Baseball

If you have been searching or watching for sports news on the web the last little while you will be aware the A-Rod or A-Roid has come clean about taking a banned substance from 2000 until 2003, or something like that. The only reason he did so was because he has seen first hand the hot water Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds got themselves in with their arrogance and denial of using said substances. Now they face perjury charges, but I doubt they will ever see a day in prison.

Bonds especially should quit insulting people's intelligence. When he can into the league with the Pittsburgh Pirates, he was just a skinny kid that maybe weighed 150 lb soaking wet. Look at him now with the arms and shoulders, yeah ok Barry you got that way from just lifting weights. Bonds and Clemens have another thing in common. They are both mean SOB's that think the sun rises and sets on themselve's. Get over yourselves, you play a kids game and make unbelievable money to do so. Maybe being that way has something to do with their abuse.

As for A-rod he went on to say that he did not know what it was that he was shooting into his behind. Yeah sure of course you would just blindly put an unknown substance into your body, give us a break.

Maybe Major League Baseball should just wipe all of their records from the books.
"No Guts No Glory"
Walt Webb

I found an interesting story by Bob Elliot in the Toronto sun today. Bob Elliot is a respected sports writer for the Toronto sun that looks after the Baseball beat. I thought that I would just quote his story. You Blue Jay fans out there all is not lost in our division this year where we always have to go up against the likes of the Boston Red Socks and the New York Yankee's. Both of these franchises have very deep pockets and it makes it very difficult for the rest of the division to keep on a level playing field with them. Anyway here is Bob's story.

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Are things rolling the Blue Jays' way?
Maybe.
Let's examine the evidence since Ray Olmedo popped up for the final out Sept. 30 in a season-ending 8-5 loss to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays:
- Dec. 4: Yankees lefty Andy Pettitte decides he will pitch in 2008, a month after saying he would retire.
The Yanks agree to pick up his $16-million US option, hours before the midnight deadline New York had set in trade talks with the Minnesota Twins for lefty Johan Santana.

- Jan. 30: Santana, the Cy Young Award winner the Twins could not afford to re-sign, is dealt. But Santana is not traded to either of the Jays' American League East rivals, the Boston Red Sox or the Yanks, who pursued him following the World Series.
Instead, Santana heads to the New York Mets.
- Feb. 8: Right-hander Curt Schilling writes on his 38pitches.com blog that he has an injured right shoulder. Schilling decides to go with Boston's request to rely on rest and rehab rather than having what could be career-ending surgery.
How long will he adhere to management's decision? What's the over/under on him remaining quiet? A month into the season? He may wind up being a distraction.
Does Schilling talk a lot? Well, when he refused comment on his shoulder injury, ESPN ran on its news scrawl "Curt Schilling declines comments to ESPN ..."
The week after Santana goes elsewhere, Boston finds out it is shy a starter.
- Feb. 8: Pettitte testifies before lawmakers behind closed doors in Washington, D.C. Pettitte was excused from yesterday's Congressional hearing.
Yet his sworn affidavit yesterday said Roger Clemens told Pettitte nearly 10 years ago that Clemens used human growth hormone.
Clemens and Pettitte have been friends since 1999. When Pettitte jumped to the Houston Astros as a free agent in 2004, Clemens followed. They both rejoined the Yankees in 2007. They are dear friends and have pitched in the same rotation for 10 seasons.
Pettitte is a sensitive man as ball players go. He did not want any part of the hearings. Due to report to the Yankees today in Tampa, Pettitte is behind in his normal schedule and word is that the Yanks are looking for help for their rotation.
If the government moves forward with perjury charges against Clemens, Pettitte still will be in the midst of a firestorm, although not near as badly as Clemens.
This time Pettitte will not be excused as he was yesterday. He will have to testify. In open court. More distraction.
- Feb. 11: Jays closer B.J. Ryan throws pain-free and impresses catcher Gregg Zaun, leading to hope Ryan will be ready for opening day.
Ryan faces long odds to be able to line up along the third-base line as part of the active 25-man roster on opening day, March 31, at Yankee Stadium.
He's coming off Tommy John surgery. Normal rehab is 12 to 18 months. Ryan had surgery on May 10 last year.
If he's ready for opening day, he will have had to have pitched in exhibition games by March 15. That's roughly a 10-month rehab.
Good for the Jays if he bounces back that quickly. But is it worth it for management to rush a reliever in Year 3 of a five-year deal?
And finally, not that anyone is counting, but Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi has not been booed since he appeared on the Rogers Centre videoboard in the ninth inning on Sept. 30.

