Quick post-mortem on UL, and Opening Day in MLB

First, UL's Elite 8 performance vs UNC last saturday night was all you could have wanted from this team. They played very well, only falling in the late minutes to a superior "team", in UNC, which had one of the best players in the nation making plays in those final minutes to take the Cards down.

I, for one, and many other UL fans have expressed similar sentiments, think this team did exceptionally well. If you had asked someone in January, after UL had dropped a home court game to lowly Cincinnatti, if UL would make the Elite 8 of the NCAA tournament, most people would have laughed. But at the end of the season, this team started putting all of the pieces together to have a very good run.

-----------------

Secondly, now that basekball is over, it is now "officially" Opening Day for Major League Baseball.

Last night the Washington Nationals hosted the Atlanta Braves, and the Nat's won in a bottom of the ninth walk-off homer fashion, 3-2 over the Braves.

Today the Cubs take on intra-divisional rival Brewers.

Finally baseball is being played again.

As noted, in my other post about the NL Central, here is my prediction for the NL-East.

NL-East

This might be one of the best divisional races to watch come September, if everything works out right. The Mets have all of the talent and pitching staff, but BOTH the Braves and the Phillies have a ton of talent and all of the pieces to contend for the title.

For the Braves, I think their season will all hinge around "health". They, (like the Yankees), have a lot of veteran players that need to do it this year. I would not say this is a "do or die" year for the Braves, but it is close. Two key things for the Braves must happen though. They must get production out of Hamilton in their starting rotation, and Chipper Jones must stay healthy. Considering Jones has not had a full season healthy over the last few, the chances of that are slim. And unlike other NL divisions, a small losing streak in this division could end playoff hopes.

I think this division will come down to a fight, (just like last season), between the Phillies and the Mets. And honestly, I think with the off-season acquisition of Santana by the Mets, I will give the edge to the Mets. Unlike the Braves, while the Mets do have a few key veteran players, (like aging 1st baseman Carlos Delgado), they are not dependant on them for success.

So my pick for the NL-East champs is the NY Mets.

(note, I do think that the Phillies will end up with the NL-Wildcard spot.)

Back in town....after my personal March Madness

After traveling all week, I am back in town today, after taking my own version of March Madness.

Every year, I take week, head off to Florida for a week of fishing and spring baseball. With a lot of drinking in the mix. This year was a little later than I normally go, but still a great time.

I know that most who would read this are very much caught up in Louisville's run in the NCAA tournament. And rightly so.

But this weekend ends the regular spring training and begins the regular major league baseball season.

After watching some teams in Florida I have some predictions for the MLB season.

To keep things simple, I will start with my overall predictions for the season division winners, and then break the divisions down a little more in seperate blog entries.

Since many in our area are Cincinnati Reds fans, let's start with the NL Central.

NL Central

The Chicago Cubs are the favorites to repeat as the NL Central champs. Despite some very big question marks about Rich Hill's control. Jason Marquis will get the starting nod over Hill, and Hill will head to Iowa for more development. Kerry Woods is tagged as the closer now, and you have to wonder if that might create some bullpen hard feelings with Carlos Marmol, who was easily the best closer in the NL last year. But if anyone can handle clubhouse issues, it is Lou Pinella.

The Brewers still have a very good pitching staff, with Sheets and Suppan, but Sheets must stay healthy, because Gagne has not been good at all. Still, they have a very powerful lineup. But I think they are in for some "clubhouse" problems, with some of their off-season trades.

The surprise in the NL Central will be the Cincinnati Reds I think. Unknown pitchers before the spring season started of Volquez and Cueto have been EXTREMELY good. So good that up and coming phenom Homer Bailey, who has struggled a bit adjusting to MLB hitters, has been optioned down to the Bats, to let him continue to develop. Which just shows how deep that rotation could be.

The Cardinals, Astros and Pirates will fight for the basement in the NL Central, and I think the winner, (or loser), for last place will again be the Pirates. They have looked really bad in spring.

My prediction for the NL Central Winner: Chicago Cubs!!!

It is opening day for MLB!...well, kinda...

VERY early this morning was opening day for MLB...in Japan. Not that anyone noticed. Even if you are a huge RedSox and you thought you might be able to get up around 6am EST to watch your team open the season was a "good idea", then you were doubly ticked off, when you found out that through some fluke technical screwup, most of the NE did not receive the transmission.

The only saving grace? ESPN2 did replay the game at 2pm today.

(BTW, I am traveling this week, and will not be able to post much. But will get on it with my predictions of the MLB division and pennant races later this week. However, until then, here is a little taste......Go Cubs!)

the REAL 'March madness'..........

Over the weekend, we had one of Louisville's mid-winter weekends that makes everyone just ache for the warming weather of spring and the outdoor activities that come with it.

I saw dozens of people out on the golf courses, jogging, walking their dog, in the park playing frisbee, riding bikes, etc. I even saw many local HS teams out practicing their various sports, as well pickup games of basketball. Yep, the warm weather brought out all of the people who love sports and enjoy playing them, if only on an ad-hoc basis. Personally, I took the chance to fight with other 'fair weather' fishing junkies and was trying to land that prize pre-spawning bass. Something I failed to do, but I have NEVER had a bad day fishing. But that is another blog.

