At 24 years old and coming off the best season off his young career, Parque tore the labrum in his throwing shoulder and never recovered. After two years of fruitless therapy and desperate to get his fastball back, he ordered some human growth hormone (yes, he's in the Mitchell Report), took a couple of injections, and then gave up. He retired in 2003, pitching only 70 innings in his final three seasons.

Apparently, the torment of those dark days have been eating away at him ever since. He painstakingly tries to explain himself. He had kids to feed! He was so young! He's just a man! You know what? We get it, Jim. You were desperate to rebuild your career and, yes, almost anyone of us would have done the same. No one is mad at you, buddy.

But let's say for a moment that Parque hadn't freaked out and stopped taking the drug. What if he had continued using HGH and it made him a serviceable pitcher for five more years or so? He makes a couple million dollars, his family is more financially stable, the White Sox get a fourth starter, and no one is the wiser. I know the "steroids = cheating" crowd won't appreciate this, but ... so what if he did?

Here's Jim own words about it:

HGH was not banned by Major League Baseball when I ordered it. It was controversial and unethical, but it was not banned.

[...]

I had done just enough research to know that what I was about to do had huge risks. Because I did not obtain the drugsfrom a lab, they could be tainted or entirely different than what I ordered. I was uncomfortable, but I injected the substance about six times. It immediately made me sleep deeper. My skin became baby-soft, and I could feel my workouts improving. It never gave me more strength or bulked me up, but it provided quicker recoveries. I began to throw harder because my shoulder felt no pain. I was able to withstand more throwing, creating a work environment that I had not experienced in two years.

So basically ... he took a drug and it made him feel better. He suffered an injury and this helped him get over it. What is wrong with that? How is that any worse than a player who takes aspirin for a headache or vicodin for a sore back or a shot of anesthetic to numb a foot injury or having a surgeon temporarily alter your peroneus brevis tendon so that you can become an American hero? Aren't those things just as "performance enhancing" (maybe more so) as Parque's baby soft skin? All convincing explanations accepted below, but you'll have to work pretty hard to invent one.

It's true that we don't know a lot about HGH and its effects on the body, but every drug that's ever been manufactured started out that way. There's little evidence that it actually makes you bigger or stronger and it doesn't add any drop to your curveball. Maybe if athletes were allowed to use it, supervised correctly, we might learn what it can really do. And maybe more pitchers like Parque wouldn't have to retire at age 27.

Ex-Sox pitcher Jim Parque confesses: Why I juiced [Sun-Times]

Roger Clemens' trusted attorney, Rusty Hardin, once again shoves all this nonsense aside, telling the DN, "I can't imagine that there's any truth to that at all. We'll find out one day Roger never received or took the stuff."

However, if any of the allegations against Debbie Clemens are true, Sports Illustrated should protect the sanctity of its swimsuit issue and go ahead place an asterisk next to her photo. In fact, maybe she should have it branded on her thigh.

Sources: Roger Clemens Got HGH in Mail From Kirk Radomski [NY Daily News]

The latest McNamee bomb alleges that Rocket encouraged his wife to zap herself with some HGH right before her Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue shoot in 2003. Writer Kathleen O' Brien dug up this little nugget from Debbie Clemens' website about her trepidation about posing for the issue:

Roger came to me one day and told me that we had been asked to do a photo shoot for Sports Illustrated. I had major anxiety! I was a 39-year-old mother of 4! Once I realized that this WAS going to be a reality, I decided I had to give it everything I had. My mind was set. I am not a risk taker, but have since learned that with great risk, sometimes comes great reward. The responses from that experience have been wonderful and I feel it was a turning point in my life. It's nice to have a goal for yourself and to see it through. The goal kept me motivated and focused. Using common sense and my ability to balance my life, I achieved that goal.

Well, the goal was achieved. She absolutely shreded herself for that photo shoot. However, with this latest allegation does this mean that Debbie Clemens lose her first ballot milf hall of fame credentials? She only has a few more years of eligibility.

Roger Clemens — some 'family plan' [NJ.com]

I tend to believe him, if only because it seems like a guy who was abusing HGH as a performance-enhancer should've been a little bit better than David Segui (although that forearm is Michael Pittman-huge). He says that tests indicated that his natural levels of HGH were "off the charts low," and that, for him, HGH was a medical necessity. He even produced a doctor's prescription in his chat with ESPN's Jeremy Schaap. Of course, there are doubters, such as Deadspin reader Kyle, who wrote in with the tip:

Sounds really fishy to me, as a guy that is good enough to make it to the majors probably doesn't need HGH. I'm not a doctor, but I've heard many of them say that nearly no one needs HGH and a professional athlete has no reason to take it (outside of not having a pituitary gland).

Well, for me, this is the final straw. Steroid-related suspicions about Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmerio, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds... fine. I can handle those. But when a cloud of suspicion hangs over David Segui, then there's just nothing left for me to believe in. Mickey Mantle getting a hummer in Yankee stadium, David Segui using HGH... when will it all stop?

Update: Kyle clarifies his position on Segui and the HGH.

Transcript: David Segui's interview with ESPN [ESPN.com]
Mickey Mantle, God Among Men [Deadspin]