On another note this topic is gaining speed with each passing day and I thought I should write about it. My comments are added to the articles written by Ken Fidlin of the Toronto Sun.

This should start the debate. Who is lying "Clemens" or "McNamee"? I am of the opinion that Roger Clemens should just fess up and admit it. Take his lumps and move on with his life. McNamee said he had physical evidence that old Roger did take "HGH". This evidence would be in the form of used syringes with trace amounts of Rogers's blood on them. Roger is playing a dangerous game here and could end up in the same boat as good old Barry Bonds. That being said they may well both go to jail and from this perspective, it could not happen to a couple of nicer guy's, no one apart from their families will shed many tears for them. They have treated people with contempt for most of their careers. This could be the final form of "poetic justice". Come clean Roger save yourself while you still can.

Someone is lying'
Rocket, trainer stick to stories but Pettitte may hold the key
By KEN FIDLIN, TORONTO SUN
It didn't degenerate into the Shootout at the OK Corral, but Clemens versus McNamee on Capitol Hill had its moments of heat, of passion and, yes, of absurdity.
And now that it is over, what is to make of this last (thankfully) foray by the Oversight Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives into the business of performance enhancing drugs in baseball?
Did Roger Clemens take steps toward clearing his name? Or, did he sink deeper into the abyss that could be not only the ruination of his career but as his life as an American icon?
He and Brian McNamee staged a high-stakes game of chicken, each sticking to his story. McNamee says he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone many times over a span of five years. Clemens says he has never used performance-enhancing drugs.
Who do you believe?

"Someone is lying in spectacular fashion," said Representative Tom Davis, a former chairman of this committee.
Because they have both offered diametrically opposed sworn testimony, it is quite likely that the Oversight Committee will refer the entire matter to the Justice Department for a criminal investigation. There were also six FBI agents in the meeting room yesterday. The FBI has the power to open its own investigation, even if the matter is not referred to Justice. If one man or the other is found to have perjured himself in these matters, he could spend years in jail.
After 41/2 hours of sworn testimony yesterday, it turned out the most credible voice in the argument wasn't even in the room. Andy Pettitte, Clemens' former teammate and workout partner, had been excused from testifying but his sworn affidavit was perhaps the most powerful bit of evidence introduced yesterday.
Pettitte testified that Clemens had told him "in 1999 or 2000" that he (Clemens) had used HGH. In another conversation between Pettitte and Clemens in 2005, Clemens told Pettitte he must have misunderstood and that he'd actually said that his wife (Debbie Clemens) had used HGH. Since Debbie used HGH only once, in 2003, the timeline is wrong for Pettitte to have misunderstood the 1999 conversation.
In many ways, Pettitte's testimony is poisonous for Clemens because Pettitte is so believable. He came clean about his own HGH use and probably could have gotten away with saying he didn't know whether Clemens used or not, especially in light of their ongoing friendship.
But he didn't take the easy way out. He said what he believes to be the truth.
"What possible reason would Mr. Pettitte have to fabricate a statement about you, his friend?" asked Representative Elijah Cummings.
"Andy would have no reason to," responded Clemens.
Exactly.
In a strange way, McNamee's history of lying seemed to make him more believable. At every interview session since he started being interrogated by federal authorities and then turned over to the Mitchell Committee and subsequently to the Oversight Committee, he has been making statements that were later found to be lies, or at least inaccuracies. In most cases his lies were intended to protect players.
But both Pettitte and former teammate Chuck Knoblauch have corroborated most of McNamee's story. Clemens, the only other player McNamee trained, has disputed every word yet McNamee sticks to his story, even with the threat of an indictment hanging over his head.
He has described to authorities that Clemens first asked him about steroids after a party at Jose Canseco's Miami home in 1998 when the Blue Jays were in that city for a series of games. McNamee says he saw Clemens and Canseco, an admitted juicer, in conversation at that party.
Clemens has denied being at the party and others, including Canseco himself, have agreed that Clemens didn't attend, choosing to play golf instead.
But under questioning by the committee, Clemens' former nanny said that not only did she attend the party with the children but that Debbie Clemens and the kids stayed overnight.
Then there was the bizarre tale of "the palpable mass" that appeared on Clemens' butt when he played for the Blue Jays. McNamee maintains that the boil on Clemens' backside was an adverse reaction to a shot of Winstrol, an anabolic steroid.
The time period also coincided with a vitamin B12 shot administered by Toronto team physician, Dr. Ron Taylor. When the boil appeared, the team had Clemens undergo an MRI to make sure there was no underlying injury.
The Oversight Committee had that MRI result analyzed by a Washington expert, Dr. Mark Murphy, who declared that the mass was "more compatible with a Winstrol injection" than one of vitamin B-12.
When it came time to sum things up, the unvarnished logic of Cummings, who had led things off four hours earlier, shone through the conflicting statements.
"If I walked in here," he said, addressing his remarks to Clemens, "and it was even-Steven between you and Mr. McNamee, I must admit that the person I believe most ... is Mr. Pettitte."
"I've listened to you very carefull

