Clemens faces video camera over steroids allegations

Click here for Roger Clemens' first direct response to allegations that he used steroids and Human Growth Hormone.
Sure does look like the signs of an innocent man when Clemens posts a video of himself talking about it to his Web site rather than call a press conference or something and face actual questions from actual reporters.
Wait, Clemens did announce that he will sit for one interview. He's hoping to outwit 135-year-old Mike Wallace, who will leave the nursing home for a time in January to grill Clemens on 60 Minutes.

Rocket steroids poll

In a Yahoo! Sports poll that drew 56,157 votes, 82 percent answered "yes" to the question, "Do you believe Roger Clemens took steroids?"

Sox-for-Santana deal any minute now?

The Pioneer Press is reporting that the Red Sox remain in the lead in trading for Johan Santana, and that a deal could be announced any minute.
The article states that the group of prospects the Sox have available to trade are closer to being ready for the Major Leagues than the Yankees' prospects.
The Yankees have a depleted, not-ready-for-primetime group of prospects? How could that be after all these years of shipping them off for aging, steroid-riddled has-beens?

Schilling could have been Clemens with steroids

From one aging, overweight superstar pitcher to another, F.U.!
Curt Schilling has a message for Roger Clemens: Give back those Cy Young awards, because they're tainted by steroids.
Who can blame Schilling for going off on this?
If he had turned to steroids as he started to lose the edge on his fastball and see his body break down the way any middle-aged man's body does, Schilling could have won a few Cy Young awards and commanded far more than the incentive-laden deal he signed with the Sox. He could have dictated Roger Clemens-type money.

Sign of the apocalypse?

The Trentonian made Sports Illustrated this week. The newspaper's cover on the day after the George Mitchell steroids report was released, featuring a photo of Roger Clemens and the headline, "He Took It In The Butt," was reproduced as part of the weekly feature, "Sign of the Apocalypse."

Roger Clemens is in denial

Taking the opposite approach of teammate Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens adamantly denied using steroids today.
In fact, he even got preachy about it, saying, "Those substances represent a dangerous and destructive shortcut that no athlete should ever take."
That doesn't ring true with pretty much anyone, given how damning George Mitchell's steroids report was in relation to Clemens, and in contrast to Pettitte (an evangelical Boy Scout vs. Clemens' a-hole hillbilly routine) admitting that he had done it.
Uncomfortable with the George Mitchell report's depiction of Clemens as lustily pursuing any bit of steroids he could get his buttocks on, a Texas high school athletic association is dis-inviting Clemens as a speaker, it was announced yesterday.
But all who worry about Clemens' ability to make a living in this post-steroids outing era, have no fear.
He can still do the pharmaceutical salesmen convention speech circuit.
And we heard Pacman Jones needs a tag team partner at some second-tier pro wrestling events next year.

Rivera conspicuously not surprised about Clemens

The Yankees have finalized a three-year, $45 million deal with Mariano Rivera, meaning that the team will be paying the already-slipping closer $15 million when he is 41 years old.
After signing the deal, Rivera told reporters that he was surprised Andy Pettitte took Human Growth Hormone and was included in George Mitchell's report on performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball.
Rivera conspicuously made no mention of being surprised that Roger Clemens used steroids and was featured prominently in said report.

Wherefore art though, Johan?

Maybe the Sox aren't getting Johan Santana after all. This thing has dragged out long enough, you would think that if a deal was going to work it would have been agreed to by now.

And while a daily news report comes out quoting prominent Yankees saying the team needs someone like Santana, and doesn't need someone like Santana, word is that the Yankees might be back in the game.

Despite another point-of-no-return, drop-dead deadline set by Hank Steinbrenner.
Despite word that the Yankees aren't adding any more prominent players to the package, i.e., no Joba Chamberlain or bet the farm package of Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes.

And despite the fact Santana is reportedly seeking a seven-year, $140 million deal in exchange for agreeing to waive his no-trade clause.

OK, so that last one is obviously not a hindrance to the Yankees. Who cares if you have $415 million tied up in only two players. If that doesn't work, the Steinbrenners could buy the entire roster of the Florida Marlins for the next 40 years and make it their new Minor League system.

There are obvious risks in offering any 28-year-old pitcher a seven-year deal for that much money.

But look at it in the light of today's Major League Baseball. You can buy a lot of Human Growth Hormone with $140 million.

A-Rod 'never felt overmatched' enough to use 'roids

So Alex Rodriguez did 60 Minutes tonight, and of course, denied ever using steroids, Human Growth Hormone or excessive amounts of Wheaties prior to game time.
"I've never felt overmatched* on the baseball field," he said. "... I felt that if I did my, my work as I've done since I was, you know, a rookie back in Seattle, I didn't have a problem competing at any level."

