Kennedy coach, player react to Clemens verdict

A jury of Major League Baseball fans is still out on whether Roger Clemens took steroids, but a group of his peers ruled Monday that the Cy Young Award-winning pitcher didn't perjure himself.

The "Not Guilty" verdict stunned plenty across the nation, but not longtime Cedar Rapids Kennedy baseball coach Bill Herkelman.

“I'm not surprised," the current Cougar assistant coach said. "Big money takes care of it. There's no doubt about that. That's just the way it is.”

The coach spoke Monday after his team's doubleheader split against Linn-Mar, and referenced the culture of baseball at the time Clemens is alleged to have taken performance-enhancing drugs.

“Sure. I think a whole bunch of them have [taken steroids]," Herkelman added. "I don't know if it's bad or not. If everyone was using them, then they were all level.”

Cody Bell, one of Herkelman's Kennedy ballplayers, echoed his coach.

“I think that's very surprising. I thought [Clemens] used them," Bell said. "They've had this story going for multiple years, so I just always figured he did.”

Clemens, a seven-time winner of baseball's Cy Young Award, will be eligible for the MLB Hall of Fame in 2013.

Gazette

reporter Jeff Johnson contributed to this story.