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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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?

Rocket broken

Roger Clemens' senior citizen bones are crumbling with every pitch, and now he's been removed from the Yankees' roster and will have sit out a championship series against the Red Sox, if his team can somehow come all the way back from 0-2 and get there.
Joe Torre has put Ron Villone on the squad in Clemens' place, reversing an earlier misstep he made in having no one to come out of the bullpen to pitch to Cleveland's lefthanded power hitters.

Because he looked so good in Game 1

NEW YORK (AP) - Chien-Ming Wang appears to be the Yankees' likely starting pitcher Monday night if New York forces its series against the Indians to a fourth game.
Yankees manager Joe Torre said Saturday that Mike Mussina would be available in relief on Sunday night should Roger Clemens falter. Mussina also would have followed Luis Vizcaino had Friday's 2-1, 11-inning loss gone much longer.
Wang has started on less than four days' rest just once, allowing one hit in seven innings to beat the Orioles on June 6 last year. That outing came three days after he got the final two outs and a save in a 10-inning win at Baltimore.
Wang's sinker was up against Cleveland in the series opener, when he matched his career high by allowing eight runs in a 12-3 loss.
Pitching Wang in Game 4 lines up Andy Pettitte to pitch a potential fifth game. Roger Clemens joked about the way his buddy pitched out of trouble to throw 6 1-3 scoreless innings in Game 2.
"I told Andy he looked great from the stretch since he was in it all night," Clemens said.
Pettitte has a $16 million player option for next year and will need to speak with his family before deciding whether to exercise it. The status of Torre, in the final year of his contract, also will play a part in his decision.
"That definitely would be something that I would factor in," Pettitte said.

It's almost over

Yankees "ace" and one-time Cy Young contender Chien-Ming Wang looked awful last night as he was pounded by Indians hitters, but a bigger key to the series is the Yankees' quiet bats.
Three runs of offense isn't going to be enough in Game 3 with Clemens on the mound, and certainly not when the Yankees hand Mike Mussina the ball in Game 4.
It's a five-game series, remember, so that's enough to send the Yankees home for the year, and Joe Torre off into retirement (or a job coaching the Kansas City Royals).

A two-game series?

The Yankees' 2007 playoffs experience could be over by tomorrow.
They are facing two of the best pitchers in the American League, guys who have been absolutely lights-out against everyone they've faced this year.
And if the Yankees start things off 0-2, they will be putting their fate in the aging, pudgy hands of Roger Clemens, he of notorious playoff failure fame.
And if he gets run support in the 10-12 range and somehow prevails, it's on to Game 4, and Mike Mussina, and 10-12 runs might not be enough to keep the Yankees from another case of "wait until next year."
That being said, if any team can beat the Indians' top two pitchers, maybe it's the Yankees.
Fausto Carmona has an 0-1 career record against the Yankees, with a 3.86 ERA over five games, maybe not a big enough body of work to know how they'll fare against him.
And although the Yankees haven't faced C.C. Sabathia this year, his career record against the Yankees is 1-7, with a 7.13 ERA in eight games.

Clemens flies to Texas for special home remedy

BALTIMORE (AP) - Roger Clemens flew home to Texas on Friday, choosing to rehabilitate his bothersome left hamstring there rather than at the Yankees' training facility in Tampa, Fla.
Clemens missed his scheduled start at Tampa Bay on Tuesday and remained behind to condition the leg when the team flew north. Although Clemens said he was healthy enough to pitch, the Yankees decided not to have him pitch this week.
Now he's at home preparing for the postseason.
"Wherever Roger goes, he's got workout facilities for what he needs to do," New York manager Joe Torre said Friday before the Yankees faced the Orioles.
Clemens made the decision to leave Friday without working out.
"He was going to stay away from, as he puts it, digging in there all the time," Torre said. "It was something about getting out of Dodge. ... He's just going to do some conditioning and then Monday he's going to do a simulated game and then he'll hop on a plane and join us."
Clemens is 6-6 with a 4.18 ERA in 18 games.