There were other things going on also. This past weekend, along with the beautiful weather, many of the summer sport leagues began holding their sign up periods for their sports. Summer softball leagues held their meetings, as well as summer basketball and swim leagues.

One such league that also met this weekend, that gets little attention, but has a very big underground membership is the Louisville chapter of the Men's Senior Baseball League.

They held their sign meeting this past weekend And the Courier-Journal on their website posted this information:

Men's senior baseball is gearing up
By Derek Poore
dpoore@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

Louisville's chapter of the Men's Senior Baseball League will hold an informational meeting from 2-6 p.m. on March 2 in the Community Room at Jefferson Mall on Outer Loop.

Anyone interested in joining a team in the league's 18-, 25- and 38-and-older divisions is encouraged to attend, league organizer David Allison said. Teams and individuals who need a team are welcome.

The league plays at parks throughout Jefferson County and Southern Indiana in the spring and summer. The Men's Senior Baseball League is a network of about 1,000 leagues nationwide.

For more information call Allison at 594-0872 or 935-0095 (after 6 p.m.) or e-mail allison83@bellsouth.net.

If you have never heard of this, please let me enlighten you. This is a group of guys, mostly older ones that just love the game of baseball, even though the days of playing the game in any real organized way has past them by.

They play for the love of the game, and because softball is not the same game. This is a real baseball game. Played with fast pitch baseball and only a slight change of the rules regarding substitution and pinch running. Afterall, with the knees and years of beer and fried food, that is enough of a handicap for most of us.

But make no mistake, even though the arms look like rubber, the fastballs never getting over 65MPH, the speed of the running looks like guys wearing army boots running in sand, and the only sound from the spouses sitting around the field are from the cell phones who have 911 on 'speed dial', these true 'boys of summer' play the game as if it is the World Series. That does not mean that they are so serious as to not have fun and ridicule those of lesser talents or skills. Because as I noted, time is the biggest leveler of talent and skill. No, they take the game seriously, but they also take back the joy we all remembered of playing those after-school playground pickup games. Of the times in the backyard with our dads, brothers, uncles, even MOM's, playing 'catch' to teach us to throw and catch.

It's a way to remember the past and celebrate the game we love. And it's a perennial reminder that summer is always just a warm spring weekend away.

Clemens and Bonds...double-standard by the media?

As of yesterday, we found out that the congressional committee looking at the Mitchell report on HGH and steroid use in major league baseball, has recommended to the justice department to look into whether or not Roger Clemens lied during his testimony in front of the same committee a week or so ago.

I agree. They should. There are so many contradictory statements to Clemens denial that it would be almost conspiratorial by a pretty substantial number of people, if Clemens is telling the truth. By that, I mean that either Clemens is lying about his denial that he ever took steroids/HGH, or at least 5 other people are lying that he DID take them. This is not a "he said vs he said" situation. And new we have learned that Clemens, (with regard to his denial that he attended a party hosted by Jose' Canseco), that there actually may be photographic evidence that the WAS there. And Clemens is now backstroking saying that he may have "misremembered" that event.

Funny that he used the phrase "misremembered" to his own statements, when he used the exact same phrase with regard to former teammate and friend, pitcher Andy Petitte, when Petitte said that he heard Clemens talking about using HGH. So you have to wonder, if Clemens is "misremembering" about the party, could he ALSO be "misremembering" that conversation and Petitte be right?

Still, the real issue for me is why has the media been so tirelessly running article after article about Clemens, and showing very little support for him, when just 4 months ago, these VERY same media were calling the indictment of Barry Bonds a "witch hunt"? (The exact words that Kevin Blackistone, sports writer and ESPN guest of the show "Around the Horn", used when describing the effort to get to the truth of Barry Bonds claim of denials of his use of steroids and HGH. As he too was mentioned in the Mitchell report.) Bonds, IMHO, has proven to be FAR more guilty than Clemens has at this point and I very much believe that Clemens is lying, but the evidence will out on that story line.

So where is the media regarding Bonds indictment for lying to a congressional committee? Is the media playing a double-standard here? You have to ask that question.

Which also begs another question. While Andy Petitte is coming across as the "victim" in this whole sordid affair, by openly and almost immediately admitting he did use HGH, because as he claims, he did it on the advice of people who told him it would help him rebound faster from an injury, where is Selig, the players union, and all of the MLB exec's in regard to this? Basically, why are they allowing Petitte to continue playing?

Look, I understand that Andy Petitte is a sympathetic figure right now, and I actually and honestly feel sorry for him. But that does NOT diminish that he acted in a manner that, while not illegal in baseball at the time he did it, is illegal now, and is seen as a form of cheating, even at the time he did it. So, why has MLB not at the very least, suspended Petitte from play?

I am beginning to wonder if there is not some type of double-standard going on here.

A reason why baseball 'was' better than football...

