Steroids in Baseball pt.3 (Bonds, Giambi, Sheffield, Palmeiro, BALCO, etc.)

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So Bonds is back, hitting a 375 foot flyball double (inches from being a HR but a fan interfered at any rate) and then a 415 ft. flyout (a homerun in any other park other than SBC):

http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/stats/individual_player_hitting_chart.jsp?c_id=sf&playerID=111188&statType=1

The double came off an 11-pitch duel against Brian Lawrence, Bonds battling back after being down 0-2.

On the other coast, Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield (#9 and #10 in AL HRs) put together pretty solid seasons... Giambi in particular put his horrendous ("Just Retire Already") April/May and came back to find himself #2 behind David Ortiz in AL OPS, while leading the majors in HRs per AB.

Palmeiro is back in Texas and not travelling with the O's anymore after trying unsuccessfully to come back after his positive test.

Sosa is also out for the season, rumors that he's heading to Japan next year.

What of the off-years of Jim Thome, Ivan Rodriguez (hardly "Pudge"-y), Bret Boone, Mike Lowell, and Steve Finley? And where do you even start with the pitching drop-offs?

gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 15:42 (4 years ago) Permalink

Wait -- which pitching drop-offs?

MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 15:47 (4 years ago) Permalink

Yeah I'm confused by that too. Do you mean Schilling and Johnson or something?

Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 15:52 (4 years ago) Permalink

He's talking about Clemens.

David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 15:55 (4 years ago) Permalink

Haha or is it Dontrelle?

Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 15:55 (4 years ago) Permalink

Ryan Franklin has had a rough year.

MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 15:57 (4 years ago) Permalink

Do you guys think that Schilling, Gagne, Schmidt, Prior, Wood, O. Perez (take your pick), Pavano, Percival, Takatsu, Brown (to name a few) may have been helped in the past by the beneifits of accelerated healing? Or do you think it's just tough luck/coincidence that they all dropped-off/DL-d simultaneously this year?

gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 15:58 (4 years ago) Permalink

And the other Mariners?


>What of the off-years of Jim Thome, Ivan Rodriguez (hardly "Pudge"-y), Bret Boone, Mike Lowell, and Steve Finley?<

I believe except for Lowell "they're fucking ancient" is one explanation. (Pudge at 35 is an old catcher)

Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 15:58 (4 years ago) Permalink

Okay, but Sheffield, Juan Gone, Palmeiro and Bonds aren't exactly spring chickens.

Those guys I named put up career/fantastic years last year.

gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:01 (4 years ago) Permalink

Pitchers get hurt EVERY year, gygax! (esp. pitchers named Kevin Brown, Mark Prior and Kerry Wood!) I don't see how making a list of pitchers who got hurt this year = steroid related decline at all.

Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:05 (4 years ago) Permalink

Thome falls under the "suspicious degenerative condition arising in his mid-30's" umbrella similar to Vaughn, McGwire, et al.

I don't know how to judge pitching injuries, particularly those to young pitchers, wrt to the steroid issue. Kerry Wood's arm was abused in his early 20's, ergo, he's had a menu of arm problems since. I have no idea how to separate that from the possible benefits/drawbacks of using steroids to rehab his arm.

MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:07 (4 years ago) Permalink

xpost:

The question is not whether they were hurt or not but that they:

A) were injured for a lengthier period this year
B) declined in perfomance

based on not being able to reap the benefits of accelerated healing that certain chemicals provide.

gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:08 (4 years ago) Permalink

The 9 positive tests in the 2005 season (to date):
Sept. 7 - Michael Morse, IF/OF, Mariners
Aug. 2 - Ryan Franklin, P, Mariners
Aug. 1 - Rafael Palmeiro, 1B, Orioles
July 8 - Rafael Betancourt, P, Indians
May 2 - Juan Rincon, P, Twins
April 26 - Jamal Strong, OF, Mariners
April 20 - Agustin Montero, P, Rangers
April 11 - Jorge Piedra, OF, Rockies
April 4 - Alex Sanchez, OF, Devil Rays

gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:13 (4 years ago) Permalink

That's just it -- regarding B), is Wood's performance worse because

-- he's not juicing

OR

-- he's another year older and his arm is that much more fucked due to all the injuries, which would have been the case with or without steroids

MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:14 (4 years ago) Permalink

I want to know what happened with all those rumours a few weeks ago, claiming that one or two more big stars had tested positive. Even Selig himself was implying that something was up.

MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:16 (4 years ago) Permalink

Brown's been "declining"/wracking up crazy injuries for a while. Wood/Prior have been on and off the D/L since the beginning of their careers (as MIR points out for reasons that likely have little to do with steroids.) And Schilling's injury is just a weird one that he actually got last year. I don't see the connection to this years steroid testing process at all. And pitchers miss seasons and decline suddenly all the time. It's not remotely unique to this year.

Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:17 (4 years ago) Permalink

*cough cough* Cover up. *cough cough*

Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:17 (4 years ago) Permalink

Okay, you're right: No pitchers have ever taken steroids (except for Ryan Franklin, Rafael Betancourt, Juan Rincon, and Agustin Montero). My bad.

gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:21 (4 years ago) Permalink

Whoa dude, nobody's saying that. I'm saying that there's no way to distinguish the juicing pitchers from the non-juicing pitchers based on the rough criteria you listed.

MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:28 (4 years ago) Permalink

Haha oh I don't believe that at all. I think plenty of pitchers have taken steroids and I wouldn't be shocked if most of those people on that list have. I just don't see anything out of the ordinary about any of the declines/injuries you are citing on the pitching side. On the hitting side I think the declines are a little more suspicious, but still not unprecendented.

Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:29 (4 years ago) Permalink

You might have a point about Gagne, but he hurt himself in the spring, mustered a comeback w/ some mediocre results, then got hurt again. I'll pass judgment if he sucks hard next year.

Stuh-du-du-du-du-du-du-denka (jingleberries), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:29 (4 years ago) Permalink

I mean players slump like crazy and suddenly overperform like crazy for all sorts of mysterious reasons. Is it possible Jason Kendall stopped using steroids this year? I guess. Is it also possible that he's playing in a new town and struggling for totally non-steroid even non-physical reason? Of course!

Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:33 (4 years ago) Permalink

Well i was just being an ass to Alex there, but seriously, if someone could pull previous seasons' % of total MLB salary spent on pitchers on the DL (at per-game/inning, whichever), I'd be willing to wager this season as the absolute highest in MLB history.

gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:34 (4 years ago) Permalink

Gygax forgot to name Chan Ho Park, Mike Hampton, Hideo Nomo, Keith Foulke, Roy Halladay, Andy Pettite, Jaret Wright, Joe Kennedy, Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Octavio Dotel, Braden Looper, Steve Trachsel, Jerome Williams, Jesse Foppert, Joel Pineiro, Jaime Moyer, Wandy Rodriguez, Julian Tavarez, Eric Milton, Jose Lima, and Boof Bonser.

David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:35 (4 years ago) Permalink

Jerome Williams just got fat. He gained 70#s in 2 years! Now I love Hawaiian food too, but Jerome, dude, easy on the loco moko's.

gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:38 (4 years ago) Permalink

Haha half those guys are DL perennials! That ball wouldn't have hurt Halladay at all though if he'd been doing more 'roids. That's definitely true.

Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:41 (4 years ago) Permalink

Hallday would've grabbed the ball and EATEN IT.

(Alex, y'know my list was a jokey joke, right?)

Also, G: Takatsu's suckage this year = THE LEAGUE FIGURING HIM OUT!(see also: any other one-hit wonders; fly-by-night reliever successes)

Todd Jones, tho - he's a total freak. And he's probably on the juice, too.

David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:44 (4 years ago) Permalink

T/S: Todd Jones, Pitcher vs. Todd Jones, Yahoo! Sports Writer! And which requires more "performance enhancement", ahem.

Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:48 (4 years ago) Permalink

If only Ryne was using the same "editorial assistance".

David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:50 (4 years ago) Permalink

Also, I'd like to choose Option C: Todd Jones, Open-Minded Humanitarian.

David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:50 (4 years ago) Permalink

What is it about HOF 2nd basemen that they are required to be terrible analysts?! Was Honus Wagner this bad when he wrote his zine back in the 30s?

Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:52 (4 years ago) Permalink

From Honus Wagner Set You Up The Bomb #25:

"OMG our first baseman only hit .201 for the year WTF LEARN TO HIT YOU HAYSEED HICK"

David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:57 (4 years ago) Permalink

"The Red Sox made a great deal unloading Ruth. Sure Ruth might hit well for the next few years, but that money they get can a lot of quality talent. Plus Ruth is an overweight drunk. I predict the Yankees will regret this deal in the coming years."

Honus Wagner's Field of Dreams (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 17:01 (4 years ago) Permalink

"That Ray Chapman, he's got a long and great career ahead of him."

David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 17:04 (4 years ago) Permalink

suspicious degenerative condition arising in his mid-30's

isn't this just getting old? I mean, it wasn't so long ago that it was pretty rare for players to play well in the latter half of their 30s.

polyphonic (polyphonic), Wednesday, 14 September 2005 01:27 (4 years ago) Permalink

OMG look @ Christian Guzman's September!!