Roger out, Manny in as playoffs upon us

On a national sports talk radio program yesterday, former Twins and Mets ace Frank Viola predicted that Roger Clemens will not only be out for the rest of the regular season, as has been announced, and for the first round of the playoffs, as has been conjectured in the New York tabloids, but for all of the playoffs and the rest of the year.

Can you imagine the Yankees sending Kei Igawa to the mound in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series against the Red Sox?

Meanwhile, Manny Ramirez is back in the Red Sox lineup, just in time to see them clinch the division and get warmed up for the playoffs.

Maybe 20 pitchers can do what three can't

Another blown lead, another nail-biter, another six pitchers used so far in tonight's 6-6 tie ballgame in the top of the ninth inning against lowly Tampa Bay.
This comes on the heels of Friday's 14-inning loss to Toronto in which 8 pitchers were used, and the following night's 10-inning victory in which 10 pitchers were used.
If it makes Joe Torre feel better to finish half a game out of the division lead instead of 2 1/2, and then have no fresh pitching available for the playoffs, so be it.
The strategy doesn't seem to make sense when you've got Clemens about to check into a nursing home and you're desperate enough that you're starting Kei Igawa in his place.

Bring back Boomer

David Wells says he'll pitch again next year, unless the Dodgers win the World Series.

Let us be the first to urge the Yankees to bring him back.

If the Yankees can get Clemens to come back at age 46, and Mussina to come back as well, he'd be a perfect fit on this team.

Maybe the Yankees could re-aquire Randy Johnson also?

Bronx Nursing Home intramural squad falls to Seattle

The 45-year-old Roger Clemens showed his age again last night, lasting only 4 innings while getting pounded by Seattle for 5 runs and 8 hits. He won't make his next start due to general old man aches and pains.

And boy was it fun watching Mike Mussina (7 hits, 2 runs in 3.2 innings) come out of the bullpen for mopup duty.

The funny thing is that he'll probably take Clemens' place in the starting rotation for at least one turn.

Now that's a dynamic duo.

With the loss, the Yankees' lead in the Wild Card race falls to 1.

And meanwhile, the Red Sox mustered 12 more runs than the Yankees last night in beating Toronto.

The Yankees fall 7 games back in the AL East, and Boston's magic number is 18.

Joba Chamberlain? Outta here!

Young Joba Chamberlain earned his pinstripes yesterday.

Congratulations, rookie, you're officially a Yankee asshole.

After throwing two near-100 mile an hour fastballs at the head of Kevin Youkilis, Major League Baseball suspended Chamberlain for two games today.

There's more than one point to be made about this one:

- First of all, what was Youkilis' crime? Playing with hustle. Youkilis is the anti-Yankee. He's the type of player who has put the Red Sox in first place this year and the type of player who helped them win a World Series in 2004. In his world, you run like hell on every ground ball and pop fly. These overpaid, lifeless, passion-less Yankees hate guys like him. He's the anti-Yankee. So apparently, Chamberlain was throwing at Youkilis because 1) he slid safely into first after Giambi was pulled away from the base on another Yankee throwing error and had to try to tag him, and 2) he ran outside the base line to avoid a tag by A-Rod later in the inning, was called safe, and then called out when the umpires reversed themselves.

- Throwing a 100 mile an hour fastball at someone's head is a hell of a lot different than someone like Jamie Moyer or Tim Wakefield throwing a 75 mile an hour pitch at someone's head.

- Joba is clearly learning from the best when it comes to gutless American League headhunters. Roger Clemens is the most infamous guy in modern Major League Baseball for doing this kind of thing.

- The penalties handed down by Major League Baseball in the case of both Chamberlain and Clemens earlier this season will do nothing whatsoever to stop guys from getting thrown at. Chamberlain wasn't going to pitch the next two days anhow because of Brian Cashman's restrictions on the number of pitches he can throw. Clemens is a starting pitcher. His five-game suspension meant that he missed one scheduled start ... really, he just got an extra day of rest.

