Roger Clemens, then of the Houston Astros, pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals during Game Three of the National League Championship Series in Oct. 2005. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)

by James Oliphant

Some key members of Congress are trying to bring down the Rocket.

Wednesday, the chairman and the ranking member of the House Government Reform Committee, Reps. Henry Waxman and Tom Davis, asked the Justice Department to investigate whether pitcher Roger Clemens lied under oath during his appearance before the committee earlier this month.

In a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, the congressmen say that Clemens statements were at odds with the sworn testimony of his former trainer, Brian McNamee, who said he injected Clemens with steroids, and with his ex-teammate, Andy Pettitte, who said Clemens told him that he had used human growth hormone. (see Waxman's memo)

Perhaps more important, Waxman and Davis told Mukasey that McNamee and Pettitte back each other up:

Mr. Pettitte’s testimony and affidavit further reported on two past conversations with Mr. McNamee that support Mr. Pettitte’s recollection of the 1999 or 2000 conversation with Mr. Clemens. Mr. Pettitte’s affidavit and testimony state that in a conversation with Mr. McNamee shortly after Mr. Clemens alleged admission to Mr. Pettitte, Mr. McNamee became angry when Mr. Pettitte told him that he knew that Roger Clemens had used human growth hormone because that was supposed to be confidential. According to Mr. Pettitte’s deposition, he also had another conversation with Mr. McNamee in 2003 or 2004 in which Mr. McNamee told him that he had obtained steroids for Mr. Clemens. Independently, in his deposition, Mr. McNamee recalled two conversations with Mr. Pettitte, one that could have occurred in 2000 and one in 2004, about Mr. Clemens’s HGH and steroid use that were similar in substance to the two conversations described by Mr. Pettitte.

During the Feb. 13 hearing, Clemens repeatedly and adamently denied ever using steroids and human growth hormone, saying that McNamee had injected him with Vitamin B-12 and lidocaine. There is also some doubt concerning his testimony about whether he actually attended a party in 1998 hosted by former teammate Jose Canseco in Miami and whether hew was ever made aware of the allegations of his steroid use contained in the report prepared by former Sen. George Mitchell.

Lying to a congressional committee is a federal crime. But that might be the least of Clemens' punishment. A conviction -- or even perhaps a lengthy investigation -- could seriously impair or ruin his chances of entering baseball's Hall of Fame. For an athlete such as Clemens, who during his testimony regularly referred to the hard work he put in to become one of the game's elite, it could be the worst sanction imaginable. He would join another legendary competitor -- Pete Rose -- as a baseball immortal kept from his sport's highest honor.