.276 / .364 / .414

Get a sample, Bud!

David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 15 September 2005 19:19 (4 years ago) Permalink

i really hate dan wetzel. in his latest column, he's bitching at SF fans for not booing BB, congratulating Baltimore fans for giving it to Raffy ("his career is OVER AND RUINED!" he's basically saying, and cheering the fact), bitching at NYY fans for cheering Giambi at the beginning of the season, etc.

gear (gear), Thursday, 15 September 2005 20:18 (4 years ago) Permalink

In his next column, Dan Wetzel is vent about the parents of some convicted murderers visiting their children in the slammer.

Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 15 September 2005 21:05 (4 years ago) Permalink

maybe this has been covered previously, but out of curiosity, what's the steroid policy in Japan?

mookieproof (mookieproof), Friday, 16 September 2005 19:10 (4 years ago) Permalink

They look the other way. That's one of the reasons Gabe Kapler was playing over there, apparently..

In other news, does anyone dispute that Jeff Francoeur is an enormous roid-head?

Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Saturday, 17 September 2005 04:28 (4 years ago) Permalink

In other news, does anyone dispute that Jeff Francoeur is an enormous roid-head?

Um, WTF?

Rock Hardy (Rock Hardy), Saturday, 17 September 2005 15:09 (4 years ago) Permalink

I WANT TO SEE THE BASTARD DENY IT.

Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Saturday, 17 September 2005 18:39 (4 years ago) Permalink

interesting!

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Barry Bonds used to commit any spare time before games to lifting weights, working meticulously to build up his leg strength for long nights of standing in left field and on the basepaths following his many walks.

His bum right knee no longer allows it. He is carrying a few extra pounds around his middle and vows to spend the offseason bringing his playing weight down from more than 228 pounds to about 200.

``I'm going to be skinny,'' said Bonds, who weighed 185 pounds as a rookie in 1986 but has not been near 200 for many years.

Such a drop is hard to imagine for the imposing Bonds, who steps into the batter's box with his body armor and proceeds to crowd the plate. But doctors have told the San Francisco slugger he must lose weight to protect his fragile knee, which required three surgeries since Jan. 31 and sidelined him for most of eight months.

Considering the way Bonds has been aching after his first four starts, he is likely to listen.

``I want to get my legs strong again,'' Bonds said in an interview Friday night with The Associated Press and MLB.com. ``Hopefully I'll train hard all winter. I can hit it, but I don't feel like I feel when I'm strong. I can tell out there. I'm older now. It's harder.''

This has been a trying year for the 41-year-old Bonds, who hit career home run No. 704 in the Giants' 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night. He didn't start Saturday -- his customary practice for day games after night games -- though he was available to pinch hit.

Bonds still defends his powerful swing against anybody else's in the game, though he acknowledges he no longer might be able to hit homers at the same rate he has in recent years.

``I may hit the ball 410 feet and the next one isn't going to go 410 feet,'' Bonds said. ``Maybe I'll grab my ribcage. That's life. I'm OK with it.''

His knee probably will never be the same, either.

Many think it's remarkable it only took Bonds 11 at-bats to hit his first home run in 355 days, since connecting for a solo shot against the Dodgers' Jeff Weaver on Sept. 26, 2004. But this is Bonds we're talking about.

He is third on the career home run list, 10 shy of tying Babe Ruth (714). After that will come the pursuit of his hero, home run king Hank Aaron (755).

``To see Barry here, knowing he's going to go back to the same guy ... you never knew if he was going to ever play again,'' manager Felipe Alou said. ``It's a good feeling for the guys.''

There have been plenty of times this year Bonds thought he might be done, frustrated with his painful knee and how it immobilized him. He just doesn't bounce back the way he did in his 20s or even his 30s.

Had he never been able to return and resume his chase of Aaron's record, Bonds wouldn't have known what to do. He wants to walk away on his own terms, not with an injury dictating his path.

``For me right now, it would be devastating,'' he said. ``I know I can still do something and my leg is preventing me. That hurts. ... So be it. I can't hang on forever, man.''

Just how strong his knee is he won't know until the offseason, when he really tests it and tries to regain strength in his legs.

Shortstop Omar Vizquel is eager to see how fans react to his teammate on the road, where Bonds can expect plenty of chatter about steroids.

Though Bonds never has tested positive for performance-enhancing substances and repeatedly has denied using steroids, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Bonds testified to a federal grand jury in December 2003 that he used substances prosecutors claim were performance-enhancing drugs.

``People want to see everything,'' Vizquel said. ``They want to see him. They want to boo him. They want to watch him hit a home run. He's kind of like a Tyson fight. They don't care about the guy much, but they always want to see him fight. But it's not that people don't care about Bonds.''

