Doing What God Wanted

Only one thing stood out for me during Andy Pettitte's press conference yesterday: When he first tried HGH back in 2002, he felt in his heart that it was the right thing to do, that it was what God wanted him to do. As soon as those words came out of his mouth I said to myself, He's going to get killed for saying that.

Well he wasn't exactly murdered but a lot of people didn't understand him. I keep hearing people say that he's hiding behind his religion. As someone who was raised around (but, later rejected) the same religion, I kind of understand what he was trying to say. Because of my rejection of these beliefs I have no desire to explain it. I will say, however, that I have always admired the way Andy Pettite has practiced his religion. I've never met Pettitte but, as far as I can tell, it has always been a personal thing with him. It's always between him and his God. He has never, to my knowledge, acted condescendingly to anyone who was not born again. He has never gotten on a soap box and proclaimed that people with other beliefs are lesser thans. He has never come across as believing he is better than someone because he's born again. It is people who do do these things that make other people reject Christianity.

If I get to a game Pettitte pitches this season, he'll definitely get a standing ovation, even if it's only from me.

The Lady

[Photo: Julie Jacobson/AP]

Posada Believes Clemens

"I’m supportive. He says he never took it and I’m behind him 100 percent. Rocket is one of my favorite teammates ever. It doesn’t take anything away from what he did. For me, he’s the best pitcher I ever caught and it doesn’t change that.”--Jorge Posada [LoHud Yankees Blog]

Well, well. Jorge Posada is in Roger Clemens's corner. Does that mean he'll shun Andy Pettitte? Posada says he'll support Pettitte as well but that remains to be seen. A lot of fans believe the lefthander's teammates will, indeed, give him the cold shoulder treatment. However, if the Yankees know what's good for them, they won't do that. While I don't believe, as others do, that the team has no chance if Pettitte doesn't perform well, there's always the chance that things will be difficult when you depend so much on a young rotation.

The Lady

Clemens Has a Bad Outing

Roger Clemens gave up two home-runs today and it cost him the game. First, Andy Pettitte's affadavit and parts of his deposition were revealed and they definitely confirmed Brian McNamee's assertion that The Rocket used performance-enhancing drugs. Second, the nanny the Clemens Family employed during the time of Jose Canseco's barbecue confirmed that Clemens did show up at the festivities that day.

The nanny's hit might be ruled a foul ball since she doesn't speak English very well. But for now, it stands.

All kidding aside, this hearing was (not surprisingly) split along party lines. In general, the Republicans were on The Rocket's side (Rep Burton, a Republican from Indiana accused McNamee of a string of lies, but neglected to point out that those lies were to media outlets and not under oath to a government committee.). The Democrats seemed to support McNamee.

I was listening to "Mike & The Mad Dog" during the hearing's break and heard them say that Clemens is a staunch Republican, has ties to Bush and probably has donated a lot of money to the Republican Party. I wouldn't be suprised if any or all of that were true.

So, the battle is over. Too bad the war isnt.

The Lady

Vials, Syringes & Gauze, Oh Please!

Did Brian McNamee save paraphernalia used to inject Roger Clemens with steroids? According to reports, McNamee has turned vials, syringes and gauze over to investigators as proof that Clemens used performance-enhancing drugs.

Why in the world would someone save anything like that, from 2000 and 2001 no less?! You'd think he would want to get rid of it as fast as possible in order not to incriminate himself. If he did save these things, how and where did he do it? Were they in a safe-deposit box? Under his matress? In the vegetable crisper in his refrigerator? Maybe each piece of "evidence" had it's own spot: the vials were in the spice rack, the syringes were in his manicure set and the gauze was in the linen closet. No, no, I've got it: They were in his head.

I'm having a hard time wrapping all of this around my head.

The Lady

Will Pettitte Sing?

Brian McNamee's lawyer thinks Andy Pettitte will corroborate his client's story about Roger Clemens' use of performance-enhancing drugs. I think he's right, to a degree.

We have to wonder if Pettitte really knows anything. If he does, he'll talk, because he's well aware of the Government's new hobby of going after professional athletes for perjury. But don't expect a detailed synopsis of the entire dirty deal. You'll most likely hear something in the style of his post-Mitchell Report confession: he only knew X about Clemens during the period of X.

So yes, Pettitte will open his mouth, but it'll sound more like karaoke than actual singing.

The Lady

Clemens & McNamee Do The Waltz

I didn't know Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee were such good dancers! They should be on "Dancing With The Stars." Check it out:



At the advice of his lawyers Clemens was careful not to say too much during the conversation he had with McNamee last Friday. His lawyers were in the room with him, making sure he didn't say anything that would be considered witness tampering in a court of law.

