Niekro surprised by Clemens' Hall brush off

[HMFFL]

Braves Hall of Famer Phil Niekro said he was surprised at Roger Clemens' claim that he didn't care whether he someday joins Niekro in Cooperstown.

The embattled Clemens went on the offensive in the past week -- first in an interview with "60 Minutes," then in a 13-minute news conference -- after being accused in the Mitchell Report of using steroids and human growth hormone. At Monday's news conference, Clemens said he didn't "give a rat's [behind]" whether voters kept him out of the Hall.

"The thing that surprised me was when he said he didn't give a rat's [behind] about getting in the Hall of Fame," Niekro said Saturday at Braves FanFest. "I guarantee you when he got to 299 [wins] he was thinking about it. It's the greatest mark you can leave in the game."

Winning 300 games, as Clemens and Niekro both did, has usually assured a pitcher's eventual election to the Hall. But in Clemens' case, that no longer seems certain.

Braves third baseman Chipper Jones said he didn't know what to think about the Clemens allegations, but Jones didn't think it was fair that the Mitchell Report accused some players based solely on hearsay or the testimony of one person, without evidence.

"I really don't know [Clemens] well enough on that level, to say either way," Jones said Saturday. "It's the same situation as Barry Bonds -- probably the best hitter or our era, the best any of us has ever seen, and the greatest pitcher any of us has seen, in terms of eye-popping statistics. Now for both of them to have to deal with this.

"It's gonna play itself out pretty soon. No one wants it to be true. There's gonna have to be a lot more investigating," Jones said.

Niekro, who last pitched in 1987, said he's tired of hearing about steroid allegations, but added that everything must be done to clean up the game and stop steroids at every level.

"It's tough for everybody in baseball, including fans," he said. "Everybody's so tired of hearing about it, and everybody wishes it would go away. But it's not going to go away until something is done. ... [Commissioner] Bud [Selig] is doing what he can to stop it."

Niekro said he eagerly awaits Clemens' testimony on Capitol Hill, and said Clemens had better be ready.

"When they ask you a question, you [darn] sure better tell them the answer," he said.



Link