Clemens needs to find a new group of friends

Somebody needs to sit down and talk to Roger Clemens.

It appears Clemens has been hanging… Somebody needs to sit down and talk to Roger Clemens.

It appears Clemens has been hanging out in the wrong crowd, and it’s severely hurting his reputation.

It sounds like something that is done by a concerned parent, but I don’t want to see Clemens continue on his current life path.

Nothing good has come for Clemens since befriending fellow pitcher Andy Pettitte and former trainer Brian McNamee, sans a few years of outstanding pitching and a lot of money because of said pitching.

Pettitte and Clemens used to be seen as the Buzz and Woody of Major League Baseball, the pair who were good friends toward the end of the first “Toy Story.”

When clips of them are shown, I can’t help but hear Randy Newman’s “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” on repeat in my head.

This friendship started in 1999 when Clemens joined the Yankees, who Pettitte played for. The two have been great friends since.

Or at least that’s what the public has been told for years.

They worked out in the offseason together, they sat near each other in the dugout, and they always matched their outfits. But then again, so did the rest of the team.

Clemens retired after the 2003 season, and Pettitte left the Yankees to sign with the Astros. Miraculously, Clemens came out of retirement a few months later and joined the Astros as well. It was reported Pettitte was a factor in why Clemens decided to take a break from retirement.

So one would think that when Clemens was in need of his buddy’s help, Pettitte would surely defend the Rocket at all costs. Right?

Nope.

On Tuesday, Pettitte disclosed information about a private conversation between the two nearly 10 years ago when Clemens said he used human growth hormone in a sworn affidavit to Congress, the Associated Press reported.

But Clemens should’ve expected this kind of erratic behavior from Pettitte. All he had to do was look at the 1996 World Series. Pettitte was hammered for seven runs in 2 1/3 innings in game one against the Braves and then pitched 8 1/3 innings in game five, giving up no runs on five hits. That’s a man who shouldn’t be trusted.

Or he should’ve taken advice from Slimkid3 of the Pharcyde, who also in 1996 rapped some should’ve-been helpful lyrics for Clemens on “Runnin'” when he said, “There comes a time in every man’s life when he’s gotta handle [stuff] up on his own / Can’t depend on friends to help you in a squeeze, please they got problems of their own.”

That same year, 1996, also happened to be the year when then-Red Sox GM Dan Duquette said Clemens was “in the twilight of his career” and didn’t resign the Rocket. Coincidence?

Yes, yes, it is, actually.

Clemens signed with Toronto and won the Cy Young award in 1997 and 1998, when he first worked with McNamee.

McNamee, another man with whom Clemens once seemed to have a great bond, has also decided to not stick up for his friend.

Within the past week, McNamee has told congressional investigators that he has bloodstained syringes and gauze pads from when he injected Clemens with HGH, at least 16 times, in 1998, 2000 and 2001, according to the AP.

Personally, I have a Band-Aid from 1995 when I scrapped my knee. It’s special to me because it happened on my first day of summer camp. I fell while skipping on the pavement. It sits in a jar on a shelf in my room.

So reading that McNamee kept syringes and gauze from more than seven years ago isn’t shocking to me. Then, in New York Magazine a friend of McNamee said that the trainer “saw Roger as this enormous figure. He adored the guy.”

Keeping the syringes wasn’t a creepy thing to do. It was something done because of the respect McNamee has of Clemens.

McNamee then said he injected Clemens’ wife, Debbie, with HGH under Roger’s supervision before the two posed for the 2003 Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition.

That’s completely uncalled for. How is saying that Clemens knowingly had his wife take HGH before a photo shoot going to prove anything? Maybe Clemens is such a caring husband because he didn’t want his wife to embarrass herself standing next to such a statuesque physique.

Clemens opened up his home, or pool house, to McNamee during the offseason, according the same article in New York Magazine. The trainer would stay with Clemens in Houston so they could work out in the offseason. Are we to believe Mrs. Clemens never had provided McNamee with neither food nor amenities?

Now he’s just going to include her in a witch hunt against her husband. Quite a way of saying, thank you.

McNamee and Pettitte should be ashamed for turning on a friend like they did. Or this whole thing is a very intense intervention, and they’re trying to help Clemens clean up and kick a bad habit.

And that’s what friends are for.