The prosecutors representing the government in the case against Roger Clemens called dozens of witnesses, including experts in everything from beer cans to the handling of DNA. The attorneys argued so meticulously, in such excruciatingly thorough detail, that some jurors were excused during the nine-week trial because they fell asleep.
But in the end, in the face of that mountain of preparation and presentation, jurors decided overwhelmingly and quickly -- so quickly that Clemens had to scramble to get to court to hear the verdict -- that the pitcher was not guilty on each of six counts of perjury.
And yet five years ago, those who generated the Mitchell report -- most notably, George Mitchell, the former U.S. senator -- determined that it was appropriate to publish a public indictment of Clemens based on the word of one person: trainer Brian McNamee.
The 12 jurors voted that Clemens was not guilty. But they also, by extension, effectively repudiated the standard of proof used in the Mitchell report -- a woefully incomplete history that was a bad idea at its inception and became, in the end, an unconscionable exercise that generated a handful of scapegoats to distract the mob from the failings of more powerful men.
Nobody should be naive about what took place during the steroid era. It well may be that all 86 players linked to the use of performance-enhancing drugs in the Mitchell report did, in fact, take steroids or human growth hormone or some other form of performance-enhancers.
Clemens was found to be not guilty, which is not the same as being found innocent. He was cleared of perjury charges, which doesn't mean he told the truth. The inclusion of his name in the Mitchell report was incredibly unfair, but after his name was published, he made some awful choices. In trying to save a pitching legacy that was lost the instant the Mitchell report was released, he exposed those around him to unnecessary embarrassment and scrutiny.
Andy Pettitte, who was like a little brother to Clemens, chose a different path, acknowledging his use of performance-enhancing drugs and moving on, and the split in their stories effectively led to the end of their friendship.
But none of the players should've been forced to defend themselves, ever. Bud Selig, the commissioner of baseball, should've done that for them -- and instead, he chose to expose the sport, unnecessarily, to an investigation that never had a chance for success.
The entire institution of baseball -- the union leaders, the owners, Selig, clean and dirty players, those in the media who covered the sport -- failed to respond quickly as the use of performance-enhancing drugs grew exponentially during a period of about 20 to 25 years. Selig had been called to Congress repeatedly to explain baseball's handling of the steroid mess, and as a result, Major League Baseball and the players' association greatly strengthened their drug-testing system.
The commissioner should've been satisfied with that. He should have been willing to simply say that terrible mistakes were made, including some by him, and because of those mistakes, the sport had been deeply infected and affected by drug use.
But Selig went a different way. Maybe he felt he had absorbed an unfair share of criticism: In the '90s, after all, the greatest portion of the sport's practical power actually resided in the hands of union leaders Don Fehr and Gene Orza. Maybe Selig was as concerned with shaping and preserving his legacy as Clemens would become with his own.
Whatever the root cause, Selig chose to devote millions of dollars to hire Mitchell -- and more importantly, Mitchell's good name -- to start an investigation that was doomed from the start. There was no chance the union was ever going to allow its members to participate and expose themselves to what was essentially a private investigation, and therefore, there was no chance -- ever -- that the full context of what happened and when it happened would ever be learned. Mitchell and his lawyers never held subpoena power.
There was no chance, of course, that Fehr and Orza would participate and talk about their evolution of thought and action. Based on the information in the final report, there is little indication that Mitchell and his investigators delved into the conversations about steroids among the owners and Major League Baseball's power brokers. After all, there were reports of steroid use in baseball as far back as 1988, a decade before the summer of Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa.
But Selig hired Mitchell, against the advice of others around him, and as the former senator waded into a murky history, he must've learned what everybody in sport understood -- that by the first years of the 21st century, there probably had been hundreds of ballplayers who had used performance-enhancing drugs in the major and minor leagues.
Nevertheless, what Mitchell produced in his report, most notably, were the names of 86 suspected users, with a high percentage through the reprinting of media reports.
A small handful of names were generated through Mitchell's investigation. Clemens was among those, after McNamee was compelled to speak to the Mitchell lawyers by federal investigators. Clemens was given an opportunity to respond to allegations, generally, although he was never formally presented with the precise details of exactly what McNamee had said before Mitchell's report went to print.
Clemens did not respond, and we'll never know what he and others would have done if they had known that Mitchell's standard of proof was like something pulled out of the Joe McCarthy playbook: If somebody accuses you, that's good enough for us.
What was sacrificed in the Mitchell report, of course, was the all-important context. If Clemens and the other 85 players used performance-enhancing drugs, then they were among many at a time when the sport effectively condoned use through inaction. But Clemens was used as the crown jewel in the Mitchell report; he became Public Scapegoat No. 1.
Now, years later, a jury determined that McNamee's word -- even when braced and bolstered by experts and exhibits -- wasn't good enough.
Monday's verdict was really only about jail time for Clemens. He won't have to go to prison, but he'll never recover his legacy.