Ok, first. I am a huge football fan. College football is my #1 sport, with major league baseball close in the heels @ #2 on my list. Well, that is unless you count fishing, then college football and MLB ranks second and third respectively, but that is something different. And I do not count them in the same categories.

Still, one of the greatest things I love about baseball is that in baseball, you do not have the constant and annoying distractions while the game is being played that you do with other sports, like football. What do I mean by that? Simple. Cheerleading.

Or at least, there USED to not be any cheerleading in baseball.

Do not get me wrong. I am a guy, and I sit in the stands of football games with a pair of binoculars and staring down at the petite, athletic, extremely limber, lithe and HOT little cheerleader babes like 90% of all other guys do. It is what makes football what it is. Especially with the delays between plays, it is a great distraction.

But in recent years we have seen, in an effort to bring in more fans and mostly male ones, some of the low market baseball teams are now, not only looking at creating cheerleading teams, like the Florida Marlins, "Mermaids", who while they are EXTREMELY pleasant to look at, bring nothing to the game itself.

But those very same Florida Marlins feel that was not enough. Now they want to completely offend our very senses by bringing in a cheerleading squad called, "Manatees". This group is NOT made up of women dressed in hot little outfits that make 40 year old, paunchy men suck in their gut so hard they turn blue and faint, but instead THIS group will consist OF 40 year old plus, paunchy men! (or some reasonable facsimile of that male demographic.)

According to an AP news report this is what is happening (quote:)

"The Florida Marlins are looking for some footloose fat men. The National League team is creating an all-male, plus-size cheerleading squad to be dubbed the Manatees. Tryouts were scheduled for Sunday.

The team hopes to recruit seven to 10 tubby men to dance, cheer and jiggle during Friday and Saturday home games this season.

Real manatees, 1,200-pound mammals sometimes referred to as "sea cows," are not considered the most agile of creatures and often get caught in boat propellers.

The Marlins want their Manatees to have the same dimensions, but to be decidedly more agile. Men will be judged on how well they dance a choreographed routine."

(Source AP news)

(endquote):

Ok, that is just WRONG! NO one wants cheerleading at baseball games, and certainly no one wants to see "fat guys" dancing!!! Fat men dancing as cheerleading for baseball is to me about as appealing as spooning down a bowl of ice cream topped with bleach and gasoline!

Baseball is supposed different, it has been and will be a game for 'game purists'. People who are insanely wrapped up in statistics, numbers and history. But over the years as the interest has faded in that part of fan involvement of the game, what has begun to show up is something that is just offensive and contradictory to that. That being, "cheer leading".

Baseball is game to be enjoyed wistfully and in contemplative reflection of the game. Not wild-eyed, radical screaming at the top of your lungs. THAT is what football is for!

To paraphrase from that immortal movie about baseball, which gave us some of the greatest baseball one-liners, "THERE IS NO CHEERLEADING IN BASEBALL!"

ok, reason #1001, why baseball is great....PRANKS

On sunday, one of THE all time greatest baseball pranks was pulled on Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick. This was a BIG time prank.

In case you have not heard about this, here is a recap: Kendrick was called by the Phillies manager into his office and told him he was being traded to Japan, for a pitcher named Kobiashi. Kendrick fell for this hook, line and sinker. They had him going from the second he stepped into the mgr's office. They had him sign the trade papers, and then the Phillies General Manager, (yes the GM AND the MEDIA were in on it), came down to make a media statement and said he thought it was time to make a move in the best interest of the team for the future. It was PRICELESS!

What was so great about it, is that they had everyone involved from the manager to the players, to the General Manager, to even the media! That was a true big time punk! It had all the elements that make a great baseball prank. It was cruel and funny!

And the funniest part is that they told him they were trading him for that guy in Japan who is the hot dog eating champ!...that is priceless!...LOL...

This is one of the major reasons that baseball is so great for those of us who love the game. Baseball has a long and storied history of pulling pranks. From the proverbial 'hot foot' in the dugout to shaving cream pies in the face while sleeping in the clubhouse, to now this.

With all of the negative stories and ugliness of the scandal regarding drug use in MLB, it is great to see that some of the things that make baseball such a unique sport are still part of what makes the sport a "fun game".

Pranks in baseball is what reminds us that with all of the "business" of baseball, baseball is, at the very core, a "game". An escape from all of the seriousness that we have to deal with in our daily lives. And the sport of baseball is a major piece of our American history. (I might do a series of blogs about that during the dull days after the MLB All-Star game.) Baseball is still a game that is played by men who never grew up. And pranks are the way they express that eternal mischievous nature.

I remember a couple of great pranks pulled on me, and one I pulled on pitcher. When I was in HS, I played both center field and was the backup catcher. One of the best pranks ever pulled on me was when I was in HS, on a day when the temp was nearing 100 degrees. The starting catcher was just about dying by the 5th inning, and asked if I could take over for an inning or two to give him a chance to cool down. What I did not know is that the ump had called a half-hour delay to the game to let both teams cool down. So I start to get geared up and when I slipped my hand into my catcher's mitt, (we each used our own), I found out he had slipped several scoops of cherry jello into it. Don't worry, I got even, I put vaseline in his cleats a few weeks later. Oddly, he said he liked the way it "squished" between his toes.

