FanHouse RogerClemens

Back in 2003, Major League Baseball performed rounds of sample drug testing. If there was more than a certain percentage of positive tests, the league would move forward with mandatory testing. As we all know now, 104 players tested positive and the league implemented a program which suspends players for positive tests. Thanks to some leaks -- on records which were supposed to be confidential -- we know Alex Rodriguez and Sammy Sosa were on that list. Now, if we were to speculate on the rest, it's pretty obvious most people would believe Roger Clemens was on it as well.

But, according to his lawyer, Rusty Hardin, the Rocket tested negative.

Sunday's Dugout concerned the possibility of Roger Clemens writing a book. Well, The Dugout is going to further explore this possibility. If Clemens does decide to put a book together, whether it concerns Brian McNamee or not, what will it look like? How will it read?

Your Dugout is after the jump. Enjoy your intelligence while it lasts, because this one will make you stupid.

Apparently inspired by the runaway success of Jose Canseco's Juiced and the runaway existence of Selena Roberts' A-Rod, Roger Clemens is thinking about slapping his artisan hands against a typewriter and pounding out a book. He wants to write about his relationship with Brian McNamee, but as Matt Snyder asks, how on Earth can he fill a book with that story? Snyder estimates that the book, if written, will be 15 pages long. I'm guessing that it will stretch for a full 200 pages, but only if it's a flipbook depicting Clemens throwing a pie in McNamee's face.

The next great American Dugout is after the jump.

Roger Clemens goes to great lengths when trying to clear his own name. He'll ruin friendships, sell out family members or allegedly lie under oath. The only thing that seemingly matters to him is that his major league career remains untarnished -- which, honestly, isn't even possible anymore -- regardless of the consequences.

Thus, it should come as no surprise that Rocket is thinking about writing a book. The book would simply be his side of the story regarding the entire back-and-forth spat between him and his former trainer, Brian McNamee.

On behalf of David Feherty, I'd like to apologize for the following column. It again takes shots at House Mis-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, not to mention her fellow victims of CIA subterfuge, Roger Clemens, Tim Floyd and Mine That Bird.

Who knew the CIA was plotting to overthrow the Preakness? You will after reading the latest installment of Week in Review.

I'm a baseball writer, not the Pope. I've got a Hall of Fame vote, not the key to heaven. Manny Ramirez is a baseball player, not the President.

As such, I don't think I've got a right to expect much in the way of morality. I don't think Ramirez needs to be held to as high a standard as my son's kindergarten teacher.

In the days since we learned that Ramirez violated baseball's drug policy, most likely by using steroids, most of the media has rushed on a herd of high horses to condemn him.

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So another baseball hero got snared in the performance-enhancing web. Today, Manny Ramirez.

Tomorrow, Roger Clemens?

Oh yeah, never mind.

Alex Rodriguez? Sammy Sosa? Mark McGwire? Barry Bonds?

You really do need a scorecard to keep up with the falling stars. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of trying to remember who's on first and who's on Winstrol.

You're never going to get rid of the dirty people. The only way to clean up the game is to get rid of the rules that turn people into dirtbags.

Let's just get this out of the way right now. I don't like Jose Canseco. I don't respect how he went about trying to bring down baseball in some sort of personal vendetta/money-making scheme. He might try to sell us on the fact that he just wanted baseball clean, but I don't believe those were his original motives. He needed money and he was angry with baseball for allegedly black-balling him.

We can call Canseco any number of names -- rat, snitch, crybaby, cheater -- but one thing he's not is a liar. With the announcement that Manny Ramirez has been suspended 50 games for a drug violation, Canseco has been vindicated for what seems like the hundredth time.

In the book, American Icon, Roger Clemens is portrayed as a fallen idol whose obsessive drive to be the best pitcher in baseball led him to rely on steroids and human growth hormone, choices that entangled him in a web of lies and eventually exposed him as a narcissistic cheat and, possibly, a criminal. It is a fascinating, exhaustively researched exposé of baseball's corrosive drug culture and the damage it did to Clemens, the people around him and, especially, to the game.

In the book, A-Rod, Alex Rodriguez is portrayed as a flawed superstar whose relentless drive to be the best player in baseball led him to experiment with steroids from an early age, a decision that would highlight both his vanity and insecurities. It is a revealing, salacious peek inside the bizarre, flimsy bubble in which Rodriguez lives.

From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.

Last Sunday, Alfonso Soriano was hit in the head by a pitch off the hand of Cardinals starter Todd Wellemeyer. Later in the game, Cubs starting pitcher Rich Harden hit Albert Pujols in the middle of the back. It was a fastball, and it was on the first pitch of the at-bat. There was no one on base, and the Cubs had a big lead. Translation: Pujols was hit by Harden in retaliation for Soriano's beaning.

Monday, Ryan Braun was apparently dotted on purpose by Jeff Karstens of the Pirates, but the Brewers didn't get a chance to retaliate, because the umpiring crew offered an immediate warning to both benches.