McNamee tried to give the impression that he was alone in a room somewhere, ready to slit his own throat. That couldn't be further from the truth. Even if he were alone, it was obvious that he was acting on advice from counsel. According to reports he asked Clemens "What do you want me to do?" a grand total of 21 times. He knew exactly what he was doing: he was trying his best to get The Rocket to "witness tamper."

There was one thing McNamee said on the tape that, I believe, does a lot to prove Clemens's case: “All I did was what I thought was right, and I never thought it was right but I thought that I had no other choice, put it that way" [New York Times]. He never thought it was right? If that's not saying a lot, I don't know what is.

Now comes Congress. Clemens, McNamee and Pettitte all in the same room. The "juice" should really hit the fan on that day!

The Lady

Clemens: Andy's Case Is Totally Separate

During his 60 Minutes interview last night, Roger Clemens made a helluva lot of sense. He was very believable. He had me in his corner the entire time. Well, almost the entire time. The one time I became suspicious was the time Andy Pettitte's name came up:

TRACK: CLEMENS SAYS HE LEARNED THAT FROM THE MITCHELL REPORT, WHICH ALSO MENTIONED HIS FELLOW YANKEE PITCHER ANDY PETTITE, WHO ALSO TRAINED UNDER MCNAMEE. MCNAMEE SAID HE'D INJECTED PETTITE TWICE WITH HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE. AFTER THE REPORT CAME OUT, PETTITE CONFIRMED THAT MCNAMEE HAD GIVEN HIM TWO H.G.H..SHOTS TO RECOVER FROM AN ELBOW INJURY.

WALLACE When Andy confirmed that McNamee had indeed told the truth about injecting him, that gave McNamee credibility, made his claims about injecting you seem more believable.

CLEMENS I have I had no knowledge of what Andy was doing.

WALLACE Why would Brian McNamee tell the truth about Andy Pettitte and lie about you?

CLEMENS Andy's case is totally is, is totally separate. I was shocked to learn about Andy's situation. Had no idea about it.

Clemens struggled to get those words out last night. His body language, which, up until then, had been that of a man who knows he's innocent, suddenly changed to that of someone trying to cover something up. If Mike Wallace hadn't asked about Pettitte, I'd be ready to put all my support behind Roger Clemens. Instead, this makes it even harder for me to believe that Clemens did not use performance-enhancing drugs.

The lady

[Transcript from The Boston Globe]

I Have Questions: Does The Rocket Have Answers?

Roger Clemens has ducked the media ever since the Mitchell Report came out. So now that he has "agreed" to be interviewed on "60 Minutes" by his friend Mike Wallace, writers and broadcasters everywhere are filing their If I Were Mike Wallace reports. I'm hearing things like, "I'd ask him point blank, 'Did you use steroids or HGH?' or, 'What would you say to Brian McNamee if you were face to face?' and, 'What do you think of Andy Pettitte's admission of HGH use?'" Yadda, yadda, yadda...

Mr Wallace probably will ask these very questions, or some variation of them. Clemens probably will not provide any earth-shattering answers and will continue to deny using steroids and HGH. Sounds like a big waste of time to me. I'd bet you could ask Clemens anything in that interview and you wouldn't get any meaningful answers. So why bother with the Mitchell Report? Here's what I'd ask:

1) When you signed your last contract with the Yankees earlier this year, you revealed that George Steinbrenner confided in you about something and it was instrumental in getting you to come out of retirement. You said you'd share what he told you at the end of the season. The season ended two months ago. What did Mr Steinbrenner tell you?

2) Roger, let's talk about Mike Piazza. Did you throw at him because you couldn't get him out? Why couldn't you get him out?

3) You said Andy Pettitte was a big reason you came back to pitch for the Astros several years ago. Can a teammate be that influential? What do you have to say about those who believe money and not Pettitte was a major reason for your comeback?

4) The names of all of your children begin with the letter "K" for strikeout. People have said this is proof that you're self-absorbed. What do you have to say about that?

Just a few things for The Rocket to ponder! Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to the Mike Wallace interview. Clemens also is supposed to make himself available to the rest of the media after the interview airs. The evening of January 5, 2008 should be very interesting, indeed.

The Lady

Good News For Clemens & Pettitte

The LA Times has some explaining to do. They will be printing a retraction in one of their upcoming editions stating that their report about Clemens and Pettitte (along with Miguel Tejada, Brian Roberts and Jay Gibbons) being in Jason Grimsley's affidavit was an error.