And even movies ABOUT baseball reflect how much pranks are part of the game of baseball. Watch the movies of "Bull Durham" when Costner decides that everyone needs a "rained out" game. Or the Tom Selleck movie "Mr. Baseball" when he lights a teammates shoe on fire.

Pranks are part of baseball. It is what we remember that is best about the game. And it is what is best about your teammates. And right now, we need more stories about the "fun" in baseball instead of the "ugliness" surrounding it.

and you think I am a baseball fan?

Ok, as most of you might know I am a big baseball fan. And in Louisville, there really are quite a bit more of us than you might realize. Part of that is because of Louisville's baseball history and the ties to current baseball with The Louisville Slugger bat and Hillerich & Bradsby.

And I admit I love the "game" of baseball, even though I hate all of the recent scandals over drug use. I even make a yearly trip down to Ft. Myers, where I used to live, for a week of fishing and spring training baseball. I actually love spring ball to see guys who are trying to make the teams and where the next generation of talent comes from. And you have not tailgated until you have grilled out redfish, snook and snapper that you caught just that morning!

Even in the winter I love to watch the off-season trades, and who is moving to which team.

But I am NOTHING when it comes to some people and their baseball frenzy. That fact was driven home to me just a couple of days ago, when I was reading an article from a Boston newspaper, and came across the following little hysterical item:

--------------------
Dan Shaughnessy
<http://www.boston.com/news/globe/>

It's live - but not lively

2/16/2008

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Seminal moments in television history?

There was the first appearance of the Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in
1964, the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969, and, of course, the final
"M*A*S*H" episode, watched by 106 million viewers in 1983.

And now we have spring training brought to you live by NESN [New England
Sports Televsion]. Television history.

The Red Sox network today will broadcast the team's first workout for
pitchers and catchers from 10 a.m. to noon. It will be replayed in condensed
versions at 1:30, 4, and 11 p.m.

Wow. LIVE FROM FORT MYERS! MUST-SEE TV! . . . Curt Schilling leading the
charge out of the clubhouse for the ceremonial single lap around the warning
track . . . Doug Mirabelli belching . . . Pitchers standing on the mound, in
line, running to cover first base as a coach hits fungoes to the right side
. . . Tim Wakefield stretching while [broadcasters] Don Orsillo and Tom
Caron stretch to find words to fill the empty action.

----------

Ok, now how hard up do you have to be for baseball to tune in for two hours to see a bunch of PITCHERS jogging around a field and stretching?!

I have to laugh, because I KNOW that unless there were some RedSox fans watching somewhere, this would not be televised.

So, just remember the next time your spouse, (female OR male), says that you are "obesessed" with your hobby or sport, just remind them that at least you are not watching pitchers excercising for several hours.

Easy to find...but hard to read....

Roger Clemens testified today in front of the congressional committee holding hearings on PED use in MLB, as a result of the Mitchell report.

Having listened to his testimony, I want to believe him. But the problem I have is that Clemens seems more angry and defensive, than someone innocent and pleading his case. Several times during testimony, even when asked questions which seemingly would have helped his case, (such as the question asked by one congresswoman about his workout regime after showing a 4-panel display of Clemens taken at various stages of his career), Clemens had to be coaxed by chairman Waxman to answer the question directly, and even then barely satisfactorily.

Clemens just seems bent on stating that he has been wronged, and that others have and are lying about him, but at no time during the questioning has he offered any real proof of his innocence or evidence that shows that his accusers HAVE falsely accused him.

And even those people who Clemens considers good friends, like Andy Pettite who yesterday during his questioning said that he overheard Clemens in a discussion about taking human growth hormone, Clemens stated today that Pettite just misunderstood. He did not deny that there had been a discussion that had taken place, nor did Clemens provide to us the details of how that conversation could have been misunderstood. All Clemens did was offer us an excuse that Pettite was wrong, not that Clemens was right.

And that is the knife that keeps twisting in my brain about this situation.

If Clemens is not guilty, then why is not offering substantiative proof of his innocence, instead of trying to state to us that he thinks all of his accusers are lying or mistaken???

Very few of the questions were directly answered. At least not to my satisfaction.

Even that very simple question which part of his answer is in the title of this blog entry, he stumbled answering. The question was simple and straight forward. When asked if he had denied any request to appear before former Senator Mitchell to answer any allegations that were being made against him, Clemens offered us only that he was "easy to find". And that had he know what "lies" were being told he would have been there. But that did not answer the question. So while Clemens may be "easy to find", he sure is extremely hard to read, when it comes to answers he has given.

Baseball memorabilia..bloody sock to bloody gauze??

