Clemens Musters Stats to Counter Steroids Charges

Roger Clemens was not in the “twilight” of his career or "washed up" in the late '90s, a statistical report released by his agents today aims to show, to refute allegations that the hurler used performance-enhancing drugs to rebound. The report compares his stats to other major league pitchers and shows Clemens was already an MVP the year his trainer claims to have begun dosing him.

"Clemens' longevity was due to his ability to adjust his style of pitching as he got older, incorporating his very effective split-finger fastball to offset the decrease in the speed of his regular fastball caused by aging,” says the report. Both Clemens and the trainer, Brian McNamee, are set to appear before a House committee on Feb. 13. Clemens has filed a defamation suit against McNamee, who claims to have given him steroids and human growth hormone on 16 occasions. (More steroids stories.)