Tomorrow Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee, former friends and professional colleagues, Clemens as star athlete, McNamee as his personal trainer, will testify before a congressional committee. The subject: Did McNamee inject Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone at a time when the legendary pitcher was seemingly headed into the twilight of his career? 

For devout baseball fans, and even for people who don’t know a slider from an intentional walk, the Clemens-McNamee confrontation promises to be high drama with very serious consequences at stake, including the possibility that either could be prosecuted for perjury for lying under oath. But if Clemens and McNamee continue on the path they’ve traveled that got them in front of congress in the first place, logic dictates that the truth will be a casualty at some point in the proceedings since McNamee told federal investigators and baseball’s Mitchell Commission that he administered performing-enhancing drugs to Clemens, while the former Red Sox, Blue Jays, Yankees and Astros ace vehemently denies that took place.  

Also on the line is Clemens’ reputation, which already has taken a beating in the court of public opinion, and, conversely, the veracity of the Mitchell Report, which relied greatly on the testimony of McNamee and former Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski, who provided performance-enhancing substances to a host of players. 

Without offering an opinion on who is telling the truth, let’s examine what has happened so far and what could take place at the hearing. 

With the exception of those privy to the extensive fitness regimen employed by Clemens over the last decade, Brian McNamee was a largely unknown figure until the Mitchell Report came to light last December 13. Suddenly he became a major player in baseball’s steroid saga, implicating Clemens, Andy Pettitte and Chuck Knoblauch. But the biggest fish caught in the Mitchell net was undoubtedly Clemens, who was mentioned 82 times in his report, and who through an illustrious career that was headed directly to Cooperstown, won 354 games (eighth all-time) with a 3.12 ERA and 4,672 strikeouts (second all-time). Indeed, after it was made public, the Mitchell Report might as well have been renamed the Clemens Report as the overwhelming media coverage and public discourse focused on the Texan.  

Following the Mitchell Report’s release things have moved quickly vis a vis Clemens and his accuser. On December 14, Clemens issued his first denial. On December 15, Pettitte admitted that he had twice been given H.G.H. by McNamee. On January 3, Clemens’ said he was injected with B12 and lidocaine when an advanced tape from his upcoming appearance on the January 6 edition of the CBS program, “60 Minutes,” aired. The next day, Clemens followed up the “60 Minutes” segment with a Houston press conference where he again vigorously defended his position and at times angrily responded to reporter’s questions. Adding a sense of melodrama to the gathering was a secretly taped phone conversation between Clemens and McNamee that was played. The tape offered an insight into their relationship, but yielded no real clues as to whether Clemens or McNamee was telling the truth.  

Things got even more macabre on January 10 when McNamee turned over syringes, gauze and empty viles that purportedly had contained steroids that he had given to Clemens, and had saved for some seven years, to the staff of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. On February 4, Pettitte was deposed by the committee’s staff, Clemens was center stage the next day and McNamee appeared on February 7, revealing that he had even injected Clemens’ wife with steroids in 2002 prior to her being featured in a Sports Illustrated swim suit story.       

That brings us to tomorrow, and the specter of Clemens and McNamee sitting at the same table perhaps a few feet apart, likely separated by Charlie Scheeler, a Baltimore attorney who led the Mitchell Commission’s staff work. It is under these intense circumstances that Clemens and McNamee will their stories to the House Committee and answer probing questions, some influenced by Pettitte’s deposition, which, according to published reports, have supported McNamee’s claims and contradicted what Clemens had said. 

All this, of course, will play out in a packed hearing room with a worldwide audience numbering in the millions following every word via TV, radio and the Internet.  

So the big questions are, what kind of fireworks will the proceedings produce, and will either side reveal a smoking gun that once and for all settles the issue? I can’t wait to find out what happens, and on that score I know I’m not alone.