Wednesday, February 13, 2008

High Heat on the Hill

On the eve of pitchers and catchers reporting, no news on the excitement of a new season starting - just testimony on the story that won't go away. I Watched/heard most of the Congressional hearing today with Clemens and McNamee. I think at times both lied today, and have committed degrees of perjury.

I also think that Clemens is done and has been poorly advised by his representation from the start and that now, as a result of blatantly false statements under oath, he will likely be joining his boy Bonds in a cell inside of two years.

Think about it, at the end of all this, the best HR hitter of the era, and the best pitcher of the era, will be joining the best hitter (Rose), on the bench waiting for that ticket to Cooperstown that may never come.

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On Joba starting the year in The Pen. I have mixed emotions. One side of me wants to see how or if this kid's dominance can translate in a starter pitching situation. The other says why mess with success and keep well enough alone. We'll see just how temporary this Pen assignment is - I suspect by temporary, they mean the whole season.

17 comments:

old professor said...

The hearing was a farce. With all of the issues facing this country (ecomomic recession, terrorism, health care, etc..), a congressional committee has to hold hearings on steroid use by Roger Clemens. Great.

As for the hearings, Pettitte's deposition and the information used from it made Clemens look bad. Then for him to say he did not feel it was necessary to call a doctor when his wife was having issues related to an HGH shot made him look stupid. The MRI from the Blue Jays didn't help Clemens case either.

Let's see if the justice department decides to further the investigation and go after one of the two individuals for perjury.

On a brighter note, pitchers and catchers report today.

57 said...

Prof.. oh my gosh you agree with me. See my prior post in the most recent article.

If Clemens were Italian, Andy Pettite would be reported missing today. Rat.

Let's move on from this crap.

***

Hillary is pulling a Giuliani and putting her eggs in one basket. This might be the beginning of the end. Texas. Ohio. Hillary? Bye-Bye-o!

***

My quest this year will be to sit in Shea Stadium on the last game there ever. Which will be game 4 of the WS.

The Scooter said...

Listen, no federal prosecutor in their right mind would would bring charges against Clemens. We all know he is lying but the feds would have a nightmare proving so beyond a reasonable doubt:

Their prime witness is a dirtbag who has made it a habit in his life to lie to both local and federal investigators. Plus he has a major bone to pick with his ex-employer.

Secondly, the so called "physical evidence" will NEVER be allowed in court.

Third, Clemens (unlike Bonds) has the support of the President of the United States. Like it or not, Bush is a good friend for Roger to have during this time.

An indictment won't happen!

old professor said...

Scooter, if the feds decide to pursue the issue of perjury, they would do more than rely on McNamee. They would bring in Pettitte, Knobloch, and the Clemens Nanny. All of whom one way or another supported statements by McNamee. As for President Bush being a supporter of Clemens, Bush is a lameduck who has one of the lowest approval ratings of any president. His support would not be solicited by Clemens. Clemens looked like a cornered rat while he was sitting at the table (dry mouth and all).

The feds have indicted Bonds and sent Marion Jones to prison. The have the right to go after Clemens.

Anonymous said...

Scooter you're acting like the perjury charges need to be brought tomorrow. Make no mistake about it, an investigation will be launched. It may be 2 or 3 years before we know if they will actually attempt to prosecute.

I have a question, and didn't see any of member of the committee pick up on this. Debbie Clemens, admitted to using HGH once, administered by McNamee without Roger knowing in 2003. If this is the case how could Roger be discussing his wife's use with Pettitte in 1999 or 2000?

And if Roger is discussing his wife's use in 1999-2000 with Pettitte, how can he say he didn't even know what HGH was or what it did until after the release of the Mitchell Report?

Pettitte has been given an extension by the Yankees for reporting to spring training. I think he has until Monday to report. He needs to have a press conference immediately to get most of this behind him now. You can't have your #2 starter being an emotional basket case going into the season.

old professor said...

Crash, Pettitte will not be physically or mentally ready to go into spring training which would then raise the question to whether he will be ready for the start of the season.

While he always seemed to be completely focused on the mound, this will have an impact on his performance.

Mid, as for Joba beginning the season in the pen, the first four positions in the starting rotation have been established (Wang, Hughes, Pettitte[if ready] and Mussina, a fifth starter won't be needed until mid-April. Putting Chamberlain in the pen makes sense in that he will be able to get some work in before being expected to start (though it may have an effect on his #3 and #4 pitches because he won't be throwing them in relief), in addition, the team already indicated he will be on a strick innings pitched count for the season. Putting him in the pen will give him more innings later in the season.

