Kudos to Sean Cunningham of Esquire for doing a great job chronicling Roger Clemens behavior over the years. Cunningham demonstrates countless reasons why the Rocket’s image and credibility is taking a shot and why he shouldn’t be surprised that he’s not “getting the benefit of the doubt.” It’s simply because time and time again Clemens has exhibited strange (see: douchebag) behavior and why he’s one of the least loved athletes the sport has ever seen. If you’re not loyal to your fan base, as Clemens wasn’t, particularly in Toronto, New York and Houston, fans are sure to return the favor.

Two of my favorites:

1996

Insisting the only thing that would make him leave Boston is a desire to play closer to his Texas home, Clemens decides to join the Toronto Blue Jays. Despite this, Clemens graciously expresses great fondness for the Red Sox, noting his former teammates are “distraught” and “on their way out the door.”

2000

An irate Clemens throws a piece of a broken bat at Mike Piazza during the World Series. Maintaining total innocence, Roger offers the perfectly plausible explanation that he just wanted to toss the bat “towards our on-deck circle, where our batboys were at.” Then he offers the equally perfectly plausible explanation that he “thought [the bat] was the ball.” Finally, he concludes, “To be honest with you, I didn’t know if it was the bat or the ball,” putting the matter to rest forever.