Bonds looks at recently retired Jerry Rice -- the NFL's career touchdowns leader -- as the example of longevity in professional sports.

``He could still score touchdowns. And I bet Joe Montana can still throw touchdowns,'' Bonds said. ``As an athlete, your time's going to come and your time's going to go. I can outrun you once, I just can't do it three, four or five times.''

When his day does come to call it quits, Bonds insists he will walk away and not turn back.

``The same thing when I went to high school, I graduated and said bye,'' he said. ``I left college and said bye. That's the same thing I'll do now, say bye and do something else.''

gear (gear), Saturday, 17 September 2005 20:12 (4 years ago) Permalink

hahaha wow.

John (jdahlem), Saturday, 17 September 2005 21:50 (4 years ago) Permalink

Will Carroll, BP:


Bonds is on record as saying he needs to get down to the 200-pound mark, something people are already mocking as covering for the loss of muscle many expect to see. This is normal advice for any person, athlete or not, with knee problems. Yes, Bonds admitted past steroid use during his BALCO testimony, something we may yet hear in open court. He's tested negative in 2004 and 2005, so wouldn't that muscle loss have already come? Let's all quit speculating and focus on what Bonds does or doesn't do on the field.

Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 19 September 2005 19:54 (4 years ago) Permalink

His performance thus far in 2005 has increased his career BA and SLG marks... his OBP this season (.400) has slightly decreased his career mark (.444). As mentioned in the other thread he's on pace to hit 8 HRs in less than a month's worth of games. That is a rate that only Andruw and (*ahem*) Giambi can even blink at.

It's weird to think that he's gonna lose 25 pounds though. We're the same height and he only weighs 6 pounds more than me (He's 228#). And I'm in the best shape of my last 10 years, I just ran a 5k in 19 minutes (on the track) this past weekend (caveat: results of the urinalysis yet to be determined).

gygax! (gygax!), Monday, 19 September 2005 20:06 (4 years ago) Permalink

Haha he's played FIVE games?!?! I can't believe you are citing those statistics like they mean anything.

Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 19 September 2005 20:22 (4 years ago) Permalink

He's actually played 2,722 games but yes, I compared the latest SIX versus the aggregate.

gygax! (gygax!), Monday, 19 September 2005 20:25 (4 years ago) Permalink

BEWARE THE SMALL SAMPLE SIZE

I could go yard twice in 6 games. If I didn't suck.

David R. (popshots75`), Monday, 19 September 2005 20:34 (4 years ago) Permalink

"Do you realize if you take Brian Roberts' home runs for these ten games and factor them out over a whole season that he'll not only obliterate the HR record for second basemen, but also for midgets and guys not named Josh Gibson? Who woulda thunk it??!?!"

Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 19 September 2005 20:36 (4 years ago) Permalink

Mets steroid supplier avoids jail. $18k and 1 yr probation WTF.

Steve Shasta, Saturday, 9 February 2008 21:19 (2 years ago) Permalink

Rocket's busting a blood vessel on CSPAN 3 webcast if anybody's interested.

Rock Hardy, Wednesday, 13 February 2008 15:42 (1 year ago) Permalink

Pettitte be snitchin'

bnw, Wednesday, 13 February 2008 16:57 (1 year ago) Permalink

Jayson Stark blog:

Rep. Davis reported that McNamee had testified that Mike Stanton once noticed that Clemens was bleeding through his dress pants -- which caused him to start carrying band aids around, presumably for his bleeding butt. Yikes.

Prompting the following surreal exchange:

Rep. Davis: "Mr. Clemens, do you recall bleeding through your pants in 2001?"

Clemens: "I do not."

Dr Morbius, Wednesday, 13 February 2008 16:59 (1 year ago) Permalink

wow. and i thought clemens & petitte were going to be lifelong bff's.

The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall, Wednesday, 13 February 2008 17:04 (1 year ago) Permalink

PLZ GOD SEND ROGER CLEMENS TO JAIL

jhøshea, Wednesday, 13 February 2008 17:05 (1 year ago) Permalink

Rep. Stephen Lynch turned his attention to an issue I thought I'd never see discussed on national television, from the floor of Congress -- a "palpable mass" on Clemens' buttock.

Lynch recounted how the Blue Jays' team doctor admitted he had given Clemens a vitamin B-12 shot. But Lynch said the doctor and the training staff said they'd never seen a reaction to a B-12 shot as severe as Clemens' reaction.

So the committee submitted Clemens' MRI to an expert on MRIs, Dr. Mark Murphy. And Dr. Murphy, according to Lynch, said the mass was "more compatible with Winstrol injections" than with B-12 injections.

