Clemens Talks to HS Coaches in Waco

[Guest Orangeboy]

WACO, Texas - No mention of the name Mitchell, and nothing of needles, lawsuits, steroids or McNamee.

Not even that toughest question of all: "Swear?"

In front of the friendliest of audiences, besieged pitcher Roger Clemens, a native son of Texas, addressed approximately 3,000 members of the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association Saturday as the keynote speaker for its annual convention.

Clemens, greeted with a rousing standing ovation as he took the stage at the Waco Convention Center, spoke uninterrupted -- except for applause and occasional laughter -- for nearly 35 minutes, then took questions from the assembled coaches for an hour or so. Unlike last Monday's news conference in Houston in which Clemens stormed out after just a few questions, he stuck around Saturday because none of the questions dealt with allegations that he has used performance-enhancing substances.

Clemens opened his speech with some veiled references to the current controversy -- his name featured prominently as a steroid and HGH user in the Mitchell Report -- but did so using humor.

The media, which numbered only about 15 to 20, was barred from entering the Convention Center, but in an audio replay of the speech, Clemens made several jokes, including telling one of the event organizers at the start, "I appreciate the fiasco."

Clemens likewise drew a laugh when he recalled being told that he would not have to deal with the media at the event but then found out, "ESPN just bought the rights to the video."

The network did, for $750.

Otherwise, the event was Baseball/Pitching 101.

Clemens, whisked into the building through a side entrance in an SUV with tinted windows about 10 minutes before his scheduled 11 a.m. talk, paid homage to coaching, discussing his mentors from high school and college.

He also discussed his own transition from young phenom to 45-year-old mentor for younger players.

"The biggest thing I preach to the professional guys is when they come to that ballpark, they have to put their personal problems behind," Clemens told the coaches. "When they're there, that's their family."

Clemens said his own family played a role in his development, specifically his mother.

"My father passed away when I was young and my mother raised all six of us," Clemens said. "She's the one that gave me my work ethic."

The coaches association Web site originally listed "My Vigorous Workout, and How I Played So Long" as the title of Clemens' speech, but that was taken down the day after the Mitchell Report's release Dec. 13. There had been some question as to whether the coaches still would allow Clemens to speak, but the association's board decided Dec. 31 that it would not rescind the invitation.

A few minutes before the coaches began filing out of the Convention Center, a man drove by in a pickup truck and yelled, "I love you Roger Clemens! I love you!"

Based on interviews, the passerby spoke for the coaches.

"Our association is humbled that he showed up because we respect him so much," Mike Perez, Texas' Region IV baseball director and the head coach at Highlands High School in San Antonio, said after the speech. "We backed him up 100 percent. We think he's a great individual. If he says he didn't do it, I believe him 100 percent, our association believes him 100 percent. We think he's a class act."

Asked if his opinion would change should Clemens ever be proven to have used performance-enhancing drugs, Perez replied, "No."

When Clemens opened the floor for questions, the first one related to his mechanics and technique for his various pitches. The second addressed his motion. The rest followed suit, none touching on the elephant in the room that some admitted existed.

"In a venue like this, who would even dare a question like that [about steroids]?" said Ezekiel Dukes III, an assistant baseball coach at Smiley High School in Houston.

Dukes strongly supports Clemens but said, "This is Texas. He grew up in Texas. This is Texas baseball. This is a Texas venue, so of course you're not going to get asked the hard questions."

Clemens' longevity did come up in his speech that preceded the Q & A, but only in general terms.

"It's not going to feel perfect every day," Clemens said of the right arm that has won him 354 games. "You have to make adjustments. That's how I played 24, 25 years. I made adjustments. Hitters adjusted to me, I adjusted."

[KFDM COOP]

How did it go this year?

[Guest Orangeboy]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080112/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bbo_clemens_coaches

Coaches leave the Waco Convention Center after listening to speaker Roger Clemens at the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association state convention Saturday Jan. 12, 2008 in Waco, Texas. Clemens discusseed conditioning at the convention a month before he is to testify before a congressional committee investigating the Mitchell Report.

[bulldog16]

Coop,

His talk was absolutely outstanding....He talked about teaching and coaching for about the first 30 minutes and then for about the last hour he took questions from the packed house that was attending..the questions mainly focused on his experiences in pro ball and things that we as coaches can teach our kids that we work with on a daily basis (pitching mechanics, workouts between starts, etc.) the whole thing was very informative, and was handled with the upmost professionalism and He was very cooperative.   

