Rocket's report alleges career followed normal trends

BY KEN DAVIDOFF | ken.davidoff@newsday.com

January 29, 2008

On the surface of the situation, the Mitchell Report seems to confirm the theory that Roger Clemens turned his career around with the use of illegal, performance-enhancing drugs.

Randy Hendricks, Clemens' longtime agent, attempted yesterday to refute that theory, in the latest defense salvo from the Clemens camp.

On rogerclemensreport.com, a new Web site, one can find a 45-page document - authored by Hendricks and two colleagues, Stephen Mann and Bret Larson-Hendricks - promoting the argument that Clemens' career has featured a normal succession of peaks and valleys, rather than sudden surges that match the testimony of Clemens' former personal trainer Brian McNamee.

"Starting pitchers, like all major league baseball players, undergo highs and lows over the course of their careers," the report reads. "... A wide variety of factors determine the success of a player, including the player's health, the quality of his team, and the pitcher or hitter he happens to be facing in a particular at bat. Roger Clemens' baseball career is no exception."

The document compares Clemens' career to those of his fellow power pitchers Randy Johnson, Nolan Ryan and Curt Schilling, in an effort to display that Clemens' late-career success was not necessarily atypical (and not, therefore, a smoking gun of the alleged steroid use). Ryan, for instance, recorded exceptional strikeouts-per-nine innings numbers during his age-40, -42 and -44 seasons (1987, 1989 and 1991).

"Clemens was effective throughout his career," the report reads, "because he adapted his style of pitching to his physical abilities as he aged." Most significantly, as his velocity decreased, Clemens developed a split-finger fastball.

The myriad statistics, however, do show that two of Clemens' all-time "peak" periods occurred shortly after McNamee's alleged injections. Clemens recorded a 1.25 ERA for the Blue Jays in July and August 1998, and a 1.91 ERA for the Yankees in July 2000. According to the Mitchell Report, McNamee administered steroids to Clemens right around both of those times.

Clemens' oldest son Koby, an Astros prospect, appeared at a team training session in Houston and lamented his father's plight. Said Koby Clemens: "It kills me that this is happening to my dad. What he's done for the game, and what now is being turned back to him for what he's done for the game, is tough."

Knoblauch will talk. Former Yankee Chuck Knoblauch, after avoiding federal authorities for a couple of weeks, agreed yesterday to participate in the Feb. 13 House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing pitting Clemens against McNamee. Knoblauch will meet with the committee Friday.