But Clemens is worse than all of them, because at least none of them stooped to the depths that the Rocket did to weasel his way out of all the accusations of his alleged drug use. He tried to convince Congress that he never told his teammate and training partner Andy Pettitte about his use of human growth hormone by saying his good buddy “misremembered” what he said. Clemens said he told him it was his wife who got a syringe full of HGH injected into her by McNamee, not him. He told Congress that it was his mother’s idea for him to start taking those so-called vitamin B-12 injections after one congressman wondered what legitimate medical reasons he had for using the drug.

He tried to come up with all sorts of alibis, but none of them passed the sniff test. What it all came down to was that no matter how smarmy McNamee might look, Clemens still came out looking more smarmy.

And now all I know is that Roger Clemens has created an impossible situation for his Hall of Fame chances. If Mark McGwire destroyed his entrance into Cooperstown with his awkward refusal to answer any questions before Congress, then Clemens absolutely nuked his chances with his clumsy attempts to outsmart Congress.

We thought just a few years ago that the moment Clemens retired, his next stop would be in Cooperstown. Today we know something entirely different.

His Hall of Fame path has been redirected like some bad roll of the dice in a Monopoly game.

And unless you have a “get out of jail free” card handy, Roger, it no longer looks like you’ll be stopping at Cooperstown any time soon.

Don't miss this on MSNBC.com Pass it on: Sons of infertile men may be next The eight biggest Olympic marketing debacles Reality show judges range from wise to wacko Cosmic Log: Is this your jetpack? Forget your inhibitions: World's sexiest islands

MORE FROM BASEBALL

Baseball Section Front

A deal on Bradley? You're buying a lemon   CTB: Panda attacks conditioning like a jelly donut GMs head out to work on offseason trades Report: Mets, Phillies interested in Figgins MLB blog: Tigers listening to offers for Granderson Blyleven: Pitching to be had beyond Halladay Varitek exercises option to remain with Red Sox MLB blog: Mariners are bringing back Griffey ... why? AP sources: Riggleman staying as Nationals manager Wainwright: Holliday wants to return to Cards   Baseball Section Front   Add Baseball headlines to your news reader: