big grimsley boy

The Big Grimsley Boy

So the Cardinals back in, the Dodgers win out, the Tigers run out of

time to complete their collapse, and all anyone can talk about is

steroids. The name on the Grimsley list that most interests me is

Roger Clemens, whose symptomology seems to mirror Barry Bonds'

closely, but who gets a free pass because, well, I'm not quite sure

why he gets a free pass, except that he used to play for the Yankees.

Either that, or most sportswriters are afraid he'll throw a jagged

bat-end at them. But consider:

* Huge noggin

* Comes across as a surly, unlikeable jerk who makes strange use of

his kids at press conferences

* Unprecedented performance past the age of 40, and a massive

late-career kick

* Manages to find a way to miss a large chunk of the regular season,

potentially long enough for all sorts of gunk to rinse out of his

system

* Suddenly prone to leg trouble

Now, I am certainly not saying that Roger Clemens is on any sort of

performance enhancing substance. What I am saying is that, considering

the eerie parallels between their track records and behaviors, there's

no logical reason for Bonds to have been pummeled relentlessly while

Clements got nary a whisper, and that it will be interesting to see if

that changes - if the wolves come out of the woodwork - now that

somebody's named the Rocket's name.

My guess, of course, is that America has decided that Bonds is the

villain of the piece, and that anyone else will get handwaved as the

dogged pursuit of Aaron's pursuer continues. But if that scent finally

grows cold, the Grimsley boys might suddenly have to answer some