In a heartfelt interview Clemens detailed his use of HGH and steroids and the rest of his sorted past.Clemens described his intense competitive edge and watching the younger and larger players coming up from the minors. He described standing on the mound feeling washed up, holding a ball designed for hitters in the center of stadiums with shorter fences, throwing to chemically enhanced batters “It's the most hopeless, I've ever felt. Baseball was all I ever did, I knew nothing else and I needed to stay in the game”, Clemens told the reporter.Since 2008, there had been a litany of top players from the steroid era that had come clean Sooner or later forgiveness was going to come for Clemens. Forgiveness came because people remembered how much they loved Clemens. Clemens as an older man was easier to love than the middle aged, drug using liar they all came to hate. Clemens was softer now and easier to like, and once people started to like him again they remembered why they loved him.The power pitcher excited baseball fans for twenty years with exciting stuff.

He was the ace for the two most dominant teams of his era and people remembered why they stood and cheered at each of his “last pitches”. We always return to our heroes, no matter how flawed.Clemens also benefited from the fact that the secrets that lie within the Veteran's Committee. His peers knew the pressure he felt and the rampant use of steroids by hitters and pitchers in his era. There were silent voices within the commitee's souls knowing they had gotten away with things. Clemens was just unfortunately linked to the few club house attendants and trainers that talked, it could have easily been members on that committee.There is now something charming about Clemens in his old age. He has dropped the tough guy act and is left with a genuine southern charm. Clemens knows the best baseball stories and is still considered to be one of the best, steroids and all.

No one would miss a chance to hear Clemens speak about baseball. So on the day Clemens enters the Hall of Fame, there will be discussion and a little bit of outrage Clemens will line up with old teammates and coaches They will chant his name and he will sign autographs. Clemens will stand before the crowd, alongside his bronze likeness wearing an interlocking NY hat. He will thank the committee, his managers, his teammates and the fans. He will apologize for any harm he did to the game and thank the game for all it's given him. He will smirk and say ” there's one more thing I'd like to set straight before I go…I really never intended to throw that bat at Piazza.” He will return to his seat and recieve an ovation.

He will smile and chat with the players to his side and he will watch as the next inductee steps up to the microphone. Clemens will look upon that man and silently think, “His plaque doesn't nearly capture the size of his head.”   . * Two European hostages say they are well treated * Kidnappers increase ransom demand to $4 million By Mohamed Ahmed and Abdi Guled MOGADISHU, April 24 (Reuters) – Two European aid workers taken hostage by gunmen in Somalia earlier this week said on Friday they were unharmed, and the kidnappers increased their ransom demand to $4 million. The Horn of Africa nation is one of the world’s most dangerous places for humanitarian workers. Kidnapping is fairly common, but the gunmen generally treat their hostages well in the hope of receiving a sizeable ransom. A Belgian doctor and a Dutch nurse working with Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) were seized on Sunday after carrying out a nutrition study in south-central Somalia’s Bakol region. “We love our countries, families and friends very much and we hope we shall meet them soon.

We urge them to find an urgent solution to our difficult situation,” the Dutch captive told Reuters in a brief telephone call. His Belgian colleague said: “We are in difficult condition .. but we are okay now I can only say they treat us well … Let me convey to my people that I’m okay now.” MSF has asked that their names not be published. Attacks on relief organisations, normally blamed on clan militias or Islamist rebels, have forced many charities to scale back operations — cutting their ability to help in a humanitarian crisis that is one of the world’s most acute. The captors of the two MSF workers had initially demanded $1 million to free them. But a man who described himself as the gang’s ringleader and gave his name as Nur, told Reuters they now wanted $4 million “We are not afraid of any group,” he said by telephone. The hardline Islamist al Shabaab rebels, who control the region where the kidnapping took place, have vowed to rescue the hostages by force if negotiations fail.(Writing by Jack Kimball; Editing Daniel Wallis).