When the Boston RedSox won their first World Series in nearly 90 years, a few years ago, they did so with the help of the pitching of Kurt Schilling who had to have some surgery on his ankle literally during the AL divisional series. Then during that WS, we all watched the game he pitched as the media focused on such a "gutsy" performance that he gave, while his stiched up ankle oozed blood. Which turned into the "bloody sock" gate later on where Schilling was even later accused of staging the whole thing. That turned out to be much about nothing. Still, we were left with people vying to buy a "bloody sock" to get a piece of baseball history, even to the point where the MLB Hall of Fame finally won out, and now that sock is on display.

But last friday may be all time doozy of baseball memorabilia. Last friday we learned that Clemen's former trainer, McNamee, not only accused Clemen's WIFE of taking human growth hormone injections, but to try and prove his claim that McNamee injected Roger Clemens with them, he produced syringes and bloody gauze pads that he claimed he kept in a freezer for SEVEN years!

Anyone else find this really creepy?

Ok, for now, let's drop the whole "guilt or innocence" discussion of Clemens. Because what I find FAR more disturbing is that as a big time baseball fan we have sunk so low as to now we have started considering that such things as cotton fabrics stained with bodily fluids are now part of baseball lore. This is really just wrong.

I mean come on, what's next? Not to be crass, but have we dipped so low into our quest of trying to immortalize our baseball heros as to have gone beyond dumpster diving for "trinkets", as to now start to see if we can save anything from blood to hair to urine samples???

It is one thing to go after uniforms, gloves, bats and equipment. But it then borders on sickness to start to go after such things as jock straps and cups. Which you can bet somewhere on Ebay, there is a guy who is offering such things.

the REAL "super tuesday" event....

Sure the airwaves tonight will be full of media wonks going off about who won this primary or that caucus and giving us more information that is useless than last weeks build up to the super bowl.

But the REAL "Super Tuesday" event today is that this is the day that Roger Clemens will have his day in court....er...or should I say, day in congress.

Clemens is due today to give his deposition to a congressional hearing committee on charges of his using PED's during some of his years in MLB.

This comes one day on the heels of Andy Pettite's deposition which went almost completely unnoticed by the sports media world. And I still find it interesting that throughout all of this mess, Pettite, being the only one that has confessed to USING PED's, is just quietly flying under the radar of every media outlet and reporter. Funny that.

Let's hope that today though we get to hear something from Clemens other than 42 pages of statistics showing his ERA, strike out ratio, and game winning percentage. Clemens needs to address specific charges against him in specific ways. Even to the point of answering questions such as, "Why would McNamee lie about you, but not about Pettite?"

And let's hope the congressional hearing committee is not satisfied with sound bite answers.

Santana and the Mets

Look I KNOW that most people in Louisville think that "basketball is god". But baseball has a ton of people who care and follow the sport. That is why I do write so much about baseball here. And in Louisville, as being the Triple-A home for the Cincinnati Reds, the deal that happened recently between the Mets and Johan Santana has huge implications for many Reds followers in Louisville.

It is obvious that while the Mets scored a MAJOR coups in snatching Santana from the Twins, it is also true that the Twins really took a major bath on the deal. The question is, what happened that BOTH the Yankees and the Red Sox backed off of this deal?

Personally, I think the only reason that the RedSox were involved to begin with was to keep Santana out of Yankee pinstrips. While they would have loved to have had him, I do not think they were all that keen about losing Ellsbury, or a couple of the other players mentioned, given what they have returning in their pitching rotation anyway.

Why did the Yankees backoff? Good question. And I really have no idea. The Yankees pitching last year was AWFUL, and without question they BADLY needed Santana far more than Santana needed to play in front of those backwoods, country morons, known as "Yankee Fans". But here is what is interesting, George Steinbrenner would never have allowed Santana off the hook, whereas his idiot progeny did. In two of the major off-season deals, (Santana recently and the nearly botched loss of A-Rod), it is becoming VERY clear that not only are these guys not their father, they are complete idiots. (More's the better for a lifelong Yankess hater and RedSox fan like me!)

These are guys have nearly screwed up and did screw up two of the biggest deals in recent Yankees history, and the more they get involved, the more you realize that they are not the right owners for this storied ballclub.

If the Yankees start going down the tubes this season they way they did last year, these guys might just be stupid enough to not only fire the manager again, but also have a "fire sale" on some of their better players, just to try and get a "quick fix" in place.

It will be interesting to watch over the next few years.

One other MLB and PED comment

In case you missed this little item that was in the news last week.

Chuck Knoblauch, also accused in the Mitchell report of taking PED's during his career with the NY Yankees, was served a congressional subpoena last week for failing to respond to request to appear before the congressional subcommittee investigating the Mitchell report claims.

Knoblauch yesterday, has agreed to appear and testify before the committee yesterday. And Waxman, (chair of the committee), has withdrawn the subpoena.

But here is the best part, and if you are a baseball fan you will love this. Last week, during the MSNBC show Countdown, hosted by Keith Olbermann, had the best baseball joke line I have ever heard about this.

Olbermann, when referencing Knoblach's failure to respond to the committee summons, said this, "Perhaps it was not that Mr. Knoblauch has in any way intentionally refused to answer or reply to the committee. Instead, he probably received the request in the mail, promptly balled it up, and attempted to throw it to first base, sailing it into the stands and hitting my mother!"