Asked to explain this, Clemens threw the doctor under the team bus, saying, "I hate to get on Dr. Taylor ... but if he gave me a bad shot, he gave me a bad shot."

This grilling went on a while, whereupon Rep. Davis jumped in to complain about this line of questioning, even saying "this gave new meaning to the term, 'lynching.' "

Stark ends his entries with charcteristic lame nonjokes that I've been omitting.

Dr Morbius, Wednesday, 13 February 2008 17:49 (1 year ago) Permalink

"this gave new meaning to the term, 'lynching.' "
"this gave new meaning to the term, 'lynching.' "
"this gave new meaning to the term, 'lynching.' "
"this gave new meaning to the term, 'lynching.' "

max, Wednesday, 13 February 2008 17:50 (1 year ago) Permalink

Players implicated of taking PEDs in Jose Canseco's JUICED book, which at the time was critically and popularly disregarded:

Mark McGwire
Juan González
Rafael Palmeiro
Iván Rodríguez
Jason Giambi
Barry Bonds
Sammy Sosa
Bret Boone
Brady Anderson
Roger Clemens
Miguel Tejada
Dave Martinez
Tony Saunders
Wilson Alvarez

Steve Shasta, Wednesday, 13 February 2008 18:00 (1 year ago) Permalink

this gave new meaning to the term, 'lynching.' - ie questioning a baseball player abt performance enhancing drugs.

jhøshea, Wednesday, 13 February 2008 18:32 (1 year ago) Permalink

wow what a dumbass

bnw, Wednesday, 13 February 2008 18:37 (1 year ago) Permalink

Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton ran through a laundry list of all the unseemly stuff McNamee had allegedly done to Clemens -- lies about Ph.D's, claiming the Rocket's workout program was McNamee's workout program, using Clemens' photo in an ad without permission, etc. -- and wondered, "Why did you continue to employ him?"

This seemed like a set-up question -- a chance for Clemens to talk about what a great guy he is. Instead, the Rocket rambled all over the District of Columbia. After about four attempts to get Clemens to sing his own praises, Clemens finally caught on.

"Why did you keep this man? It's very simple," Norton said. "He did some pretty horrendous things."

"I'm a forgiving person," Clemens said, finally.

Oh. That explains it.

That satisfied Rep. Norton, anyhow.

"Mr. Clemens," she concluded. "All I can say is, I'm sure you're going to heaven."

Dr Morbius, Wednesday, 13 February 2008 18:43 (1 year ago) Permalink

oh my

jhøshea, Wednesday, 13 February 2008 18:44 (1 year ago) Permalink

thank god he's getting roasted

J0rdan S., Wednesday, 13 February 2008 18:49 (1 year ago) Permalink

they have to investigate him after this right? he's probably committed perjury about 65 times today

J0rdan S., Wednesday, 13 February 2008 18:50 (1 year ago) Permalink

Alan Dershowitz sez he should've taken the 5th, guilty or innocent.

Screw Stark, Alan Schwarz is blogging at the NYTimes:

In the first questioning period after the break, the ranking minority member, Tom Davis of Virginia, aggressively questioned Mr. McNamee’s representation of his medical credentials.

During his time in baseball the former police officer apparently advertised himself as a doctor. He is not a medical doctor, but earned a Ph.D. in behavioral sciences from Columbus University in Metarie, La. — the established name in distance education,” according to the school’s Web site, which carries the “.com” domain suffix and not the “.edu” more common for an educational institution.

Mr. Davis asked Mr. McNamee to describe the curriculum, which Mr. McNamee said included 11 courses and a written dissertation, all completed electronically, because Columbus University has no brick-and-mortar campus.

Was Columbus University a “diploma mill?” Mr. Davis asked.
“As I found out later on,” Mr. McNamee said, “it appears it is.”

Dr Morbius, Wednesday, 13 February 2008 19:06 (1 year ago) Permalink

This shit is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S. Strong hints that Clemens leaned on their nanny a bit this past Sunday night before making her name known to the committee and before she made a statement to them.

Rock Hardy, Wednesday, 13 February 2008 19:09 (1 year ago) Permalink

Wow, during Waxman's closing statement, he made it pretty clear that he believes McNamee over Clemens, Clemens started arguing with him, and Waxman told him to shaddap.

Rock Hardy, Wednesday, 13 February 2008 19:44 (1 year ago) Permalink

Schwarz:

Elijiah Cummings, the Maryland Democrat, began questioning Roger Clemens in the second session much as he had in the first — by asking Mr. Clemens about Andy Pettitte. Mr. Cummings repeatedly asked the witness why Mr. Pettitte, generally considered an honest person, would be so repeatedly off-base in his testimony under oath that backed up many of Brian McNamee’s assertions.