For Selig, the verdict was only about legacy. In what has generally been a strong career in baseball, this is the end of a chapter that should embarrass him.
Clemens is free to go, the judge told him. Here's how some voters will view the verdict, writes Lynn Zinser.
It's the fans who lose, writes Mike Lupica. The steroid era has struck out, writes Steve Popper.
The verdict doesn't change suspicions, writes Mike Wise.
The Houston Astros are open to Clemens joining their organization now, says owner Jim Crane.
Dickey's amazing run
R.A. Dickey's baseball career was almost over a few years ago, and now he's the NL front-runner for All-Star Game starter and the Cy Young Award .
From ESPN Stats & Information: With a one-hitter Monday night on the heels of a one-hitter last Wednesday, Dickey became the first pitcher with consecutive one-hitters since Dave Stieb in 1988. Stieb did so by having back-to-back no-hit bids broken up with two outs in the ninth inning.
From Elias: Dickey is the first pitcher in modern baseball history (since 1900) with back-to-back complete-game one-hitters with 10-plus strikeouts in each.
One-hitter or no-hitter in consecutive appearances (since 1900, from Elias):
2012: Dickey, New York Mets
1988: Dave Stieb, Toronto Blue Jays
1966: Sam McDowell, Cleveland Indians
1944: Jim Tobin, Boston Braves
1943: Mort Cooper, St. Louis Cardinals
1938: Johnny Vander Meer, Cincinnati Reds
1934: Lon Warneke, Chicago Cubs
1925: Dazzy Vance, Brooklyn Robins
1923: Howard Ehmke, Boston Red Sox
1911: Rube Marquard, New York Giants
Note: Whitey Ford had one-hitters in consecutive starts in 1955 but had a relief appearance in between.
Eleven or more wins, an ERA less than 2.50 and a strikeout per inning through the first 14 starts of a season in MLB history (from Elias):
2012: R.A. Dickey<<, Mets
2006: Francisco Liriano, Minnesota Twins
2000: Randy Johnson, Arizona Diamondbacks
1999: Pedro Martinez, Red Sox
1966: Sandy Koufax, Los Angeles Dodgers
>>11-1, 2.00 ERA and 103 K in 99 IP this season
From Elias: Dickey now has seven straight starts with eight or more strikeouts and two or fewer walks, matching the longest single-season streak since 1900. Others:
2001: Randy Johnson -- 7
1997: Curt Schilling -- 7
1965: Sandy Koufax -- 7
Dickey now has five straight starts of zero earned runs and eight-plus strikeouts, the longest streak in MLB history. The previous mark was four -- Gaylord Perry (1967), Ray Culp (1968) and Pedro Martinez (2002).
From Elias: Dickey's current streak of 42 2/3 innings without an earned run is the second-longest in Mets history. The franchise record for consecutive innings without allowing an earned run is 49 by Dwight Gooden in 1985 (Aug. 31 to Oct. 2).
From ESPN Stats & Info: How Mets starter R.A. Dickey dominated the Orioles
A. Dickey threw 35 knuckleballs at 80 mph or higher, the third straight start in which he's thrown at least 30 knuckleballs at that speed. Before those three starts, his previous high in a start was 17 such pitches.
B. He's thrown 106 knuckleballs at 80 mph or higher in his last three starts; he threw 100 in his first 11 starts. He threw 32 two-strike knucklers, 26 of which were 80 mph or harder. Eleven of his strikeouts came with the knuckleball, including nine at 80 mph or harder. Dickey got four called strikeouts, two more than his previous season high.
C. Eleven of the 15 balls in play against Dickey were grounders (73 percent), his second-highest percentage this season.
D. Orioles hitters were 0-for-7 with seven strikeouts in at-bats ending with a ball up in the zone from Dickey. Six of those strikeouts were against knuckleballs.
Top things to know
From ESPN Stats & Info
1. Aaron Hill hit for the cycle against the Seattle Mariners. He is the second to hit for the cycle this season (Scott Hairston on April 23). Hill is the fifth to hit for the cycle in Diamondbacks history.
2. The New York Yankees won their 10th straight game, the longest winning streak this season.
3. Matt Cain was less than perfect Monday against the Angels after throwing a perfect game in his previous start. On Monday he allowed six hits, four walks and three earned runs in five innings. His bullpen, though, was perfect. Shane Loux, Sergio Romo, Jeremy Affeldt and Santiago Casilla combined to throw a perfect four innings, allowing Cain to pick up his eighth straight win.
• I've got early morning travel today, so I couldn't get to all of the links. If anybody is in the Vermont-New Hampshire area later today, I'll be at the Red School House in Randolph Center, Vt., from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. for a marrow registry event, on behalf of Amelia Lincoln, my sister. If you want to come by and talk baseball, feel free to do so.
And today will be better than yesterday.