- Did this rookie throw at Youkilis on his own? Is that really his instinct after two seconds in the league? Very, very doubtful. This has Joe Torre's fingerprints all over it, and he deserved a suspension also. And his suspensions should be doubled the second time (remember his part in Clemens' shenanigans earlier this season), and be tripled the third time.

$195 million of payroll ... on the bench and in minors

With a payroll that towers ridiculously above all other Major League teams, the Yankees are turning to extremely low-paid rookies to salvage the 2007 season and put them back in contention in the AL Wild Card race.

Clemens sucks at $28 million a year.

Giambi and Damon are part-time players at $23 million and $13 million, respectively.

Mussina, at $11 million a year, can't make it out of the third inning and has lost his spot in the starting rotation.

Kyle Farnsworth, at $5.6 million a year, can be counted on to lose games or fill space when you're down 13-0.

Kei Igawa, at $4 million a year, sent down to the Minors.

Carl Pavano, $10 million a year ... ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

And even Doug Mintkiewicz, at $1.5 million, is overpaid for what he has produced for the Yanks this season.

What are the bright spots for the Yankees?

Chien-Ming Wang, Joba Chamberlain, Melky Cabrera, Phil Hughes, and now, phenom pitcher Ian Kennedy, who will be called up after a whirlwind trip through the Minors to take Mussina's place.

All of these guys make less than $500,000 a year.

Not the Roger Boston used to know

A far fatter, weaker, cockier Roger Clemens faces the team he started his Major League career with tonight as stock in the Red Sox goes in the opposite direction of the team to which the Rocket has hitched his wide wagon this year in what quickly shaped up to be a failed attempt to win another World Series ring.

Like their decisions to jettison Johnny Damon and Pedro Martinez, who absolutely fell apart physically after leaving the Sox for greener greenbacks with the Mets and Yankees, Theo Epstein and Co. have got to be thrilled at their decision not to outbid the Yankees for Roger's services this year.

So tonight the Sox will be sending Cy Young candidate Josh Beckett to the mound to face a future Hall of Famer whose $28 million salary this year has produced a 5-5 record, 4.34 ERA and 6 runs given up in five innings in his last start.

Maybe it was past Roger's bedtime

After a four-hour rain delay, Yankees fall farther behind in the AL East and Wild Card race.
Apparently, Roger Clemens doesn't magically turn back into a good pitcher after midnight.

Roger Clemens in 2057

Click here to see a video of Roger Clemens in 2057

What will $195 million buy you? Not pitching, apparently

The Yankees' total team salary stood at $195,229,045 before signing Roger Clemens to a $28 million, one-year deal.

The Angels, who have destroyed Yankees pitching in the past two games at a critical time for New York's playoff chances, are among the top-spending teams in the Major Leagues - fifth overall. But their payroll is still nearly $100 million a year less than the Yankees.

And there are four teams - Washington, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay and Florida, with payrolls less than the combined single-year salaries of Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi.
New York Yankees 2007 Salaries from ESPN.com:
1. Alex Rodriguez, $27,708,525
2. Jason Giambi, $23,428,571
3. Derek Jeter, $21,600,000
4. Andy Pettitte, $16,000,000
5. Bobby Abreu, $15,600,000
6. Johnny Damon, $13,000,000
7. Hideki Matsui, $13,000,000
8. Jorge Posada, $12,000,000
9. Mike Mussina, $11,070,423
10. Mariano Rivera, $10,500,000
11. Carl Pavano, $10,000,000
12. Kyle Farnsworth, $5,666,667
13. Luis Vizcaino, $3,000,000
14. Doug Mientkiewicz, $1,500,000
15. Jose Molina, $1,350,000
16. Robinson Cano, $490,800
17. Chien-Ming Wang, $489,500
18. Melky Cabrera, $432,400
19. Wilson Betemit, $405,000
20. Darrell Rasner, $384,523
21. Sean Henn, $382,048
22. Humberto Sanchez, $380,000