Roger Clemens pitches Saturday

[Dakota]

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

This might be the dumbest thing I've read in weeks. You are aware that he's been a little busy these past 4 years?

Pfft... maybe his highly paid shysters have been busy...

His acquittal is all the proof anyone needs that there is a difference between a legal verdict of "not guilty" and actual condition of being "innocent".

I think the theory that he is angling to reset the clock on his HOF eligibility so as to not appear for the first time along side Bonds, Sosa, and Piazza, plus push his final ballot appearance out to 20 years into the future is likely the actual motive here.

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by Dakota

Pfft... maybe his highly paid shysters have been busy...

His acquittal is all the proof anyone needs that there is a difference between a legal verdict of "not guilty" and actual condition of being "innocent".

I think the theory that he is angling to reset the clock on his HOF eligibility so as to not appear for the first time along side Bonds, Sosa, and Piazza, plus push his final ballot appearance out to 20 years into the future is likely the actual motive here.

That wouldn't surprise me at all. I suspect that's part of the motive too.

[grunewar]

Roger Clemens exceeds expectations on mound ? USATODAY.com

[Rich Ives]

Originally Posted by Dakota

His acquittal is all the proof anyone needs that there is a difference between a legal verdict of "not guilty" and actual condition of being "innocent".

I gather this translates to your "assumption of guilt" on his part?

If you should perchance end up as a defendant some day I hope your jury doesn't go on that premise.

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

This might be the dumbest thing I've read in weeks. You are aware that he's been a little busy these past 4 years?

Doing what exactly? Sitting in jail? Tied up in courtrooms every day? C'mon, Mike. If he really wanted to play baseball so badly, why couldn't he sign up with an independent team way before now. Heck, his trial ended on June 18, and it took him over two months to get back out there?

I'm sure he had plenty of time between 2007 and now to take a shot or two on the mound to see if he could still compete.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Manny A

Doing what exactly? Sitting in jail? Tied up in courtrooms every day? C'mon, Mike. If he really wanted to play baseball so badly, why couldn't he sign up with an independent team way before now. Heck, his trial ended on June 18, and it took him over two months to get back out there?

I'm sure he had plenty of time between 2007 and now to take a shot or two on the mound to see if he could still compete.

So you have to be in court everyday to be a little preoccupied to play professional baseball? Two trials and your life on the line, I doubt that playing baseball was the focus.

Peace

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

So you have to be in court everyday to be a little preoccupied to play professional baseball? Two trials and your life on the line, I doubt that playing baseball was the focus.

There are plenty of examples of athletes continuing to participate in their respective sports with preoccupations much more critical than what Roger has faced, such as dealing with terminally-ill loved ones, their own battles with life-threatening disease, etc. etc.

Sorry, but I'm not going to be convinced that Roger's decision was purely made just because he loves the game.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Manny A

There are plenty of examples of athletes continuing to participate in their respective sports with preoccupations much more critical than what Roger has faced, such as dealing with terminally-ill loved ones, their own battles with life-threatening disease, etc. etc.

Sorry, but I'm not going to be convinced that Roger's decision was purely made just because he loves the game.

I am honestly not trying to convince you either way. And what others do is what others do. That does not mean he does not have other family issues or financial issues to deal with to deal with his case. All I am saying is I can see how the man had other things going on. That does not mean others would not have different priorities and do what they wanted to do. Maybe he was just so engulfed in the situation playing anything was not a priority. You cannot say what others have done as a gauge for this person. People react and deal with adversity very differently.

Peace

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by Manny A

There are plenty of examples of athletes continuing to participate in their respective sports with preoccupations much more critical than what Roger has faced, such as dealing with terminally-ill loved ones, their own battles with life-threatening disease, etc. etc.

Sorry, but I'm not going to be convinced that Roger's decision was purely made just because he loves the game.

Neither am I... but the assertion that since he didn't play in the past 4 years means anything at all is ridiculous.

As to his past few months, YES, he's been trying to get back into shape for exactly this - it's been on the news repeatedly in Houston.

[Dakota]

Originally Posted by Rich Ives

I gather this translates to your "assumption of guilt" on his part?

If you should perchance end up as a defendant some day I hope your jury doesn't go on that premise.

How could you possibly "gather" that?

There most certainly IS a big difference between actually being innocent and not being proved guilty. When his whole case rested on the credibility of McNamee, making 12 people have "reasonable doubt" in McNamee's truthfulness is not even close to those same people actually believing Clemens was innocent.

But, apart from the rules of criminal court, the preponderance of evidence (the standard in civil court) would certainly point toward Clemen's guilt, IMO.