Mr. Clemens, as he had before, again provided a bit of a non sequitur in emphasizing his relationship with Mr. Pettitte, and that if Mr. Pettitte were using H.G.H. he would have told Mr. Clemens.

Mr. Cummings all but sighed and said, “It’s hard to believe you. It’s hard to believe you, sir. You’re one of my heroes, but it’s hard to believe you.”

Dr Morbius, Wednesday, 13 February 2008 19:47 (1 year ago) Permalink

The Rocket would make a great politician.

Steve Shasta, Wednesday, 13 February 2008 20:02 (1 year ago) Permalink

well, he'd fit right in - that's for sure.

The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall, Wednesday, 13 February 2008 20:04 (1 year ago) Permalink

I pretty much hate Waxman and Clemens equally.

Schwarz:

“This is what I’ve learned,” Waxman said. “Chuck Knoblauch and Andy Pettitte confirmed what Brian McNamee told Senator Mitchell. We learned of conversations that Andy Pettitte believed he had with Roger Clemens about H.G.H.­ even though Clemens says his relationship with Mr. Pettitte was so close that they would know and share information with each other. Evidently Mr. Pettitte didn’t believe what Mr. Clemens said in that 2005 conversation” –­ before Clemens spoke loudly into his microphone.

“It doesn’t mean he was not mistaken,­ sir,” Clemens said, violating House rules by speaking after witness questioning had completed.
“Doesn’t mean that,” Waxman said. Clemens replied: “That does not mean that he was not mistaken,­ sir.”

Waxman pounded his gavel and said: “Excuse me, but this is not your time to argue with me.”

Dr Morbius, Wednesday, 13 February 2008 20:32 (1 year ago) Permalink

actively looking for a fourth to round out the world's worst barbershop quartet:

chicago kevin, Wednesday, 13 February 2008 22:26 (1 year ago) Permalink

"I told the investigators I injected three people -- two of whom I know confirmed my account," McNamee said. "The third is sitting at this table."

Steve Shasta, Wednesday, 13 February 2008 23:54 (1 year ago) Permalink

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=bryant_howard&id=3244584

This pretty much sums up how I felt reading, watching this. McNamee comes off as pretty pathetic and despicable. Clemens OTOH was just sociopathic.

Alex in SF, Thursday, 14 February 2008 01:30 (1 year ago) Permalink

AP NewsBreak: McNamee's lawyer predicts presidential pardon for Clemens

By RONALD BLUM, AP Baseball Writer
February 14, 2008
One of Brian McNamee's lawyers predicted that Roger Clemens will be pardoned by President Bush, saying some Republicans treated his client harshly because of the pitcher's friendship with the Bush family.

Lawyer Richard Emery made the claims Thursday, a day after a congressional hearing broke down along party lines. Many Democrats were skeptical of Clemens' denials that he used performance-enhancing drugs and Republicans questioned the character of McNamee, the personal trainer who made the accusations against the seven-time Cy Young Award winner.

"It would be the easiest thing in the world for George W. Bush given the corrupt proclivities of his administration to say Roger Clemens is an American hero, Roger Clemens helped children," Emery said in a telephone interview. "It's my belief they have some reason to believe they can get a pardon."

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During Wednesday's session before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Clemens repeated his denials under oath, which could lead to criminal charges if federal prosecutors conclude he made false statements or obstructed Congress.

"I'm not aware of Mr. Clemens having been charged with anything," White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto said after being told of Emery's remarks.

Emery cited Bush's decision last year to commute the 2 1/2 -year prison sentence of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, his vice president's former top aide. Libby was convicted in the case of the leaked identity of a CIA operative.

During the hearing, Clemens cited his friendship with Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush, a baseball fan who regularly attends Houston Astros' games. Clemens said he was on a recent hunting trip when the elder Bush called with words of support.

"They have some belief that even if he's prosecuted, he will never have to serve jail time or face a trail," Emery said. "This is a charade we're going through."

IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky attended the hearing and watched from the second row. Novitzky has been a part of the BALCO prosecution team that secured an indictment against Barry Bonds on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Bonds testified before a grand jury in 2003 and denied that he knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs.

Emery praised Clemens' lawyers, Rusty Hardin and Lanny Breuer, as knowledgeable and said the prospect of a pardon was the only explanation thaat allowed the pitcher to repeat his denials under oath.

"It's the only reason lawyers worth their salt would allow their client to run into the buzzsaw of Jeff Novitzky and the potential prosecution, tampering and lying to a federal official," Emery said.

Joe Householder, Clemens' spokesman, said he would attempt to reach Hardin or Breuer for comment. Republicans on the committee did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment.

