First published 2009
Roger Clemens built a legendary baseball career across twenty-four seasons. He earned seven Cy Young Awards, two World Series titles, and 354 wins. The Hall of Fame seemed certain. Then December 13, 2007 arrived. The Mitchell Report accused Clemens of using steroids and human growth hormone supplied by trainer Brian McNamee. Federal investigators opened a case. The accusations triggered a legal battle between Clemens and McNamee, drawing in sports executives, congressmen, lawyers, and drug dealers. Four investigative journalists from the New York Daily News uncover how performance-enhancing drugs spread through Major League Baseball clubhouses. They examine the Texas gym culture that helped distribute these substances and reveal how Congress responded to the crisis. The story expands beyond Clemens to include Andy Pettitte, Jose Canseco, Alex Rodriguez, and Chuck Knoblauch, exposing the gap between public heroism and private choices in professional baseball.
Genres: biography, american, crime, sports, non-fiction, american-history
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: deception, legal-battle
Setting: Texas
Period: 2007
464 pages · Hardcover · Knopf
Content warnings: drug-use