* Regular season only

Pettitte tries honesty

I was quick to blast Andy Pettitte's hypocrisy in being an outspoken evangelical Christian and also a user of illegal performance-enhancing substances, according to the George Mitchell report.
So I'll be quick to say that Pettitte's reaction to the report today has by far been the best and most stand-up response to Mitchell's accusations.
While everyone else in the report seems to be ducking, denying, hiding behind lawyers, or literally hiding, Pettitte spoke to reporters today, and admitted exactly what he did.
"In 2002 I was injured. I had heard that human growth hormone could promote faster healing for my elbow," Pettitte said in the statement released to The Associated Press by agent Randy Hendricks. "I felt an obligation to get back to my team as soon as possible. For this reason, and only this reason, for two days I tried human growth hormone. Though it was not against baseball rules, I was not comfortable with what I was doing, so I stopped."
Honesty. That's refreshing.
And that's pretty Christian of him, and it stands out amid the behavior of the many other players mentioned in the report, especially teammate Roger "Take it in the Butt" Clemens.
Pettitte could have admitted he broke the rules as soon as he started feeling "uncomfortable" with his actions and stopped. He could have been the first and only Major League Baseball player to voluntarily cooperate with George Mitchell's investigation. He could have admitted to using HGH as the issue came into the spotlight bigtime over the past year.
He didn't do any of these things until he was publicly called out for his actions this week.
Certainly not perfect, but just being honest about it, even long after the fact, is more than you can say for Roger Clemens and dozens of other current and former Major League Baseball players.

Canseco says A-Rod took steroids

The New York Daily News is reporting that Jose Canseco was "surprised" not to see Alex Rodriguez's name on George Mitchell's list of Major League Baseball players who took steroids.

Wait. What?

Suzy Waldman and various media worshippers have been telling us that A-Rod's talent comes straight from the gods. That he is the pure, naturally all-powerful Adonis who is destined to break Barry Bonds' steroids-tainted all-time home run record in a few years and restore baseball to its rightful place along with Mom's apple pie and white picket fences.

"All I can say is the Mitchell Report is incomplete," Canseco said. "I could not believe that (Rodriguez's) name was not in the report."

Hate Canseco for being the douchebag that he is, but you've got to admit that his book and his outspokenness about the use of steroids in baseball, including admitting his own steroid use, was a major catalyst in getting the issue the attention and scrutiny it's receiving today.

And as annoying and self-serving as Canseco has been with his accusations, has he been proven wrong yet? He's certainly been proven right a few times.

And the obvious consensus is that Mitchell's report named only a fraction of the players who did take steroids.

As one sports radio talk show host said the day the report was released, "there are a lot of players and former players out there today breathing a big sigh of relief, having feared they might be named."

And was it just a coincidence that the Steinbrenners waited until just after the report came out to give a final sign-off on A-Rod's $275 million deal? Think, perhaps, that they wanted to make sure he wasn't on that list before committing that much money to someone the fans hate to begin with?

Roger Clemens vs. Barry Bonds

Yahoo! Sports columnist Dan Wetzel makes the same point today that The Trentonian's L.A. Parker brought up when Roger Clemens came through town this past summer on a rehab start with the Trenton Thunder.

That Roger Clemens is as villainous as Barry Bonds, and just as much of a cheater. The only difference is the color of their skin.

Why did this steroid news about Clemens come today like it was out of the blue, when you hear now that Major League Baseball people have been whispering about a Clemens steroid connection for years?

Weren't the same signs there ... an aging player suddenly getting better and more dominant when everything we know about the way a body breaks down as it gets older would tell us that the opposite should happen?

Granted, there's the BALCO connection and the steroids book linking Bonds, but neither player has tested positive for steroids under Major League Baseball's testing program.

Yet Bonds has been villified while Clemens has been readied for Hall of Fame sainthood.

What? What? In the butt

From the AP's report about the Mitchell steroids findings:
Clemens was singled out in nearly nine pages, with much of the information on the seven-time Cy Young Award winner coming from former New York Yankees major league strength and conditioning coach Brian McNamee.
More than a dozen Yankees, past and present, were among the 75-plus players identified.
"According to McNamee, from the time that McNamee injected Clemens with Winstrol through the end of the 1998 season, Clemens' performance showed remarkable improvement," the report said. "During this period of improved performance, Clemens told McNamee that the steroids 'had a pretty good effect' on him."
McNamee also told investigators that "during the middle of the 2000 season, Clemens made it clear that he was ready to use steroids again. During the latter part of the regular season, McNamee injected Clemens in the buttocks four to six times with testosterone from a bottle labeled either Sustanon 250 or Deca-Durabolin."