This comes after a Blue Jays trainer says he never witnessed Clemens taking steroids.

Could Clemens be telling the truth (through his agent) after all? His name is mentioned in the Mitchell Report more than any other player's, but isn't that really because his long-time trainer did most of the talking to the Mitchell investigators?

The Rocket got win yesterday when this affidavit was unsealed. Are there more wins under his (lawyer's) belt?

The Lady

The Mitchell Report: Even More Fallout!

I attended the Knicks game last night at The Garden and witnessed another blow-out, this one at the hands of the Indiana Pacers, specifically Mike Dunleavy, who scored a career high 36 points, 27 of them in the second half.

Towards the end of that second half a fan sitting near me, obviously looking for a way to entertain himself, started chanting "Let's Go Yankees!" A man sitting in his row retorted, "Let's Go Steroids!" He then said, "That whole team is using steroids!"

This seems to be the sentiment on various message boards and "anti-Yankee" blogs I've visited. Yankee haters would love for this to be true, but it's ridiculous. So, it wasn't the money that won the Yankees the championships after all? It was really performance enhancing drugs? Come on. If the whole Yankee team is using (or has used) steroids, so is every member of every other team in Major League Baseball.

While I don't believe the whole Yankee team was using steroids, I do believe Roger Clemens was. If he's waited this long to address the issue, I think it's safe to say The Mitchell Report is probably correct as far as he's concerned. The only things he's said so far are "I'm not talking to y'all about it," and, "We'll handle this our way." Well, Rocket, you'd better hope and pray that your way is the right way.

The Lady

[Photo: Theodorakis/News]

Update: Clemens released another statement this afternoon, again through his agent, again denying the use of steroids. Come on Roger, stop hiding behind your agent.

Pettitte & Clemens: The Fallout Continues

Now that Andy Pettitte has admitted using HGH, what will happen? While some members of the media have rejected his statement (among them, Peter Abraham and Mike Lupica), I'm not inclined to do the same. Pettitte apologized and I accept it. Abraham and Lupica are paid to pick things apart and (whether they want to admit it or not) to help sell newspapers. They're grabbing at straws at this point.

How will this affect his very close friend Roger Clemens? Will he admit anything or continue to have his lawyer vehemently deny everything? The more he continues to hide behind his lawyer, the more guilty he looks in my opinion.

Meanwhile, Alex Rodriguez answers questions about steroids on 60 Minutes tonight. I'm sure Jose Canseco is waiting with baited breath for that interview.

The Lady

What Happened To The Family Plan?

Roger Clemens will have an MRI on his right elbow today and will probably miss his next start. Gee, thanks, Rocket. Now Mike Mussina goes back into the rotation. Lovely. Just lovely. Clemens was rocked in yesterday's 7-1 loss to the Mariners, and things didn't get any better when Moose came in in relief. The only bright spot in the game (if Yankee fans can call it that) was Ichicro reaching 200 hits for the seventh straight season.

The Yankees are in the playoff race, but they've done it almost in spite of Roger Clemens. The Carpetbagger From Katy has been, for the most part, just what I thought he was going to be: a help but not a savior. I will say one good thing, however, about Roger Clemens. After all the talk about the Family Plan, he hasn't once taken advantage of it. I know many people would say it's because he knows the media is waiting for him to do it so they can jump all over it. But I'm not so sure. He's pretty much his own man. If he really wanted to take off at any point this season he'd have done it. It just makes me shake my head when I see that the media is ignoring the fact that Clemens has been around the team everyday since he first reported.

In other news: Andy Philips will have season-ending wrist surgery, so it looks like Wilson Betamit will get more playing time. Trading Scott Proctor looks pretty good right about now; Pedro Martinez returned to the Mets rotation and promptly recorded his 3,000th Big League strikeout. The Mets won that game against the Reds, but let's wait and see if Pedro will really be a force for the Metropolitans down the stretch; Carlos Zambrano hasn't won a game since signing his big new contract a few weeks ago. Now he's criticizing the fans for booing him. Big Z, one of the trade offs for making outrageous sums of money for throwing a baseball is to be booed by the fans. So, please, just shut up and pitch.

The Lady

[Photo: Bill Kostroun/AP]

Rocket To The Future

Will Roger Clemens still have the desire to pitch in 2057? In case you haven't seen it, here's the answer, according to Red Sox fan Michael Barber:




Very strange, but funny all the same.

The Lady

[Thanks, LoHud Yankees Blog]

The Rocket & Mr Splitty

The Carpetbagger From Katy finally made his '07 ML debut today, pitching 6 innings to qualify for his first win of the year. I've posted some thoughts about this long-awaited start over at The Bronx Block. There's also a great recap up of the entire game on the blog's main page. Have a read and feel free to leave your comments!