AP White House Correspondent Terence Hunt contributed to this report.

Steve Shasta, Thursday, 14 February 2008 19:47 (1 year ago) Permalink

It's a disgrace to Abner Doubleday. I hope they throw the book at him.

felicity, Thursday, 14 February 2008 21:39 (1 year ago) Permalink

Tracer Hand, Thursday, 14 February 2008 22:16 (1 year ago) Permalink

Roger Clemens: Hey, I was watching a TV show the other day.
Andy Pettitte: You bought a TV?
RC: No, Andy, I was watching TV, and there was this show about three old guys.
AP: How much did you pay?
RC: Pay for what?
AP: The TV? How much did you pay for the TV?
RC: Andy, I said I was watching TV. Come on, man. There was this show about three old guys.
AP: Three old guys on TV. Like Grumpy Old Men.
RC: There were only two of them.
AP: I thought three.
RC: Right. Anyway they were like, pretty sick, you know? Sickly and stuff.
AP: Maybe you should have given them food.
RC: What? Give who food?
AP: The old guys you were watching TV with. You could have given them soup. Chicken soup is good for you. Clears out your pores and stuff.
RC: I wasn’t watching TV WITH them, Andy, I don’t even know them. They were on TV. They were on a show.
AP: Oh. Gotcha.
RC: Anyway, one of them took this thing I’ve never heard of … human growth hormone. You heard of that?
AP: Heard of what?
RC: Human growth hormone?
AP: Yeah, I heard of it. HGH. Everybody’s heard of that. I think my Dad said something. You never heard of it?
RC: No, I’m just a big idiot when it comes to stuff like that. B12 vitamins is all you need.
AP: Cool.
RC: So, anyway, this guy takes the Human growth hormone — is that how you pronounce it? HOR-mone? Or is it hor-MONE — and man, he starts feeling a lot better.
AP: Amazing.
RC: I know. He started, like, playing golf and stuff. It was amazing.
AP: So where did this happen?
RC: Where did what happen?
AP: Where did you see the old guy who sold you the television doing HGH?
RC: Andy, man, you feeling OK? I didn’t buy any television from an old guy.
AP: So there was no old guy?
RC: The old guy was on television doing HGH. And it helped him, you know?
AP: Interesting.
RC: Yeah, I thought so.
AP: One question.
RC: What’s that?
AP: What’s it like doing HGH?
RC: How the hell should I know?
AP: Weren’t you doing HGH with some old guy in front of your television?
RC: You’re just crazy, Andy.
AP: It helped your golf game?
RC: Man, you know what? Just never mind, all right.
AP: I can’t wait to tell my wife about this.

http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2008/02/14/clemens-pettitte-the-misremembered-conversation/

Tracer Hand, Saturday, 16 February 2008 14:44 (1 year ago) Permalink

Clemens really has been baseball's prom king - good-looking, successful, charming and yet full of himself - for some time now.

max, Saturday, 16 February 2008 23:55 (1 year ago) Permalink

He wants to take you out behind the middle school and get you pregnant.

Rock Hardy, Sunday, 17 February 2008 02:28 (1 year ago) Permalink

Report: Photo exists of Clemens at Canseco party

polyphonic, Friday, 22 February 2008 17:31 (1 year ago) Permalink

i don't think i ever in my life considered Roger Clemens "charming".

The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall, Friday, 22 February 2008 19:16 (1 year ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

Probably the most exciting B&N (?) in-store event in awhile:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3326985

Dr Morbius, Thursday, 3 April 2008 16:02 (1 year ago) Permalink

Diagram of human networks from Mitchell Report data

felicity, Tuesday, 15 April 2008 05:18 (1 year ago) Permalink

Travis Hafner SLUGGING
2002 TEX .387
2003 CLE .485
2004 CLE .583
2005 CLE .595
2006 CLE .659
2007 CLE .451
2008 CLE .394

Steve Shasta, Monday, 21 April 2008 04:23 (1 year ago) Permalink

David R., Monday, 21 April 2008 14:23 (1 year ago) Permalink

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/2008/04/27/2008-04-27_sources_roger_clemens_had_10year_fling_w.html?print=1&page=all


Roger Clemens carried on a decade-long affair with country star Mindy McCready, a romance that began when McCready was a 15-year-old aspiring singer performing in a karaoke bar and Clemens was a 28-year-old Red Sox ace and married father of two, several sources have told the Daily News.

[...]