http://www.MaximizeCommunications.com/cmd.php?Clk=2279613

Here is an interesting article that I found in the Toronto Sun. It looks like old Roger is going to get himself into a little hot water.
No one else bought his BS either and because Roger is so arrogant he went forward with this charade. It looks good on him, I guess he thinks he's the Teflon man or something and nothing will stick to him. Good for you Roger instead of just coming clean and tell the truth much like the way Andy Pettitte did (and you have to respect his honesty) you drag your whole family into this mess. I think it looks good on you, you had the chance to come clean and you didn't, now because of your pigheaded nature you have tarnished your reputation and wasted a lot of peoples time and money. Good luck Roger I think you will need it.
Maybe your good friend and fellow Texan George W can give you a pardon before he leaves office. But then again his reputation is not that great these days anyway.
If the FBI is getting involved you could be in for a big ride there Roger.
These are my opinions on the matter and the following article was is the Toronto Sun on Feb 26 2008.
Sincerely Walter ( Webbontheweb)

FBI probes Clemens
Cy Young winner could face perjury, obstruction of justice charges

WASHINGTON -- The FBI took up the Roger Clemens case yesterday, told by the Justice Department to investigate whether the star pitcher lied when he testified to Congress he never took performance-enhancing drugs.
The FBI's involvement was announced one day after the leaders of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee told Attorney General Michael Mukasey they weren't sure whether Clemens told the truth under oath at a Feb. 5 deposition and Feb. 13 public hearing.
A probe could result in charges against the seven-time Cy Young Award winner for perjury, making false statements or obstruction of justice. Congress did not ask for a similar investigation of Brian McNamee, the former personal trainer who testified under oath that he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone.
"The request to open an investigation on the congressional testimony of Roger Clemens has been turned over to the FBI and will receive appropriate investigative action by the FBI's Washington field office," an FBI spokeswoman said.
Clemens testified that he never used steroids or HGH; McNamee testified he injected Clemens with performance-enhancers at least 16 times from 1998-01.