The Lady

Great Escapes: Clemens & A-Rod

From Joel Sherman on NYPost.com: The $28 million pro-rated contract Roger Clemens signed is a minor league deal. This means that not only can Clemens exit the contract at any time without losing any money, the Yankees can, too.

According to Sherman, GM Brian Cashman said "It's not something I'm thinking about right now." He might not be thinking about it now, but was he thinking about it last night when the Fenway Faithful were chanting "Where is Roger?" Cashman doesn't know me from Adam, but if he did, I'd tell him to put his pride on the shelf and seriously consider backing out of the deal he made with the Carpetbagger From Katy.

Speaking of the Fenway Faithful, it was great to see Alex Rodriguez get the last "Ha" with his game-winning home-run last night. After being the brunt of non-stop jeers the entire weekend he deposited a Jonathan Papelbon fast-ball right into the Red Sox bullpen. Apparently, buying your wife a diamond necklace after you've (allegedly) cheated on her goes a long way towards easing one's conscience.

The Lady

Dreams Do Come True

After completing his third tune-up start in the Minors, Roger Clemens has declared himself ready to face Major League hitters again. Will it even matter?

In a start for AAA Scranton against the Toledo Mud Hens, Clemens pitched 6 scoreless innings, giving up 2 hits, walking 2 and striking out 6. He threw 58 of his 89 pitches for strikes. It's likely that his next start will be against either the Red Sox at Fenway Park or the White Sox in Chicago. Whomever that first ML opponent will be, Clemens had better make sure there's enough movement on his fastball, which, at 89-90 mph, is no longer as fast as it was when he was in his heyday. His legs are also still a question mark as well. My mouth dropped open when I saw how he ran to cover first base in his previous start for Trenton. He looked like an old man.

It looks like this old man will make my dream come true. A few weeks ago I had a dream that a nameless, faceless family member had died. My other relatives and I were heartbroken, and during the wake, we talked about this person's life, remembering that our dearly departed relative had been a very successful person. The years 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000 were especially good for him. A short while later, a white-haired old man came to the house. We realized he was the doctor, coming to tend to our relative. We looked at him and shook our heads. "It's too late," we told him. "He's dead."

When Roger Clemens made his blockbuster announcement from the owners box at Yankee Stadium last month, the Yankees were 5 1/2 games out of first place. Today they are in last place, 13 1/2 games out. Though he doesn't have white hair (unless he colors it), Clemens will arrive in Boston or Chicago this week or next week to "tend" to the Yankees. It might very well be true, but it will be very hard for anyone connected with the Yankees, to look at him and say "It's too late. They're dead."

The Lady

Farnsworth Fans The Family Clause

Yankee reliever Kyle Farnsworth went on a Chicago radio station yesterday and voiced displeasure of Roger Clemens's family clause. "It might cause some friction...," Farnsworth said. "...if you're going to be part of the team you should be there always."

Today he stood by those comments, saying that he played with both Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux, and neither of those players asked for those perks.

Farnsworth probably isn't the only player on the team with concerns about this family clause. But where does he get off opening his mouth about it? With a 4.41 ERA the guy has been less than effective in the majority of his appearances this season. Kyle, just shut up and pitch!

Joe Torre didn't even want to get into it when asked about Farnsworth's comments. However, he did say he'd deal with any objections to the clause as they came up. So how is he going to deal with Farnsworth? Then again, the bigger question is how is Clemens going to deal with Farnsworth? I'd love to be a fly on the wall when those two come face-to-face for the first time next month.

The Lady

[Thanks Lo Hud Yankees Blog]

You Callin' Me A Liar?

Yesterday was finger-pointing day in Major League Baseball. The participants included the usual suspects:

• Curt "I care so much" Schilling appeared on Boston's WEEI yesterday and was asked about Barry Bonds. Schilling, sounding like he'd just gotten out of bed, said Bonds admitted that he "...cheated on his wife, cheated on his taxes and cheated the game."


• Responding to David Wells' comments about his family clause, Roger Clemens said Wells should "look in the mirror." When they were both Yankee teammates, Clemens often called Wells "Eli." When asked why, Clemens said, "Because when he's talking, he's lying."[Lo Hud Yankees Blog]


• Astros Manager Phil Garner appeared on ESPN Radio's Mike & Mike In The Morning, and when asked about how his players handled Clemens' family clause, he said they were okay with it until they saw him on TV playing in a celebrity golf tournament on one of the days he was supposed to be spending time with his family. Randy Hendricks, one of Clemens' agents saw the segment, called in and said it was entirely untrue. Clemens did play in the Bob Hope Classic, but it was before he actually signed with the Astros.

