Clemens hangs pitches

Baseball Hot Corner wants to believe Roger Clemens. It would be reassuring to know the legendary career is genuine. In order to give credence to Roger's tale of innocence, a leap of faith is required. Here are some issues:

• Circumstantial evidence: Clemens achieved unprecedented performance late in his career, at an age when decline is the norm, he dominated against PED enhanced competition. Baseball Musings researched some stats. that track his performance during the time frames his trainer says he gave him extra help.
• The trainer: Brian McNamee is an acknowledged distributor, practitioner of illegal PED drugs. He was Rockets trainer for years and was influential in Roger's fitness, nutritional agenda.
• The workouts: Steroids help a hard-working athlete recover from grueling workouts. When you lift weights, your body needs time to recover. The older the person;the more recovery time needed. Descriptions of Clemens's day and night workouts do not fit the profile of a natural, middle-aged athlete.
• The mindset: A competitive, driven athlete, willing to abuse painkillers (" I was eating Vioxx like Skittles") in order to perform and adhere to grueling, age defying workouts, presided over by a tainted trainer would be an ideal candidate for PED use.
• The interview: Clemens hand-picked 89 year-old, friend and Yankee fan Mike Wallace to do a hard hitting interview. He had weeks to prepare. The result was weak responses to basic questions featuring no follow-up. For example, Wallace suggests a lie detector: "I don't know, would that help?" "I don't know."
• The shots: McNamee says he administered illegal shots to Clemens's butt. Roger says the shots were Lidocaine and B-12. His attorney says: "Roger took his shots like a racehorse (in the posterior.) Here's what a medical expert says : "Clemens's claim that he received injections of lidocaine should probably be viewed as damaging to his credibility. Lidocaine is a local anesthetic and not a systemic pain reliever, like acetaminophen, with body wide effects. If given as an injection in some ones rear end, for example, the likelihood of having any effect on knee pain, as he contends, is practically zero."(Source: NY Times,In-Box,1/06/08--Andrew M. Luks M.D.)

Baseball Hot Corner wants to believe Roger Clemens. Unfortunately, the logic defying leap-of-faith required is beyond my grasp.