Anonymous said...

I thought this was funny - ESPN quoting Jeter that he thought it was a bad day for baseball. Then ESPN reports: in other news, President Roosevelt calls Pearl Harbor "a bad day for the Navy".

The Scooter said...

Actually Prof, the Yankees will need a fifth starter right out of the gate. They only have two days off during the first 34 days (or something like that) of the season. I think we can assume that Kennedy will be the guy.

As for Clemens...don't get me wrong, I am not saying he is innocent...what I am saying is that he is not convictable.

Pettitte's testimony is certainly not damning in and of itself...a good lawyer will explain that away as simple miscommunication. Remember Pettitte has never SEEN Clemens take HGH.

As for the nanny, today she has told ESPN that she totally backs Clemen's story of him never being at Canseco's...and that the committee mis-represented what she told them....go figure.

There is NO evidence. No one but McNamee ever saw him do it...McNamee is not a credible witness...end of story.

57 said...

This leads me to the question of how much a man's word and how much an oath is worth anymore? It seems like both have dropped as low as the value of our dollar, or maybe even lower. It seems as if Andy Pettitte is the only man who has the fear of God in him, which is the exact premise that oath is taken upon. Pettitte even said that he has to answer to God about everything in his life, and he took an oath regarding the truth. If there were more people in this country/world like Andy Pettitte, we would be better off. I don't care how credible or not credible both McNamee or Clemens are for they are both scum bags.

The winner in this whole affair? Andy Pettitte. He understands the meaning of an oath, so help him God.

Anonymous said...

What so Andy Pettitte, came out and said publicly that he only took HGH for 2 days to recover from an injury. Then in his sworn statement/deposition/affidavit he says...oops I did it again, in 2004. McNamee did the same thing and is crucified, Pettitte is hailed as a "hero". The fear of God may be great for the "after life" but the fear of Federal Prison would make me see the light pretty damn quick in this life. McNamee is credible, no one likes the whistle blower, because it shatters the false perception of reality.

57 said...

Bonds tested positive for Steroids in November of 2001 according to federal prosecutors.

57 said...

oops.. I retract my last statement as someone with the Feds proabably was fired this evening for the 'typo' that leaked.

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In other news, CC Sabathia will be a Yankee next season... or possibly by the trade deadline?

Anonymous said...

Isn't too early to discuss the CC speculation. I mean spring training just started a couple of hours ago. With that being said...CC likes Cleveland, I wouldn't be surprised to see him stay. To be honest I don't think the Yankees would want him, at least not as their #1. He was suppose to be the "Ace" of that Cleveland staff for for the last 7 years. When your suppose to be the ace and people are talking about the pitching leaders Cliff Lee and Jake Westbrook (former Yankee) you didn't cut it. He only really stepped up last year, and even then Carmona had people saying "CC who?". Until last year he was slightly better than a .500 pitcher, he's logged over 200IP only 2x, last year was by far the most at 241.0. That will certainly have a toll this year. If he puts up another year like last year I would be shocked. On the plus side, he's only 27.

It's just too early to worrying about free agents and trade deadline deals, no one knows what's going to happen and who will need what. Look at the Santana deal, everyone assumed it was Yankees or Red Sox...now he's a Met???? Who knows maybe Omar will make another big splash by getting Sabathia too.

The only thing I know for sure is that this is the last year of the Pavano and Giambi contracts. THANK GOD!!!

57 said...

Crash, I think a play for Sabathia will be dependent upon how Pedro does this year.

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Can't wait for the next congressional waste of time when 'spy gate' makes it to the hill. Is Arlan Spector that bitter about the Eagles losing the Super Bowl?

Is Armageddon at hand?

old professor said...

Scooter, you were right, they have internet in Cancun, though the keyboard is a little bit different from the english keyboard I am used to. Pitchers and catchers have reported and I am ready to soak up the sun.

And to think, I could have been attending a conference in Tampa this week. Lie is good.

57 said...

the power of www. Prof, any Mets fans out there? Please give my phone number to any buxom blond on the beach if you dont mind.

Anonymous said...

Looks like Wang lost his arbitration case but will still make $4M. If you call that a loss, I guess I would lose any day of the week.

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