[Guest Orangeboy]

WACO, Texas -- Roger Clemens spoke about a myriad of topics when he addressed more than 1,500 high school baseball coaches at a convention Saturday afternoon. He discussed conditioning, pitching mechanics, the nuances of what makes a good high school coach -- everything except for the issues that have followed the Rocket since the Mitchell Report was released.

Clemens was the keynote speaker for the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association State Convention, a three-day gathering of more than 2,500 coaches that ended with Clemens' hour-long speech. It marked the third time that Clemens has spoken to the group; his first appearance occurred in the mid-1980s.

Though the Coaches Association had briefly considered canceling Clemens' appearance following the release of the Mitchell Report, the board of directors ultimately decided that it wanted to honor the commitment to Clemens, who has vehemently and steadfastly denied all steroid allegations made by his former trainer, Brian McNamee.

Jim Long, the head baseball coach at Brenham High School, was pleased that they stuck with their decision.

"I'm extremely glad that everything went the way it went," Long said. "I don't know if it could have gone any better.

"We had to do a few extra things to keep the media out, but I thought it was terrific. The way it went, the speech, the coaches -- they showed they were a class act. Everything seemed pretty normal, to be honest. I'm just glad we went with this direction. It would have been a disservice to him if we hadn't, and the coaches would have been upset. Now that it's over, I can look back and know we definitely made the right decision."

Clemens was often animated as he regaled the crowd with anecdotal accounts of his college and professional experiences. Many of his stories elicited laughter from the crowd, and Clemens appeared to be relaxed and comfortable as he fielded questions from the audience.

He spoke extensively about his workout routine and addressed the importance of being a positive influence on high school kids. He also talked about how he influenced some of his teammates on the Major League level over the years.

"I'm a power pitcher, I'm not a power thrower," Clemens said. "A lot of guys are power throwers. A lot of guys fall in love with that speed gun. I tell them to turn it off at the stadium. All it does is, guys are peeking over there, like, 'Ooh, I threw that one 94 [mph]; the next one, I can throw 97.' Well, guys can put wood on a bullet at our level. Ninety-seven down the middle goes a long way if you just throw it out there and you make contact, believe me."

Clemens said he encourages his two younger sons to play baseball, even if they are involved with and more interested in other sports, "because I think it teaches you a lot of life lessons, and you don't have to be big in size to play. You can be just about any shape or size to play our wonderful game."

David Sitton, the association's president and head baseball coach at Humble High School, has known Clemens for 20 years, and said the Rocket's disposition on Saturday was the same as always.

"He was himself, without a doubt," Sitton said. "As it turned out, I don't think it could have turned out any better. I was never worried about what was going to [happen] inside. It turned out to be a perfect day. When he finished, he got a standing ovation from our association."

Clemens' speech provided a lighthearted break from what has been a trying time for the seven-time Cy Young Award winner since the Mitchell Report was released Dec. 13. In the report, Clemens was alleged to have used steroids and human growth hormone in 1998, 2000 and 2001. McNamee, Clemens' former trainer, told former Sen. George Mitchell he injected Clemens several times during those three seasons.

Clemens has issued several vehement denials through written statements, a video posted on his Web site, a "60 Minutes" interview and a heated press conference with reporters in Houston.

Clemens has also filed a defamation suit against McNamee for making "false and defamatory" claims in the Mitchell Report.

Standing before a roomful of high school baseball coaches on Saturday, Clemens did not address his recent situation, opting to instead stick with the original agenda.

"Listening to the speech, you can tell how much passion he has about baseball and about kids, wanting them to be the best they can be," Long said.

Long also expressed dismay about the firestorm that surrounded this appearance, ever since it was incorrectly reported that the association had uninvited Clemens to speak at the annual convention.

"Making this an issue, I thought, was completely ridiculous," Long said. "Everyone knows [Clemens] believes strongly against all those things [performance-enhancing drugs] and they know we are. That's why our guys were so positive. Somebody from outside, I really don't care what they think. I sleep well at night and we're going to do right by the kids. They know we don't support doing any of that kind of stuff that you can get out there."

Alyson Footer is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.