Any baseball fan that watched Knoblauch play 2nd base for the Yankees knows just how funny that line is!

18,000 words? EIGHTEEN THOUSAND?!

Ok, in the ever revolving story of the use of PED's in MLB, Clemens and his lawyer yesterday released a 40+ page document with 18,000 words, which was really nothing more than a statistcal biography of Clemens career.

Nearly nothing in this report gives is anything that you can not lookup in the Baseball Almanac, or on MLB.com.

You would think that a guy that is accused of taking PED's, would at least ADDRESS the exact issues that his accusers have stated, instead of trying to use statistics of how his play actually improved around and after the same time frame he has been accused of this action.

But let's put that aside for a minute.

I actually applaud Clemens for vehemently defending his name. Because, let's face it, his career is over, so it is not like he is going to be going back to baseball in hopes of winning another Cy Young award. The only reason he might go back is just to make 'mo money' and because he does not know when to quit.

So the reason he is fighting this is for his baseball legacy. And I understand that. Because if proven that he did take PED's, then his chances for HOF induction are all but zero.

Which makes this document so very confusing. The argument is at best an odd tangent, and at worst completely moot. You would think that instead of trying to make this document about the whole of Clemen's career and saying "See! Look at his stats it shows how good he has been as a pitcher!", they would instead address specific issues and events that McNamee has accused Clemens of. Why talk about Clemens lowest in the majors ERA during that time period, but not address any issues or situations off the field, which is where the allegations are said to have occurred? It does not make much sense.

And why has Clemens legal team not seen fit to address the questions raised by Pettite's admission of guilt directly? For example, why would McNamee lie, what does he stand to gain or lose by falsifying information about Clemens?

While it is an interesting tack, this document does nearly nothing to address the questions or innocence of Clemens being accused of PED use. At least none that I can see.

Yarmuth ask question that has dual answer

In the hearings on PED use in MLB, US Rep John Yarmuth asked the question of MLBPA head Donald Fehr if there has been any scientific evidence that the use of performance enhancing drugs, (PEDs), actually improve performance.

The answer to Yarmuth's question is "yes" and "no". Because the science has been completely inconclusive. But I also think that Yarmuth has COMPLETELY missed the point. And that point is that it is NOT whether or not drugs actually give someone an edge or advantage, but that the drug users THINK that they do.

As a Boston RedSox fan I use as an example the ages old argument of Bucky "F'ing" Dent. Every RedSox fan, including me, still believes that Dent used a corked bat to hit his HR that sent the Yankees to the World Series. And years later we learned that MANY MLB players used, (and suspicions abound even today), corked bats which they believe help them get an edge to get more hits and even more power.

The problem? It was scientifically proven on the Discovery Channel's MythBusters show that a corked bat does NOT provide any power advantage over a non-corked bat. Their tests even went so far as to prove that a corked bat is actually WORSE for generating power or solid hits, because the cork inside the bat acts as a shock absorber to the impact of a ball hitting it, actually REDUCING the force to drive the ball! That is proven. Corked bats do NOT give hitters an advantage and even have proven to give more of an advantage to pitchers than hitters! The only thing a corked bat is, is slightly lighter, which may allow a hitter to have a slighter faster swing, but since the ball is deadened by the impact, it is not going to go anywhere. Yet, we still hear of hitters using corked bats, (although banned by MLB), because they believe it gives them an edge. Regardless of how wrong-headed that may be.

The same is true for PEDs use. Whether or not it does give athletes an edge is completely a MOOT point Mr Yarmuth. The point is that MLB players THINK it does. And by using those PEDs they are setting the expectation to all high school and even little league athletes that if they are not as "strong as they want to be", "as fast as they want to be", "or as quick as they want to be", then taking PEDs MIGHT be your ticket to a scholarship or even a professional sports career.

Mr Yarmuth, your question is interesting, but completely invalid.

MLBPA and MLB execs again stonewalling...

Once again, here is the MLB being dragged up in front of congressional hearings to answer questions with regard to steroid and PED use in their sport.

Nothing new here.

The question is, will there be any new results? My answer. Not on your life.

MLB has absolutely NO desire to go after any of its star players who abused PED's, the owners who knew about it, or even the trainers and front office personnel who may have encouraged such abuse.

To reinforce that, look at the continued snipping that is going on between the MLBPA and the World Anti-Doping Agency, (WADA). The Mitchell report, reinforced and suggested once again that MLB would be BEST served by putting a non-MLB managed drug testing agency in charge of the MLB testing. But the MLBPA, and specifically Donald Fehr, will have NOTHING whatsoever to do with that suggestion. Which only goes to show to me that the MLBPA 100% SUPPORTS the use of steroids and other PED's in MLB. Because if they have not been part of the solution, which the Mitchell report says they have not been, then they will be damned if they will let anyone else be part of it.

