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River Ave. Blues » Roger Clemens » Page 6

Stark speaks volumes about the legitimacy of the report

December 14, 2007 by Benjamin Kabak 36 Comments

I’ll just quote at length from Stark’s latest. We can’t repeat this point enough about the whole Mitchell investigation.

So you probably don’t even care that Clemens’ lawyer was using words like “slander” to characterize all this. You probably don’t even care that the evidence is more tenuous than you’d think.

You probably don’t even care that two attorneys who were surveyed Thursday, both of whom now work in the sports world, say they’re extremely dubious that the allegations against Clemens would hold up in court. Not even in a civil case.

You might find that surprising, considering that Clemens is one of the few players in this report whose alleged use of illegal substances was actually witnessed by a living, breathing human being (trainer Brian McNamee) who then spoke with the Mitchell crew.

But one attorney — a man who doesn’t represent players, by the way — said the entire case is “all based on one guy [McNamee], and there’s no documentation.”

True, there are checks written by McNamee to the human smoking gun, Kirk Radomski. But the report tells us, right there on Page 174, that Radomski admitted that McNamee never told him that Clemens (or Andy Pettitte) used steroids or HGH. It was merely implied, Radomski said.

Those implications were good enough for George Mitchell — obviously. But the other attorney we surveyed said that in an actual court, a judge would tell a jury that the testimony of a witness like McNamee, who had made a deal with the government, was “not sufficient for conviction. There must be independent corroboration.”

So what’s the corroboration? Information supplied by another witness who made a deal with the government. Uh-oh.

I’m no defender of Roger Clemens. He’s reaped what he’s sown over the years. But I am a fan of baseball, and today was a sad, sad day for the game because of this unnecessary report.

Filed Under: STEROIDS! Tagged With: Roger Clemens

Clemens to be named

December 13, 2007 by Joe Pawlikowski 16 Comments

Not a big surprise, but there’s a report saying that Roger Clemens will be named in the Mitchell report later this afternoon. Both he and Andy Pettitte were named in the Jason Grimsley affidavit, so you can expect to see Brother Andy on the list as well. Not that I think it matters much for him. If he’s going to be named, he surely knew it before he agreed to come back for 2008.

Filed Under: STEROIDS! Tagged With: Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens

Report: Jays interested in Roger, Andy

November 13, 2007 by Benjamin Kabak 14 Comments

According to a report in Metro, a free paper in Canada, the Blue Jays are interested in both Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte. This is one odd report. First, if the Jays want Roger Clemens and his overinflated salary, you guys have fun with that. Second, Pettitte has made it perfectly clear that he will pitch for the Yankees or not at all. Why the Blue Jays would even waste their time is beyond me.

Filed Under: Asides Tagged With: Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens

This Rocket’s at the end of this ride

November 8, 2007 by Benjamin Kabak 10 Comments

The non-A-Rod news comes to us from the other overpaid former Yankee. Roger Clemens announced his intentions to begin his personal services contract with the Astros. Clemens and his hometown team have a ten-year deal in place, and while Roger could return to the mound as a player in 2008, his body seems to be telling him it is time to retire.

I go back and forth on Clemens’ 2007 season. On the one hand, at $1.11 million per start, he was way overpaid and didn’t really deliver. On the other hand, the other pitchers the Yanks kept trotting out there were just terrible. No matter; Clemens hardly ended his Hall of Fame career on a high note.

Filed Under: Asides Tagged With: Roger Clemens

As Clemens opines, Torre waits the weekend

October 12, 2007 by Benjamin Kabak 1 Comment

Roger Clemens today joined the growing litany of folks expressing their support for Joe Torre. In an interview during which he expressed at least a passing interest in playing in 2007 — DO NOT WANT — Clemens also said that Torre should be the one to close the old Yankee Stadium and open the new one. This guy sure has a lot of supporters, and I hear that, as Torre is one of the city’s most prominent Catholics, the Pope wants to issue a papal bull in support of Torre.

In more interesting Joe Torre news, the Yankees braintrust has delayed the meeting about Torre’s (and Alex Rodriguez’s) future to next week. The group will meet in Tampa on either Monday night or Tuesday morning. Clearly, Torre won’t attend the meeting, but ESPN reports that King George, his sons and their aides — whoever they are — will be in attendance.

Right now, the Yanks are pretty much jerking Torre around. A week ago, a maybe-lucid, maybe-senile George Steinbrenner — Tyler Kepner’s piece at the Bats blog on this topic is fantastic — issued his favorite “win or else” ultimatum. Since then, we’ve heard nothing but silence, and the Yanks will wait until at least a week after they were eliminated to deterine Torre’s fate. It’s possible Joe could grow so sick of this crap that he simply holds a press conference to announce his resignation. Somehow, though, I doubt it.

When all is said and done, I bet Torre’s back in pinstripes next year. A delay of this length means that those who aren’t George are lobbying the Boss on behalf of Torre. Or they’re waiting it out until Steinbrenner simply forgets about this ultimatum. That wouldn’t surprise me either.

Filed Under: Hot Stove League Tagged With: Joe Torre, Roger Clemens

The Clemens news just keeps getting better and better

September 25, 2007 by Benjamin Kabak 2 Comments

Roger Clemens has been shut down for the remainder of the regular season. He is expected to pitch in the playoffs and be sharp on three weeks’ rest. Also, pigs are expected to fly, and the temperatures in hell are supposedly dropping to about 30 degrees Fahrenheit tomorrow.

Filed Under: Asides Tagged With: Roger Clemens

Yanks to torture fanbase tonight

September 25, 2007 by Joe Pawlikowski 16 Comments

Roger Clemens is scratched again. Kei Igawa is pitching. Thanks to Pete Abraham for breaking it to us.

I really don’t want to watch this game tonight.

Filed Under: Asides Tagged With: Kei Igawa, Roger Clemens

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