Not So Artful Dodger

When I was young, cheaters in baseball were rare.

Sure, there was a Gaylord Perry and his greaseball. Perry, a truly exceptional pitcher, won over 300 games in the 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s, with the help of a little Vaseline.

“Gaylord is a very honorable man,” Cleveland Indians president Gabe Paul once said. “He only calls for the spitter when he needs it.”

Pitching in the same era as Tom Seaver, Bob Gibson and Steve Carlton, Perry was never thought to be the best pitcher in the game.

In the 80’s and 90’s, Roger Clemons was.

On Wednesday, the day after Casey Anthony’s acquittal, jury selection began in the case of the United States vs. Roger Clemens. Clemens, the 7-time Cy Young Award winner, stands accused of perjury, for allegedly lying under oath during Congressional hearings into steroid use in baseball.

If convicted, he will take his place alongside Mark McGuire and Barry Bonds as the biggest frauds and cheaters in baseball history. I can almost hear that legendary kid saying “Say it ain’t so, Roger.”