Some of this I had to look up, because I’m not a baseball fan. But I thought I remembered Roger Clemens in connection with a failed restaurant venture, and with the Houston Astros.
Google tells me Clemens played for the Yankees for one year after playing for the Astros for three. That places this story in, probably, 2008. At the shopping mall nearby, some excitement stirred up when it was announced a new restaurant (glorified hamburger joint) was soon to open under Clemens’ name. He was something of a local hero, so the appeal was obvious. It was going to be almost a sports bar, complete with baseball memorabilia and big screen TV’s and so on. Construction proceeded apace and the grand opening with Mr. Clemens scheduled to appear was planned and anticipated.
And then it all stopped, because word came that Mr. Clemens had a mistress. He was a married man, but the news of the mistress wasn’t the news. It was that she was 15 when they started dating.
That ended the hamburger joint before it opened. Suddenly nobody wanted to be associated with the name Roger Clemens. The venture changed hands, but maybe it was jinxed. A popular local hamburger chain opened there instead, with all the furnishings of the would-be Clemens restaurant (it was that far along), just without the name. But it didn’t last. It was too much space for a more ordinary hamburger and fries eatery. It was obviously planned for fans who would fill the place and bask in his absence and memories of his Astros stint, drinking and talking sports and basically occupying the space. Those people never showed up, and the place that took over was aimed at fast food: eat your burger and go. They never really had a chance.
The disaster was that complete, even without the specter of Jeffrey Epstein.
I don’t remember stories of Clemens juicing, though I want to say that, at least when he was playing, more than a few players were obviously benefiting from “artificial enhancers,” until MLB decided (rightly, IMHO) they didn’t like it. Which is probably why Clemens got his britches caught on the first hurdle. The Baseball Hall of Fame really, really cares about the purity of the turf. Just ask the late Pete Rose.
This was before Epstein and Q (ironic, no?) made pedophilia the heinous thing it is now (and should be; we’re still talking about Trump and the files; still not the victims, except as a way to harass Trump), but while Clemens didn’t set off Epstein vibes (not yet the time for that circa 2008), a grown man with a wife having a 15 year old girlfriend was still enough to make Clemens immediately into a pariah. At least as the guy who’d be inviting you to eat his hamburgers.
This is ancient history (well, to 18 year olds, at least), but if Trump keeps demanding (pointlessly) that Clemens should be in the BHOF as a distraction from the Epstein files (well, it’s that, or he’s gone doo-lally. Granted, those are not mutually exclusive conditions.), this story may be resurrected.
Not the story he wants to hear about; or to insist isn’t true, hasn’t been proven, etc. That, you may have noticed, doesn’t make such stories go away. Especially not when that’s the story Trump is trying so hard not to talk about.
Be careful what you wish for.
I don't follow baseball but read a lot more about him when he was with the Red Sox than I usually get. What I remember him for is when the fat-assed pitcher multi-millionaire whined and complained that the Red Sox didn't pay for day care for his kids so his wife could go watch him pitch. The only other thing I know about him is that, like most pro-jocks, he is a right-winger. I hope they don't give it to him, if for no other reason than that Trump is demanding it. I hope that blackballs him for the rest of his life.
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