Roger Clemens has rotten timing

The Space Shuttle Atlantis lifted off on Monday.

On Tuesday, the Rocket – Roger Clemens – blasted off, too. He went off on the new book “American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America” written by four New York Daily News reporters. It doesn’t take the Hubble Telescope to see what Clemens did by speaking on ESPN Radio’s “Mike & Mike In The Morning” show. He helped promote and sell a book ripping him. He’s gone from dumb to dumber.

“It’s a game of piling on,” said Clemens, who felt the urge to defend himself again.

Poor timing. Horrible timing. The past month or so, Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez have offered explanations for their links to performance-enhancing drugs and the baseball world isn’t buying their stories. Now, in this sad and unsympathetic climate, Clemens decides to launch his name and reputation into the public’s ears and eyes. Why now? He already has denied he did nothing wrong. What he told Mike and Mike is more or less the same thing he’s been telling everyone – including members of Congress – all along. He’s innocent.

Well, rather than remain silent, as he has for about a year, Clemens has thrust himself back into the spotlight. He’s not comfortably out of sight and out of mind anymore. He’s calling attention to himself again and that’s not good. Not only is Clemens bringing awareness to a new book and thus putting more money in the authors’ pockets, he’s raising a red flag at Congress, like a matador challenging a bull to attack.

It’s too bad. I almost was at the point that I misremembered him.