Red Sox debate: Roger Clemens belongs in Hall of Fame

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If a suspected PED user had a borderline case for getting called to Cooperstown, perhaps those allegations would be sufficient reason not to vote for them. That’s not the case for Clemens, who should be a lock to be enshrined if we were to look only at the numbers.

The seven-time Cy Young award winner also has an MVP trophy on his mantle to go along with 11 All-Star appearances and seven ERA titles. His 354 career wins are the 9th most in the history of the game and he’s third in both strikeouts (4,672) and pitching WAR (139.4).

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Did PEDs help prolong his career, helping him pile up a portion of those prolific numbers as he delivered age-defying performances well into his 40’s? Probably. Here’s the thing about Clemens though. He had a Hall of Fame worthy career before he was ever suspected of dabbling in drugs.

According to the testimony of Brian McNamee, the former New York Yankees trainer reported that he injected Clemens with banned substances during the 1998, 2000 and 2001 seasons. Prior to that there was never a shred of evidence suggesting that Clemens was cheating earlier in his career when he spent his first 13 seasons with the Red Sox.

Clemens won 192 games in a Red Sox uniform while posting a 3.06 ERA, 8.4 K/9 and compiling 76.8 WAR. He was selected to five All-Star appearances and won three Cy Young awards, while finishing in the top-6 in voting six times and winning an MVP. If we were only to count those numbers that he compiled in Boston when he was still clean, that would be sufficient for him to be in the Hall of Fame.

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