'Mr. Purity' is a steroids user

OK, so no one's surprised that Roger Clemens is on George Mitchell's list of Major League Baseball players who took steroids. Is it really that much of a stretch to think that the Rocket, someone who would throw a 90-mile-an-hour fastball at his own grandmother, would cheat to win?
But Andy Pettitte?
Andy Pettitte, the church-going family man?
Andy Pettitte, the guy who says he would be a youth minister if he weren't a Major League Baseball player?
Pettitte even wrote a book about his Christianity and how young people can live a life of "sexual purity." (Described this way on a Web site that's currently offering a $3 discount to $11.99: While life as a big league baseball player has brought Andy Pettitte fame and accolades, it has also brought with it temptation. However, Andy learned to deal with temptation long before he donned his first major league uniform. While still a teenager, Andy committed himself to Christ and a life of purity. With his target identified early on, he has been able to hit the strikezone throughout his life. Andy and author Bob Reccord encourage you to commit now to a life of purity and integrity, not only in sex but in action, thought, and motive.)
How does all that "purity" talk sound now that we know Pettitte cheated by having performance-enhancing steroids injected into his body?
Here are a few direct quotes from interviews with Andy Pettitte:
"I want to try to honor the Lord in every area of my life. Every decision I make, I go to him and ask him for wisdom about decisions I make for myself and my family. "
and...
"I constantly ask myself 'What does God want me to do?' and 'Where does He want me to go?' ... As I said in the last chapter, living a pure life means trying to please God in everything I do."
Maybe God told Andy Pettitte to take steroids?
Otherwise, can you say hypocrisy?

Pettitte, too

In addition to Clemens, WNBC TV in New York is reporting that the Mitchell steroids report names Yankees players Andy Pettitte, Johnny Damon, Kyle Farnsworth and Jason Giambi.

Rocket fuel!

BREAKING NEWS: ESPN reporting Roger Clemens will be named in Mitchell Report
BRISTOL -- ESPN has reported on SportsCenter that Roger Clemens will be among those players named today in the Mitchell Report.
Citing unnamed sources, the sports network said that Clemens’ personal trainer Brian McNamee may have supplied Clemens with steroids.
McNamee formerly worked as the trainer for the New York Yankees. This season he worked with Clemens and Yankees' pitcher Andy Pettitte.

Matsui outta here for a 1-5 pitcher?

The New York Post is reporting that the Yankees may have asked Hideki Matsui to waive his no-trade clause so that he can be shipped to the San Francisco Giants for pitching help.

What kind of pitching help, you ask?

Johan Santana-like help?

Ah, no.

Well, the Giants have Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum. Might help a little, right?

Ah, no.

Nope, the kind of pitching help we're talking about in exchange for the once-feared bat of Hideki Matsui is none other than Jonathan Sanchez. In 33 appearances last season, including four starts, he put up a record of 1-5 with a 5.88 ERA.

Look, if Carl Pavano is gone for good, the Yanks need to replace that spot on the roster somehow.

Leaning toward Ellsbury

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune is reporting that the Twins are leaning towards a Red Sox package that includes Jacoby Ellsbury and Minor League players for Johan Santana, rather than the package that would have included Coco Crisp and John Lester.
That means my aforementioned scenario involving a six-man rotation with Beckett, Santana, Matsuzaka, Schilling, Lester and Buchholz, with Wakefield coming out of the bullpen, could give the Sox the best pitching staff from top to bottom in the entire Major Leagues next season.

Why one writer didn't vote for A-Rod for MVP

Catching up with a column by the Tigers beat writer for one of The Trentonian's sister newspapers in Michigan. Jim Hawkins was one of only two voters this year not to choose Alex Rodriguez for American League MVP.

