Jeter is glad Clemens beat the rap

Roger Clemens may have lost a few fans— and Hall of Fame votes— while battling a variety of steroid-related charges over the past few years but some of his former New York Yankees teammates are glad the whole saga is over and still on the Clemens bandwagon— including Derek Jeter.

After Clemens was found no guilty on Monday of lying to and obstructing Congress, Jeter said he was pleased with the result.

"I think it means a lot for him, first and foremost," said the Yankees shortstop. "That's the important thing.  I think it's great for the game that we can stop talking about it now, you know what I mean?  This is something that's been going on for a long time.  I'm glad it's over with.  I'm pretty sure baseball fans will be happy it's over with."

Jeter— who chooses his words as carefully as his pitches added," There was a lot of speculation.  You always have to be careful not to rush to judgement."

While Jeter was forthright in his remarks, his teammate Andy Pettitte— whose testimony likely helped Clemens with his acquittal— wasn't so chatty.

"I don't even care to talk about it," said Pettitte— who pitched with Clemens in New York and with the Houston Astros.

Alex Rodriguez— an admitted steroid user— had nothing to say on the matter and the Yankees third baseman actually ran past reporters at the end of batting practice to avoid them.

Jeter sounds like he still thinks Clemens is bound for the Hall of Fame.

"That's how you look at his career," said the Yankees Captain.  "He was someone that I enjoyed competing against, I enjoyed playing with. He's going to go down as one of the greatest pitchers of all time."