It is my opinion and contention that MLB and the MLBPA do not WANT to stop steroid and PED abuse, because everyone from the MLB exec's to the owners to the players even down to the concessionaires have benefited from players using drugs. And the reason they have benefited is because as players have "juiced" up, so to have the fans increased. And obviously, more fans, more money. So there is NO incentive for them to stop using PEDs.

Roger Clemens goes on the offensive....

Roger Clemens, just before going on 60 Minutes to deny all of the charges against him regarding the use of steroids and HGH, Clemens' lawyer filed suit NOT against either the author of the Mitchell report nor against Major League Baseball, but against his former personal trainer McNamee who said he injected Clemens with HGH.

And then we were subjected to a very odd press conference where Clemens played for the nation, a taped phone conversation between McNamee and himself regarding the situation.

First, I applaud Clemens for going on the attack and trying to defend his name as hard as he can. But there are SO many unanswered, or more accurately, UNASKED questions about this situation that it is hard to determine whether to believe Clemens or to think that he is really just trying to cover up his actions.

No, at this point there is NO direct evidence that Clemens has taken steroids or HGH, other than what one witness said he did. But the questions about the situation that have not been asked and answered by Clemens have not led us to any real conclusion other than to scratch our heads and try to figure out what the turn of events really are.

First, why did it take SO long for Clemens to come out and deny these charges? The report was out in early November, and it took nearly two MONTHS before Clemens said or did anything. Why?

Here are questions that have been asked, but answered in ways that make very little sense.

When asked what possible reason did McNamee have to lie about Clemens, but not about Andy Pettite, Clemens answered, "I don't know." Ok, maybe he does not. But he can not even venture a guess? (BTW, lost in all of the media circus surrounding Clemens is the fact that Pettite admitted taking steroids, and yet NO ONE is talking about that? It seems that the media could not care LESS about players admitting taking performance enhancing drugs, as much as they do creating a circus about a player denying taking them.)

Other questions not even asked have been:
Why did you wait so long to address these allegations?

Why when McNamee during the phone call conversation when he asked you, "What do you want me to do?", did you not just say, "Tell the truth." Why did you leave that hanging out there, causing some doubt?

Clemens said that he WILL be at the congressional hearings this month to defend himself and directly address the allegations before him. He better be. But he ALSO better be able to give more articulate and definitive answers than the ones he has so far, because I can assure you that the questions asked of him will not be as easily dismissed with sound bite answers as what he has given us so far.

MLB is taken to task by.....PETE ROSE?...

This week, Pete Rose, an icon to many major league baseball fans, and a pariah of the MLB front offices; made statements about the recent release of the Mitchell Report and the subsequent "outing" of many MLB players who were named in the report for taking steroids, HGH and other performance enhancing drugs.

Pete Rose, in a statement the other day said that players who have used steroids or other PED's are "making a mockery" of baseball.

Yes, this is Pete Rose talking. The current and still leader in MLB history for career hits, the leader of the 1970's "Big Red Machine" that won several World Series, AND the SAME Pete Rose that was banned for life from the sport for gambling on baseball.

Honestly, I actually think that Pete Rose is actually right and has a point. I als think Rose has been given the shaft by MLB for years, and I think he SHOULD be given a pardon and be allowed to be voted on for HOF membership. But come on, Pete Rose talking about how players using drugs makes a mockery of baseball? That is just laughable at best. What Pete Rose SHOULD be saying, is to tell those very same players, (guys like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Miguel Tejada, among others), that what they NEED to do is fess up, come clean, and ask for forgiveness.

The problem that EVERYONE had with Pete Rose, is exactly the SAME problem many fans have with sterioid and PED users in baseball. That being that, in spite of evidence to the contrary, they all want to deny everything. Ya' know what? THAT pisses fans off and alienates them from the players faster than anything else. But if those same players were to come out, admit they did use those drugs, but did not know what the consequences of those drugs were, (let's face it, back when these guys were accused of taking the drugs, we really did not know what they would or could do...nor even how dangerous they were.)

Look we all make mistakes, we all have used bad judgement. But at least Pettitte is showing SOME type of honor about his involvement, and is looking more and more the pitiable victim than a blatant cheater. That is the lesson that Pete Rose apparently has not learned.

Fans will forgive players, we WANT to forgive players, but we do NOT want to be made out to be dupes and look like idiots. The "court of public opinion" is what is at stake here, because none of the drugs used are criminal acts. So the ONLY risk these players will be taking is the risk that some fans will never forgive them. But you know what? MOST fans will. If given the chance. And that is something that Rose never really "got". Let's hope that the players named in the Mitchell report do learn that lesson.

Detroit Tigers team to beat in AL Central in 08?

As if the AL Central was not ALREADY tough enough, the Detroit Tigers just upped the ante on both the Twins and the Indians.

1 season removed from their World Series appearance, the Tigers completed a HUGE deal with the Marlins in an 8 player trade that will not only put them solidly as the #1 favorite to win the AL Central next season, but also will give Tigers fans a major reason to expect to contend for both the AL pennant and the possibly a World Series championship.

