Washington, D.C. - In an underreported story coming out of the congressional hearings on steroids in baseball, Clemens escaped without further embarrassment to he and his wife. The story--or lack thereof--should have been what Clemens had whispered to his lawyer, Rusty Hardin, during questioning about his wife's HGH use.His wife, Debbie, sat behind him and listened as Waxman implicated her in HGH use, citing statements by Pettitte. Clemens testified his wife took HGH once. (Although according to the transcript of last week's sworn deposition, Clemens told committee lawyers he didn't know of family members taking HGH.) Clemens then leaned towards Hardin and--while covering his mouth with his hand--whispered, "she grew a little dick, too." And returned to Chairman Waxman's questioning with a notable nauseated look on his face, which most people attributed to the anxiety of possible perjury charges.
"I don't think he was worried about perjury charges," said Charles Sheeler, the reticent chief counsel for Major League Baseball, who was sitting closest to Clemens during Wednesday's hearings. "He whispered to Rusty [Hardin] that his wife grew a 'dick' or a 'prick'. I don't know exactly. But something phallic definitely. He got this disgusting shutter of a look after he said it. But I was sitting pretty close to him. I definitely heard it. Gross. Just gross."
At times, Clemens struggled to find the right words as he was pressed by lawmakers. Clemens said Pettitte "misremembers" things. He mispronounced McNamee's name at one point. Toward the end, Clemens raised his voice to interrupt Waxman's closing remarks. The chairman pounded his gavel and said, "Excuse me, but this is not your time to argue with me."