Hendricks, by the way, also mentioned that the family clause is actually only a handshake agreement. It is not physically in the contract. Wait, there's more: As I'm writing this, I'm hearing on Mike & Mike, courtesy of Jayson Stark, that the Astros were the ones who actually came up with the family clause idea in the first place, just to entice Clemens to come out of retirement.

As The Diamond Turns...

The Lady

The Yankees: Damned If They Do, Damned If They Don't

Late last night, more than 24 hours after his big announcement, Roger Clemens was still the top story in sports. The Carpetbagger From Katy's decision to return to the Yankees had fans, the media and even players putting in their two cents about the team's newest acquisition. When will this end? I'm so sick of it, but I guess I'd better get used to having that money-grabbing opportunist on my team.

Though I hate Clemens, listening to all the talk yesterday about his signing has left me compelled to say a few things in defense of the Yankees:

Former Yankee David Wells has come out against the "family clause" in Clemens' contract which allows him not to travel with the team if wishes not to: "I don't think I would ever do it because of the fact that I personally think it would disrespect the team and your teammates. You look at the other players. How are they going to respect you? What are they going to think if you're not pulling for the team? He continues, "That's not the Yankee way. The Yankees have changed."

According to Mike Francessa of WFAN's Mike & The Mad Dog, now that the Yankees have made this exception for Clemens, they'll start making it for other players. ("You did it for Rocket, why not me?") He feels Mariano Rivera should also ask for something similar, since he's the Yankee with the most seniority. He also believes that all the other rules the Yankees have will come crashing down, including the no facial hair rule (Johnny Damon will look like Jesus, again!) The Yankees won't be able to say they hold themselves to a higher standard anymore and, as a result, will lose the respect they have in baseball, and all of sports for that matter.

First of all, the Yankees decided in the off-season that they wanted to sign Clemens. The Yankee players knew the Yankees decided in the off-season that they wanted to sign Clemens. Robinson Cano gave up his number 22 at the start of Spring training because he knew the Yankees wanted to sign Clemens. The players were asked about the "family clause" in Spring training and they all said, way back then, that they had no problem with it. Veteran players on the team have been calling, emailing and text-messaging Clemens since then, trying to convince him to sign with the Yankees. I hardly think the players would feel disrepected if Clemens didn't want to go on certain road trips this season. It will in no way lead to facial hair and loss of respect in baseball. Also, I'm sure that, if Wells were presented with the same deal, he would gladly take it.

Second, starting pitchers are the only players who could have the kind of "family clause" Clemens has. Relievers and position players have to be available everyday. Besides that, the other Yankee starters don't have the clout Clemens has. Wang is only in his second full season. Pettitte isn't a hall-of-famer (plus, he had no problem with the clause when he and Clemens were both in Houston), and neither is Mussina. The three of them would look foolish asking for anything like that.

Third, the Yankees aren't the first team to give Clemens this clause. No one was in this much of an uproar when the Astros did it. (The Red Sox were also willing to do it, by the way.) The Yankees are only doing what other teams did and are willing to do to sign Clemens. Yet, they get criticized for it. If they didn't do it they'd get criticized for holding themselves to a higher standard. It doesn't just pertain to Clemens, either. If they end up winning the World Series this year, they'll get criticized for having "bought" the championship. If they don't win it, they'll get criticized for having a $200 million payroll and not winning the Series (or not even making the playoffs).

The Yankees: damned if they do and damned if they don't.

The Lady

Roger Clemens Is Now A Yankee

Breaking news: The seventh inning stretch just ended at Yankee Stadium with the announcement that Roger Clemens has re-signed with the Yankees. Yes, The Carpetbagger From Katy has returned to the Bronx.

The announcement was made in a surprising, unusual way: Roger Clemens, in a suit and tie, made the announcement himself, from the owner's box. Apparently, no one in the ballpark knew this was coming, or, at least they didn't know it was coming today and in this way. Shocking!

This is fitting news on a day when the Yankees are playing dirty: Josh Phelps took out Kenji Jojhima while scoring and, as a result, was hit by a pitch in his next at-bat. After both teams were warned, Scott Proctor threw behind a batter and was promptly ejected from the game.

While I've made my feelings known on this blog as to how much I dislike Clemens, beggars can't be choosy, as the old saying goes. If he can help the Yankees make a run for the playoffs, I'm certainly willing to give him a chance.

The Lady