The Tigers trade deal included sending very talented Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller, along with 4 other prospects to Florida in exchange for BOTH left-handed hard throwing Donte' Willis and power hitter Miquel Cabrera who led the Marlins last year in HR's, (34), and was 2nd on the team in batting percentage, (.320).

The Red Sox are taking their time though in looking to acquire Santana from the Twins. If the Twins lose Santana, the Twins, IMHO, will have no shot at even getting 2nd place in the AL Central, much less winning it. But if the BoSox get Santana, and after re-signing Mike Lowell, you have to think that the Sox are the odds-on favorite to win the AL, even if the Tigers make a serious run at them.


The Dodgers just scored big in their quest for the NL West title by picking up Andru Jones from the Atlanta Braves. This will be a huge shot in the arm for a club that hand good pitching but suffered down the stretch to get runs across the plate with runners in scoring position.

Video review.....in BASEBALL??...no WAY!

Ok, today during a meeting of MLB's GM's in Orlando FL, a vote was passed to "explore the use of video replay", in MLB. Oh, but ONLY for homerun's mind you.

Could these guys BE any more wrong-headed?

The only good thing about this is that it is a "non-binding" resolution. Meaning that not only will MLB not be implementing it, but also that Bud Selig has final say and does not have any obligation to consider the issue any further. And he should not. Video replay for making calls in baseball does not belong.

Look I get that sometimes an ump may be in the wrong position to make a call, (see Boston's Manny Ramirez's HR non-call during this year's ALCS for example number 1.) But that is part of the game. It is what makes baseball unique. The fractions of an inch, the minutiae of being able to make a call where a ball roughly less than 3 inches in diameter makes surface contact to determine whether the ball is "in play" or "out" is just all part of the game, and the ability or position of the ump is far more critical than some "eye in the sky" camera.

Baseball is a unique and wonderful sport. It is the ONLY sport to have the following:

The only sport where the "defense" actually starts with the ball and to score the "offense" must put the ball in play.

The only sport where time does not matter. (Ok, there is an actual rule that once a pitcher comes set, he has only 20 seconds to throw the ball before the ump can call an intentional balk on him. But other than that, there is NO clock in baseball.)

And the only major sport in America that does NOT use any type of video review replay to make a call by an official.

When the first televised baseball game was played, (a game in 1939 @ Ebbets field between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds), I am sure that even then the few thousand that watched the game thought the umps blew a call that they were SURE they saw on their 2-dimensional TV sets. But since about the early 1970's when TV baseball broadcasts started incorporating replay during the inning changes, more often than not what those replays showed us was just how GOOD the umps really do call a game. Time after time, objective fans who would grouse about a bad call had to rescind their badmouthing when the TV replay actually proved that the ump had gotten the call right.

And that is the point. If the game of baseball was being severely hurt by rash after rash of very poor calls by the umps which had tremendous impact on the outcome of a game and led to a lot of GM's and or even player association complaints or even law suits, then yeah, MAYBE I could see using video replay to suspend disbelief and make the right call. But that is not, and has not ever, been the case. Like I mentioned in another article here, MLB is the ONLY sport where the officials are full time employees of the sport. And that makes MLB umps hone their craft to be very good professionals. By taking the time to train, re-educate and continue learning, MLB assures that it has the best officiating in all of professional sports.

And again, yes, a bad call will happen every now and then, but tell me what sport does NOT have one? Even those that currently employ video review. There are bad calls that change the outcomes of games in every pro sport. Regardless of whether video replay is used or not. But baseball being unique with regard to time and ball possession, does not need that extra incentive. The proof has been evident for quite some time as I noted before.

Baseball is not the most popular professional sport in America. It is not the most glamorous. It probably is at best 3rd in the nation among professional sports fans. Far behind the NFL, and the NBA. And it MIGHT even be less popular than college basketball and/or college football. But major league baseball is THE oldest professional sport in America. It dates back to pre-Civil War times and has seen the best and worst of America history. It is indelibly tied to the fabric of our history. And in keeping with that history, one of the tenets should be that in perpetuity all officiating will be made only by umps, and not dependent on technology. Because that, IMHO, is a very slippery slope. Why? Because where do you stop then? It might sound ridiculous right now, but if you start down the road of introducing technology to make call in baseball, it is NOT outside the realm of possibility that a home plate umpire would become obsolete. It is VERY technically possible to put a micro, passive transducer inside of a baseball that adds less than 1/1000th of an ounce to the weight and then using lasers or other mechanisms determine the exact location of a ball as it does, or does not cross the plate. And at what height and speed. But does anyone really want to watch that? If we go that far, should be not let MLB hitters use aluminum bats? Yes, there will always be some small types of technological changes in the game of baseball which will make it better. Solid core baseballs, instead of sawdust ones. The use of batting helmets, and other protective gear. Different turned wood bats with the ends that have been "scooped" out to lighten the bat and give more control. But even all of those advances were to improve the sport. Make it better. As I have pointed out, using video replay does not.

We owe it to ourselves to keep baseball as close to the original roots of the game as possible. Because of baseball's unique nature, and the way the game is played. And to keep a tie to our sports past.