Swings and misses

McNamee holds up but Clemens' credibility takes a major hit in their showdown over steroids
Bill Plaschke
LA Times

February 14, 2008

On one end of the dark wood table sat baseball's ideals -- the swaggering, swarthy starting pitcher.

On the other end of the same table sat baseball's reality -- the slinking, shirking steroid pusher.

On one end of the table, Roger Clemens bragged about tough times and hard work and never taking a shortcut.

On the other end, Brian McNamee talked about syringes and abscesses and bloody pants.

Clemens said his former trainer was lying when he claimed he injected Clemens with steroids.

McNamee said his former employer was lying about those shortcuts.

In an extraordinary moment Wednesday, baseball's ideals clashed with its reality while sitting less than 15 feet apart in a congressional hearing room on Capitol Hill.

In an extraordinarily sad moment, the pusher was more believable than the pitcher.

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