An unapologetic vote for Ordonez as the AL MVP
By JIM HAWKINS
The Oakland Press
I voted for Magglio Ordonez for American League MVP. However, as I expected, the combination of Alex Rodriguez's high New York profile, the fact that the Yankees reached the postseason while Ordonez's Tigers did not and the fact that A-Rod had the more spectacular season (54 home runs, 156 RBI) while Magglio was more consistent, were simply too much to overcome.
When the results were announced Monday, Ordonez, who put together, arguably, the best offensive season by any player in Tigers' history, received just two first-place MVP votes - from the two Detroit writers on the election panel - while A-Rod, who enjoyed a season reminiscent of Babe Ruth, won in a landslide with the other 26 firstplace votes.
Ordonez also received 22 second-place votes and four thirdplace votes.
Ordonez's second-place finish was the best by any Tiger in the MVP voting since Cecil Fielder was runnerup to Cal Ripken Jr. in 1991. It marked the 11th time since 1934 that a Tiger has been the runnerup in the voting. Tigers players have won the award eight times, most recently by Willie Hernandez in 1984.
I certainly don't apologize for my vote. I saw all but a handful of Ordonez's 157 games this season. And, night after night after night, I witnessed a player having an MVP season.
I didn't have to depend on what I read in the paper or saw on the TV highlight shows. I saw Ordonez put on an MVP performance with my own two eyes.
Don't get me wrong: Rodriguez had a great year, too. I have no quarrel with those writers who placed A-Rod at the top of their 10-man ballots. He deserved it every bit as much as Ordonez.
What I do find disturbing, however, is the fact that four of my baseball writing colleagues didn't even see fit to place Ordonez second, voting for either Vladimir Guerrero (3) or David Ortiz (1) ahead of Magglio. What league were they watching?
I began covering the Tigers on a daily basis in 1970, and this was unquestionably the best season I have ever seen any Tiger have.
And remember, the award is called "Most Valuable Player" - not "Player of the Year."
Where would the Tigers have finished without Magglio's league-leading .363 average or his 28 home runs or his 139 RBI or his remarkable 54 doubles?
Not as high as the New York Yankees would have finished without A-Rod, I can assure you. Because Rodriguez was surrounded by a much stronger supporting cast.
Adding together Ordonez's 139 RBI and the 117 runs that he scored, and subtracting his 28 home runs (otherwise, under this formula, HRs would be counted twice), we find Magglio produced 25.7 percent of the 887 runs the Tigers scored in 2007.
Making the same calculations for Rodriguez, A-Rod accounted for 25.3 percent of the Yankees' 968 runs this year.
But for me, the clincher - and this is huge - was the fact that Ordonez batted .429 with runners in scoring position, while Rodriguez hit .333 in such potentially game-winning situations.
Ordonez's .363 average was the best by any Tiger since Charlie Gehringer in 1937.
In fact, that .363 figure was the second highest by a righthanded hitter in the American League since Joe DiMaggio batted a jolting .381 in 1939. Since then, only Nomar Garciaparra (.372 in 2000) has outhit Magglio right-handed.
Ordonez's 54 doubles were the most Detroit has seen since George Kell delivered 56 twobaggers in 1950.
Ordonez outhit Rodriguez (.363 to .314) and finished second behind A-Rod in RBI (156 to 139). Ordonez's 139 RBI were the most by a Tiger since Rocky Colavito drove in 140 runs in 1961.
In addition, Ordonez was second in the AL in hits (216), on-base percentage (.434), and total bases (354). Contact Jim Hawkins by email at jim.hawkins@oakpress.com

Another mediocre multi-millionaire

As the Red Sox possibly get ready to welcome Johan Santana into the rotation, the Yankees bid farewell to a nearly-as-expensive guy who never quite got there.

Carl Pavano will get nearly $13 million to walk away.

According to the New York Post, the highly-touted signing from a few years back turned into just another $40 million mistake for the Steinbrenners.

What's $40 million here, $40 million there?

Hell, at least J.D. Drew knocked in a few runs in the playoffs this year for the Sox. And the Eric Gagne experiment was quick if not painless. Plus Gagne's signing with the Milwaukee Brewers the other day will provide the Red Sox with a compensatory pick in the supplemental round of next year's draft.

For $40 million, Pavano had to play in only 19 games, 17 of which were in 2005, and only 5 of which he won.

What will the Yankees do to fill Pavano's outrageously-overpaid, achy-breaky mediocre pitcher spot on the roster?

Can we convince Roger Clemens to come back for one more season?

The deal that will give Boston a dynasty

It's been all quiet on the Johan Santana front for nearly a week now, which has been kind of enjoyable, since it has given Yankees fans time to wallow in the possibility of the Sox acquiring another ace. Imagine this starting lineup:
Josh Beckett

Johan Santana

Daisuke Matsuzaka

Curt Schilling

Clay Buchholz

Tim Wakefield

That's if the Sox deal Jon Lester, Coco Crisp and a package of Minor League prospects, as has most frequently been mentioned.
If Boston includes future Hall of Fame center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury in the deal instead of Lester, you could put Lester into that rotation and bring Wakefield in out of the bullpen, a role he's filled very successfully from time to time in the past.
Can you imagine Wakefield coming in to clean up for Beckett, confusing hitters with knuckleballs after they've struggled to catch up with Beckett's fastball?
And you'll notice that I listed a rotation of six pitchers.
If the Red Sox pull off this trade for Santana, why not a six-man rotation? Matsuzaka thrived in Japan under that scenario, and did far better in Boston when he had an extra day of rest.
With that extra time off between starts, and the adjustments he's going to make during the offseason to life and pro baseball in the U.S., Matsuzaka's stuff could be as dominant as Beckett's and Santana's.
Good luck beating Boston in a five-game playoff series the next few years.