The Beauty of the Roger Clemens Indictment: Mets Fan Edition

I would like to start by saying I’m writing this article with an extreme prejudice: I’m a Mets fan. I hate Roger Clemens. He’s a selfish, cheating liar who deserves every ounce of bad karma and publicity that comes his way.

There are a plenty moments in the past 11 years when being a Mets fan has severely shaken my psyche and lowered my quality of life. In 99% of these instances it’s my beloved Metropolitans that are at fault for my heartbreak and mental instability.

However there is one moment in the 2000 World Series, that psychologically ruined the Mets, and it wasn’t their fault. It involved Roger Clemens, a broken bat and Mike Piazza.

I was 13 during the 2000 Subway Series, and the Mets were my ultimate concern in life. Not much has changed, except my pessimism can now depress small towns by my mere presence. The Mets had just inexplicably blown game one of the World Series and now faced the best pitcher in baseball for game two. It didn’t look promising, but I was optimistic -– I was stupid.

During a previous meeting between the Mets and Yankees earlier in the season, Clemens inexplicably threw a 97-mph fastball between Piazza’s eyes, knocking him unconscious. Clemens had never been known as a wild pitcher, but missing the strike zone with a fastball happens. However missing three feet high and a foot inside always seemed intentional to me.

Game two of the series was surrounded with a lot of hype because of the Clemens and Piazza rematch. In the first inning Piazza hit a foul ball and the broken bat flew back at Clemens, who proceeded to toss another fastball at Piazza, this time a shard of wood replaced the ball.

Clemens claimed he thought the broken bat was the ball, which doesn’t explain why he threw it at Piazza. He later changed his story saying he was tossing it to the on-deck circle where the batboy would pick it up. Well, that still doesn’t explain the ferocity with which he threw the bat, and his complete inability to see Piazza running down the first baseline.

Clemens should have been thrown out of the game. He should have been suspended. He went on to pitch eight shutout innings and the Yankees went on to win the game and the series. The Mets have always been the underdog in New York, and it was never more apparent than in 2000. Clemens acted like a ‘roided-out bully, and was fined a meaningless $50,000 for his actions. The Mets contently faded away for the next six years, with their tail tucked between their legs.

The Mets were treated like the Yankees wimpy little brothers, and that stigma has stuck for the past decade. The pinstriped team from the Bronx have gone on to win their 27th World Series title. The Mets decade is marred by collapses and heartache, leaving fans like myself to complain about an incident ten years ago.

The Rocket won seven Cy Young Awards in his career, four of them after the age of 34. Yet, no one ever questioned Clemens’ right arm discovering the fountain of youth. He was 37-years-old during the 2000 World Series, his fastball topped out at 99 mph in game two. Some things just don’t add up. I don’t care how intense his workout regimen is, no one is a power pitcher for 24 years.

In Clemens last four seasons with the Red Sox he won 40 games. His career seemed to be dwindling. At the age of 34 he went north of the boarder to the Blue Jays and over the course of the next two seasons he won 41 games and consecutive Cy Young awards. No one raised any red flags.

When the Grand Jury indicted Clemens this week I couldn’t help but smile. When Rocket tweeted that he never lied or took performance-enhancing drugs I chuckled. It would be interesting to see a study of the effects of steroids on memory loss, because it’s got to be difficult to forget needles being injected in your ass.

It’s understandable for an athlete to have difficulty coming to grips with the end of a career, but to unapologetically cheat is unacceptable, especially when it hinders my favorite sports team from achieving glory.

Roger, keep lying to yourself, MLB, your fans, friends, and United States government. Because you probably just lied your way out of the Hall of Fame immortality and into a jumpsuit. There are a lot scored fans (Red Sox Nation) that I’m sure love the idea of you being heading to jail for a year. Hopefully there are a lot of sodomites looking forward to your plump ass as well.

*Forward to the 2:25 mark.