Roger Clemens: American Icon?

There has been so much coverage of performance enhancing drugs in the sport of baseball. Do you think the fans have had enough? Do you think that they’ll start feeling sorry for guys like Clemens and A-Rod who have been put under the spotlight?

Fans say a lot of times that they are sick of hearing about steroids, but I think when they hear the details and various cases about how guys used them, how they effected their performance, how they effected their life, it becomes a much more interesting story.

If you just hear that the game that you love has been wrecked by steroids, it sounds like a broken record for awhile.

But I think, for example, if you tell people that Jose Canseco went from a guy who was one of the most feared hitters to a broken-down man who is suffering from emotional and relationship problems, I think that becomes interesting to people.

And the way that Roger Clemens has fought this battle is also interesting to people. This was a guy who was prominently featured in commercials and movies and charity work, but now this is a guy who has become very private. People are interested in those kind of stories.

Have you ever met Clemens?

I’ve interviewed him in the clubhouse after games many times, and I’ve had the opportunity to talk to him one-on-one. I had a real magical experience with him once where I wrote a story about a number of baseballs that were stolen from the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

They were autographed by five different Presidents. Walter Johnson, who always started the season, used to get the Presidents to sign these balls for him, and they were stolen from Hall of Fame, and I did a series of stories about this.

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