Dan Duquette Will Take a Congratulatory Call

In the wake of the Mitchell Report, a common thread of discussion has been the relative measure of redemption afforded Dan Duquette since the revelation from Roger Clemens' former trainer that Clemens used steroids to extend his Hall of Fame career. If you'll recall, Duquette failed to retain Roger Clemens after the Rocket's slight decline in the mid-90's, claiming Clemens was in the twilight of his career. Clemens went on to pad his resume in a serious way, and that was that.

But now Duquette is actually getting phone calls from people congratulating him. Seriously:

2. Duquette. He's been fielding calls of congratulations ever since the release of the report, which goes a long way toward explaining how Clemens extended the "twilight of his career,'' by, oh, a decade or so. Duquette, who despite a largely successful tenure as Red Sox GM, has been ridiculed hundreds of times for predicting Clemens was nearing the end. Since leaving the Red Sox in 2002, he has never offered another GM job and is currently working as the director of operations for the Israel Baseball League and president of the Duquette Sports Academy. Yet, he won't gloat. Prodded as to whether he's been vindicated, Duquette said, "I'm not sure what I need to be vindicated for ... Red Sox fans are very sophisticated, and you can leave that judgment to them.'' He did get a chuckle when I asked him whether he himself was in the twilight of his own career. Laughing, the 49-year-old responded, "No, I'm still a young guy.''

I'm not sure what Duquette's not sure about. Minus steroids, the Twilight Comment is one of the great managerial gaffes in Major League Baseball history. With Clemens' apparent fondness for rear-stuck needles suddenly in the equation, the decision looks considerably better. It doesn't completely vindicate Duquette -- it's likely Clemens would have had a few more productive seasons, PEDs or not -- but it's a start.