legal representatives. Despite the many bad jokes about lawyers that many of us spread, most decent lawyers aren't that stupid.

• Two, that as of yet, no real proof has been established to prove him guilty. McNamee still has a circumstantial case.

That all said, the one thing that will now come out is just who really has done illegal steroids and performance enhancing drugs. I suspect that by this time next year, Bud Selig will have stepped down for the good of the game in disgrace. Why you ask, because his little white wash investigation headed by Mr. Mitchell has snowballed into a major federal task force investigation. By doing a half baked job, and naming some and not really digging up any new dirt, Selig's baseball investigation has backfired. Multiple federal agencies are now getting to the facts, and when that many Feds are digging, they will uncover the guilty.

What is happening now is what we didn't want as fans. Had Selig just gotten tough with the player's union, most famous names would still be speculation and the issue would be handled in the locker room and sports pages. Now many will be caught and it will play out in court rooms across the country across the front pages of major and minor newspapers.

Selig thought his investigation would be good for baseball, clear the air, but it has clouded it more deeply. Stop thinking about players not getting voted to Cooperstown, start thinking about about people going to prison. The Mitchell Report is the worst thing to come out out of baseball since the the Black Soxs Sandal. It makes the inventions of the AL's designated hitter look like a good thing.

Pandora's Box has been opened, and like Pandora' box, a new plague has spread, the plague of getting to the truth, the whole truth.

(Clemens/Hardin photo by AP's Dan Sullivan)