Sources say that when McCready, now 32, and Clemens were together, there was barely any friction between them. The two were known to take lavish trips to Las Vegas and New York. One time, McCready attended a Yankees game at the Stadium and jokingly donned a catcher's mask near the home dugout. During another Big Apple excursion, the two holed up in the trendy SoHo Grand and later partied with Monica Lewinsky and Michael Jordan. McCready, according to a source, even bummed a cigar off His Airness to give to Clemens. There were personal love missives to Clemens hidden in McCready's album liner notes.

I'm kinda dying to know more about this party with Monica Lewinsky and Michael Jordan. That sounds like a bad mid-90's SNL sketch or something.

govern yourself accordingly, Monday, 28 April 2008 14:26 (1 year ago) Permalink

McCready did not learn that Clemens was married to Debbie Clemens until McCready attended a baseball game with her two younger brothers and read Clemens' bio in the program.

bnw, Monday, 28 April 2008 14:55 (1 year ago) Permalink

I'm kinda dying to know more about this party with Monica Lewinsky and Michael Jordan. That sounds like a bad mid-90's SNL sketch or something.

Colin Quinn (who could screw up the timing on a knock-knock joke) as Clemens, obv.

Andy K, Monday, 28 April 2008 15:14 (1 year ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

http://www.rumorintown.com/

Steve Shasta, Thursday, 22 May 2008 20:13 (1 year ago) Permalink

2 weeks pass...

Zach (Brooklyn): Keith, I appreciate your raising the question of race, and i think the different ways black and white athletes get represented has a lot to do with the massive disparity in the ways Bonds and Clemens were viewed until a few months ago, or Bonds and Pettite now, or Bonds and Giambi, etc. But with Hamilton there's also the claim that as messed up as he was, he never "cheated," that what he's doing is despite the drugs rather than because of them, that he isn't a lie. Of course, if Hamilton looked more like Doc Gooden than like Steve Howe, the conversation might be completely different, but there is still the difference between PEDs and narcotics to consider when comparing him with the mitchell report rogues gallery.

Keith Law: (1:36 PM ET ) Before 2004 or so, narcotics and steroids were viewed by baseball in the same way - if anything, the punishment for narcotics abuse was more severe. So if one is "cheating," so is the other.

Tony, Chicago: Keith, what definition of cheating are you working from? Cheating requires, at a minimum, the effort to gain an unfair advantage. How does heroin improve one's baseball skills?

Keith Law: (1:41 PM ET ) About as much as HGH does.

Dr Morbius, Wednesday, 11 June 2008 17:50 (1 year ago) Permalink

Keith Law's smart about some things, but very dumb about others.

Alex in SF, Wednesday, 11 June 2008 17:51 (1 year ago) Permalink

Just like me! :D

Andrew (Ohio): True, PEDS will not help you hit a baseball but it will help you hit further or harder. That is an unfair advantage.

Keith Law: (1:48 PM ET ) Steroids might, but HGH won't.

Dr Morbius, Wednesday, 11 June 2008 17:53 (1 year ago) Permalink

Whether it's an actually unfair advantage or not is sort of beside the point. The INTENT is to gain an unfair advantage which is why people are generally more forgiving of dopefiends, alcoholics and crackheads than they are of people who use PEDs (lately.)

Alex in SF, Wednesday, 11 June 2008 17:59 (1 year ago) Permalink

That said I have no doubt that Hamilton's getting more of a pass than let's say Raines because he's white (also because it's a slightly more feel good story too, but being white doesn't hurt.)

Alex in SF, Wednesday, 11 June 2008 18:03 (1 year ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

Dykstra files for Chapter 11

NEW YORK -- Lenny Dykstra, the former star center fielder for the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, court records show.

Dykstra, 46, has no more than $50,000 in assets and between $10 million and $50 million in liabilities, according to a petition filed Tuesday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Central District of California.

Jonathan Hayes, one of Dykstra's lawyers, had no immediate comment.

Dykstra's filing comes in the wake of some 20 lawsuits he faces tied to his activities as a financial entrepreneur, including The Players Club, a glossy magazine he had helped launch, according to published reports.

The bankruptcy petition shows several banks among Dykstra's largest unsecured creditors, including units of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp.

Known as "Nails" and "The Dude," Dykstra played for 12 years with the Mets and the Phillies before retiring in 1996 with a lifetime .285 batting average and 81 home runs.

He won a World Series with the Mets in 1986, and with the Phillies was runner-up in the National League MVP voting in 1993. The Phillies lost the World Series that year.

mookieproof, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 18:01 (7 months ago) Permalink

Hate that fuckin' asshole. Hope his balls have shriveled off and he winds up in a trailer park and discovers meth.

Beanbag the Gardener (WmC), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 18:05 (7 months ago) Permalink

that GQ article by the guy who worked for The Players Club was pretty LOL/WTF

congratulations (n/a), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 18:08 (7 months ago) Permalink


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