"We've always expected they would open an investigation," Clemens' lead lawyer, Rusty Hardin said. "They attended the congressional hearing. So what's new?"
Clemens didn't answer questions directly yesterday when approached by reporters at the Houston Astros' spring training camp in Kissimmee, Fla., where he's been throwing batting practice to minor leaguers.
"I'm going to handle it the right way," Clemens said. "You guys are wasting your time. We're going to handle it the right way.
An 18-page memo sent to committee Democrats sets out "seven sets of assertions made by Mr. Clemens in his testimony that appear to be contradicted by other evidence before the committee or implausible."
Those areas involve Clemens' testimony that he has "never taken steroids or HGH"; that McNamee injected him with the painkiller lidocaine; that team trainers gave him pain injections; that he received many vitamin B-12 injections; that he never discussed HGH with McNamee; that he was not at then-teammate Jose Canseco's home from June 8-10, 1998; and that he was "never told" about Mitchell's request to speak to him.
The committee felt Clemens' repeated and vigorous denials of McNamee's allegations questioned the legitimacy of the Mitchell Report.
http://sportingnews.ning.com/

Here is another article for the Toronto Sun that appeared on Feb 26 2008 anlong with the previous one.
I think it just goes to show that congress was a little upset as well that Roger Clemens wasted their time as well
Congress won't let Clemens off the hook

WASHINGTON -- Roger Clemens failed to convince Congress he was telling the truth.
So the leaders of a House committee want the Justice Department to investigate if the star pitcher lied under oath about using performance-enhancing drugs.
In a letter sent yesterday to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Henry Waxman and ranking Republican Tom Davis said Clemens' testimony that he "never used anabolic steroids or human growth hormone warrants further investigation."
The seven-time Cy Young Award winner gave a sworn deposition behind closed doors Feb. 5, then spoke alongside his accuser, former personal trainer Brian McNamee, at a public hearing Feb. 13.
"We are not in a position to reach a definitive judgment as to whether Mr. Clemens lied to the committee," Waxman and Davis wrote. "Our only conclusion is that significant questions have been raised about Mr. Clemens's truthfulness."

The letter noted Clemens' testimony was "directly contradicted" by the sworn statements of McNamee, who said he injected Clemens with steroids and HGH at least 16 times from 1998 to 2001. Waxman and Davis also pointed to the deposition and affidavit of Clemens' good friend and former teammate, Andy Pettitte, who told the committee Clemens "admitted to him in 1999 or 2000 that he had taken human growth hormone."
"The contradictions and conflicts in what Clemens had to say, as compared to what others had to say, raised the issues about him," Waxman said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "I don't think there was an issue about Brian McNamee, but there certainly were issues about Roger Clemens."
Waxman's committee turned its attention to the matter because Clemens' repeated and vigorous denials of McNamee's allegations questioned the legitimacy of the Mitchell Report, prepared by former Senate majority leader George Mitchell and released in December.
After Clemens and McNamee stuck to their he-said, he-said stories under oath, it was expected that one or the other -- or perhaps both -- would be referred to the Justice Department for a criminal inquiry. Instead, only Clemens faces a possible perjury investigation, after the committee decided not to refer McNamee.
"Not everybody can be right, and the preponderance of the evidence in this case points to the fact that Clemens' comments are the most incongruous," Davis said

http://sportingnews.ning.com/

The Blue Jays opened up the Boston Red Sox eyes here and served notice to the rest of the AL east that they could be a team to be reckoned with this year.
The jays swept the World Series champs, Boston Red Sox in the 3 game series to open the jay's home schedule.
Frank Thomas was a one man wrecking crew in the series, driving in 8 runs and recording 2 home runs. The Bosox relievers were blasted for 11 runs on 11 hits in 8 1/3 innings is the series and must have Terry Francona worried.
The Blue Jays pitching staff is as good as anyone's in the league and if they can stay healthy, with the bats they have, they might just make it to the dance this fall.

Sincerely Walt Webb

What a difference a few days make. Here I was saying how improved the Jay's looked in a weekend sweep at home of the Boston Red Sox and low and behold just a few short days later, I am writing about Oakland coming into Toronto and sweeping the Blue Jay's three straight. It just goes to prove what a finicky mistress baseball is.

