How does Clemens do it?

[Gamingboy]

Okay, I once found this weird peace of paper, here's what it said:

Deep in the American South

Lay the Fountain of Youth

It was here that Satchel Paige gained his longevity

Only 2 people have ever found this place.

They are Julio Franco and Paige himself

But one day shall come,

the son of the lone star sun.

And he shall learn to throw a 95 MPH fastball

well into his 40s.

And he will prove to the WORLD

his great undefatiguable,

ageless arm.

....

....

Okay, so maybe I didn't find a paper that said that. But really folks, he is truly a once in-a-generation talent.

[VitaminD]

Bigger muscles don't mean faster pitching. In fact, size in general has nothing to do with pitching. Otherwise, why can 5'10" Billy Wagner throw just as fast as 6'10" Randy Johnson?

If anything, larger muscles in the arms make the arms heavier and slower. Also, muscles decrease arm speed by hindering flexibility.

Finally, the amount of torque major league pitchers put on their arms throwing pitches (especially off-speed stuff) leads to a lot of tendon injuries. Were Clemens on steroids, his tendons would've snapped from the strain being put on them by overloaded muscles. The only possible benefit pitchers could gain from steroids would be strengthening the legs (especially glutes and thighs), which is the real source of power for pitchers. But Clemens always had thick legs since he broke in with the Red Sox. And his workouts are ridiculous; he's in far better shape than men half his age.

Gonna have to find better proof than speculation and rumors to get me to believe Clemens was/is juicing. Sorry.

[ProvidenceRI]

Big game Roger Clemens lives!

Way to step it up against South Africa!

[buildingmaint]

lets say Clemens does not use steroid for muscle size. Lets say he uses it for raster recovery. Is that plausible. The first guys MLB caught on steroids were pitchers. So what were they taking steroids for?

[STL FANATIC]

lets say Clemens does not use steroid for muscle size. Lets say he uses it for raster recovery. Is that plausible. The first guys MLB caught on steroids were pitchers. So what were they taking steroids for?

It's possible. That's what a lot of steriods do do.

It was legal when he took it, but McGwire took the supplement Andro (maybe not considered a steroid, but it's a supplement that is NOW illegal). He took it because he worked out like crazy and it helped him recover to be able to work out even more.

I wouldn't accuse Clemens without real evidence, but it's very likely that's why pitchers might use them.

[Jigga]

1) Rocket's great...there's no denying it. Gotta be one of the top 5 pitchers in the game...ever.

2) We have every right to speculate about possible steroid use with Clemens, even if there is no proof. Jose Canseco was dead on about every other big name he mentioned wasn't he (McGwire, Raffy, Pudge Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez, etc)? We didn't have proof. Wouldn't a cheater know who was cheating? It's not like WE were in the locker room. HE was. He's a rat, but I'm believing Jose.

3) There have been pitchers suspended under the MLB anti-performance enhancing drug policy, so we know a couple have juiced. A few years ago (pre-testing) baseball guys estimated 25-40% of the players were on the juice. If 44-52% of major league rosters (generally, teams keep 11-13 pitchers on their 25 man rosters) are pitchers, then there HAD to have been juiced up pitchers.