Baseball!!

Pitchers and catchers arrived today--at least most of them which begins the start of spring training and the 2008 baseball season. By the end of the month I hope to review 2007's down, up, down season for the Yankees and sometime in March lay out what may happen in 2008 for the team. I'll also probably offer some general predictions for the 2008 season across all of baseball.

It is What it is--And it's Not Over

ESPN ran a poll after all the testimony and one of the questions asked, "who do you believe more, Roger Clemens or Brian McNamee." To be honest with you I don't believe either of them after today. Although I was working, I listened to the majority of the days events and when I missed things I referred to Jason Stark's live blog on ESPN. So what's in this post is for the most part, my own reaction to what happened today.

Let's start with McNamee. The big hit against him today was that he admitted to not telling the truth in the past. He lied to New York papers and to federal investigators. He stated that the number of times he reported to the Mitchell investigators of injecting Clemens was less than what actually happened. But on the flip side, McNamee's testimony to the Mitchell investigators on Pettitte and Knoblach matched what they had most recently given within the last week.

From Clemens' side Pettitte's affidavit of being told by Clemens that he used HGH and later in 2003 denying it was not good for him--especially since everyone beleives Pettitte the most. There was also contradictory testimony from Clemens in what he had just given in private just a few days earlier especially around conversations Clemens had with McNamee and HGH. Clemens' admitted he had a heated exchange with McNamee after he had injected Debbie Clemens with HGH in 2003 about the subject of HGH.

The day ended up being like a bizzare version of the movie National Treasure. Another clue lead to another clue which lead to another clue and there seemed to be no end in getting to the truth. With more accounts and evidence there are more questions and this is certainly not over. Do either Clemens or McNamee get a perjury charge? I think that's in the air, but if either Clemens or McNamee try to clear their names investigators and the media will continue to try uncover what actually happened. In other words, this is just getting started.

Some other points to note from what I heard:

• Clemens had a hard time speaking. I don't know what he looked like in person since I only listened, but he stumbled, made up words, and had a hard time at certain points in giving a clear fluid answer. At times he didn't answer the exact question asked or had trouble hearing the question at all. Very strange for a guy who wanted to speak the truth.

• There was this Canseco BBQ/Party in question involving a nanny of the Clemens' kids in 1998. McNamee testified that Clemens was there and talked to Canseco about steroids. Several major leaguers stated not seeing Clemens there. Canseco had an affedavit stating he and Clemens never talked about PEDs. Clemens denies being at the party, but leaves it open that maybe he stopped by to drop off his family. The party itself seemed to have little relevance, but the nanny did.

• Then there's this nanny who apparently was called on by the Congressional committee to give her account of Canseco's party. They called on Clemens' and his team to provide her contact info on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It was Sunday when they heard from her and she says Clemens was at Canseco's BBQ, but did not know about any steroid talk there. Worst of all, Clemens invited her over to talk on Sunday before providing her contact info. Although Clemens' lawyers accused the panel of it causing an innuendo against Clemens, it still was fishy.

• What does Clemens know about HGH and when did he know anything about it? There was the tale of Debbie Clemens getting HGH injections from McNamee in 2003 unbeknownst of Clemens until after the fact. He found out when his wife started having circulation problems. After this, he had a heated conversation with McNamee. This would count as Roger having a heated dialog about HGH with McNamee when he claims to never have had. Clemens pretty much admitted the heated exchange, but said he didn't know about HGH before 2003 and then added he has learned about HGH of late with these allegations. I couldn't follow his line of thought on this one.

• Mike Stanton, a former Yankee, claims to have seen Roger's butt bleeding. Stanton, admitting he took HGH to the Mitchell investigation, supposedly talked to Clemens about HGH use. Yet another teammate with a very different account.

• What color is HGH or B-12 or whatever was injected into Roger? This was a fairly silly exchange, but somewhat interesting for me since I have no idea what this stuff looks like.

• A panel member asked why Clemens continued to employ McNamee. Although Clemens claims to have treated McNamee like "family" he had "mistrust" for him, especially after injecting his wife without his knowledge. But while there was a "work stoppage" he brought him back. Clemens said he forgives people easily--so I guess the defamation lawsuit and Congressional hearing is part of that process?

• I have to wonder if McNamee has other client's syringes and bloddy gauze. Given his history as a cop, history of lying, and involvement with illegal substances in baseball, he just may, because the man seems to not trust himself or anyone around him.

On a final note, my impression is that more players may talk, Pettitte may be called on again to testify, and this is not going to go away. Bonds gave his testimony in 2003 on the BALCO case and is just now being charge with perjury--can we expect the same ahead?

Taking it to the Hill

In about 10 minutes Roger Clemens will be sworn in along with Brian MacNamee regarding his alleged steroid use. Since my last post, more evidence has been brought to light with Andy Pettitte claiming Clemens talked about HGH to him back in 1999 or 2000, and now Clemens says Andy misunderstood because it was his wife who took HGH. From what I read however, Pettitte's testimony was all over the place at some points and he contradicted himself. It will be a monumental day not only for Clemens, but for baseball as well. Here's what I'm looking to find out from the day on the Hill today:

1. Does Clemens say he unknowingly took steroids? Is it possible MacNamee said it was B-12 when it wasn't? I could see Clemens attacking MacNamee saying he lied to Roger about what he was giving him.

2. How strong a case is the Mitchell Report now? MacNamee and Radomski, two key sources for the report were the suppliers. If Clemens continues to deny use then was Mitchell working with bad leads?

3. What else did Andy Pettitte say? There has got to be more about his use and possibly Clemens'. This is one of the few times a player pointed out another player for their use of steroids.

4. The big question is--who is lying? Because whoever is will likely perjure themselves likely leading to jail time. Will both be on a tight leash in what they say? I think we're learning from Barry Bonds that no one player is immune from the law.

5. The bigger question is, how does baseball respond?

A Couple Things of Note

Super Bowl is Reminder of 2001 World Series

I'm not going to rub it in, but the Giants (of whom I'm certainly a bandwagon fan) beat the Patriots in quite a shocking Super Bowl win. While this blog is not about football, much was hyped all season about the Patriots having a perfect season and going 19-0. Of course since that's not the case, it serves as a reminder of that cliche that no one, no team, and nothing in sports, business, or the real world is perfect.

As the Giants were celebrating, I thought back to 2001 when the Yankees were in their fourth World Series in a row. In game seven, Mariano Rivera was on the mound in the ninth inning with the lead and we all know how it ended (the Yankees lost). Going into the game however, Rivera--certainly the best postseason closer--had not blown a save since 1997. In fact he'd gone 53.2 IP without blowing a save (and only giving up 4 ER in that time). Before game seven some analysts said Rivera was going to blow a save at some point in the playoffs, it was just statistically impossible for him to continue to be perfect in save attempts for as long as he'd been going--especially in the playoffs against the top teams and lineups in the majors.

And so that statistical reality came true at the wrong time albeit and exciting finish for a World Series. In any event, it seems the same happened to the Patriots. There are other arguements to be made, but being perfect just is not a reality very often.

One Syringe, One Gauze and One Beer

I'll be honest here, the Roger Clemens, MacNamee case is becoming a media circus. Wednesday's hearing will be somewhat of a tell all, I don't even know what to expect. But the fact that MacNamee kept syringes, gauzes with blood and a beer can that he claims Clemens used and only handed it over last month is a bit strange in terms of timing. And now Clemens' wife used HGH? It's becoming a bizarre series of events as both sides will try to discredit each other. Whatever happens, by the end I may not even be paying attention because it's that sickening.