After pounding on the Red Sox relievers last weekend, the Blue Jays could hardly push any runs across against Oakland. Well scratch that they put runs across, it was just that they let Oakland push across more in each game. The Blue Jays could not seem to get a hit when they needed one and Oakland would get one when it was needed usually a clutch hit with two outs.

Oakland also started two rookie pitchers in the series and the Blue Jays made them look like the reincarnation of Cy Young. Both got their first major league wins at the Blue Jays expense.

The contrast of the two series is just reinforcement as to why they play 162 games in a season.
All I can say is the Blue Jays better get some extra batting practice in, maybe some situational hitting as well.
Sincerely Walt Webb

Well it has been a while since I wrote about baseball. What with all the hockey on the tube every night I must admit I have not been keeping up on much baseball lately. So tonight I decided to put on the Jays and D'Rays game and watch some. The Jays were cruising along and leading 3-0 in the 5th inning and looked to be ok. Then of course I got called away to pick up and be the taxi (you other parents out there know all about it I am sure). So I get back and I missed it. The game was over and the Blue Jays had lost 5-3. They must have fallen apart in the late innings. To quote Yogi Berra "it's never over till it's over".
That's what makes baseball different, there is no clock counting down and the game is not over until 27 outs are recorded and in the books.
The Jays are now sitting in the basement in the AL East, with a 10-12 record. When they are hitting there is poor pitching and when they get good pitching, they could not hit a beach ball. But hey that is the game.
Boston is off to another good start and leads the division with a 15-8 record. The Jays can't fall to far back or they will never catch a good consistent team like the Red Sox.

On a side note The Blue Jay's and Frank Thomas parted ways a couple of days ago. Frank was not swinging the bat real well and the Jays felt that one of their young players needed a chance and could give them a bit more. Thomas is a notorious slow starter and usually does not find his groove until the end of May at the earliest. I hope they don't miss his production in the dog days of summer.
Anyway that's enough for now and I apologize for missing the later part of the game.

Sincerely Walt Webb

To be honest I have not being paying much attention to the baseball season as of yet this year. My focus has been on hockey and besides my thoughts are that the baseball season does not even start to get interesting until after July 1st.

Anyway Riccardi was hired on November 14 2001 and had a five year plan. Well I guess the 5 year plan became the seven year plan now. Ever year he has been at the helm of the Jays they have finished no better than 3rd in the division. I know it is a tough division to play in with both the Yankee's and Red Sox in it but come on, when do you get this team over the hump. Ted Rogers has given him a bigger budget every year but we are still waiting for some results.

A quick look at the standings tells it all. The Tampa Rays have improved greatly so far in the young season and sit second in the division, nipping at the heels of the Red Sox. The Blue Jays are in last place one game below 500. That's just not acceptable and someone has to be held accountable. The Jays just can't put it all together. Their starting pitching has been doing the job and have got them into the 7th inning or better on 33 occasions this year, that's tops in the whole league. You can't ask for better than that. No the problem has been the guy's at the plate, supplying the offence or lack of it. The team as a whole has hit like a bunch of old women, playing Bingo on a Saturday night and it must frustrate the life out of a guy like Doc Holiday who gave up something like 5 runs in 3 straight complete games and did not win one of them.

Reed Johnson was back with his new team, the Chicago Cubs, last weekend and made is former team pay dearly for getting rid of him. Who made that decision? He is not good enough to play in Toronto but can play for the Cubs, who happen to be the best team in Baseball the last time I looked.

No it is time Riccardi was held accountable for the ball club, his B.S. is wearing thin and it is time for him and the Jays to part ways. But then again he is the smartest man in baseball. Just ask him, he will tell you so. I bet the Boston Red Sox are very glad today that they did not take him off Toronto's hands a few years back. Chances are if they did they would never have been World Series Champions.

"No Guts No Glory"
Walt Webb