
Roger “Rocket” Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards in his 23 years as a Major League pitcher, he was selected for the All-Star game 11 times and won two World Series. But his stellar career was tarnished in 2007 when his name was mentioned 82 times in Congress’s Mitchell Report on steroid use in baseball. The report, and subsequent testimony by fellow-pitcher Andy Pettitte and former-trainer Brian McNamee, alleged that Clemens knowingly received Human Growth Hormone and anabolic steroid injections. Despite never having tested positive for any banned substances and giving an emotional 60 Minutes interview where he attributed his success to “hard work,” Clemens was called before a Congressional committee in 2008. At that hearing, he swore under oath that he had never taken the performance-enhancing drugs. A federal grand jury doubted his testimony, however, and he was indicted in August, 2010 on six charges including perjury and making false statements. After a retrial, a jury voted to acquit him of all charges on June 18, 2012 — “I’m very thankful,” the pitcher told the press after the verdict. “It’s been a hard five years.”