The Rocket Speaks
Roger Clemens has posted a video response to the Mitchell Report. (video should pop up when you navigate to the page)
Watch if for yourself, does it change your opinion of things?
In light of the Mitchell report, the BALCO findings and the other various performance inhancing drug (PED) news, I thought it would be an interesting idea to play Hall of Famer voter for a day. Let's operate under the following guidelines:
- You must make a vote today knowing what you now know.
- You must vote yes or no. A "maybe" or "withholding until more info is available" is not an option.
Let's also add to this exercize with some statistics:
Roger Clemens:
Career, age 21 - 44:
354 - 184, 3.12 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 4916.7 IP, 4185 H, 1580 BB, 4672 K's, 8.55K/9.
1984 - 1997 age 21 - 34 (we'll call this the pre-steroids career based on the Mitchell Report):
213 - 118, 2.97 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 3040.0 IP, 2563 H, 924 BB, 2882 K's, 8.53K/9.
1998 - 2007 age 35 - 44 (we'll call this post-steroids):
141 - 66, 3.38 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 1876.7 IP, 1622 H, 656 BB, 1790 K's, 8.58K/9.
Barry Bonds:
Career age 21 - 42:
.298/.444/.607/1.051, 2935 H, 2227 R, 762 HR, 1996 RBI, 2558 BB, 1539 K, 514 SB
1986 - 1999 age 21 - 34 (we'll call this the pre-streroids career for Bonds based on BALCO and Game of Shadows):
.288/.413/.559/.972, 2010 H, 1455 R, 445 HR, 1299 RBI, 1430 BB, 1112 K, 460 SB
2000 - 2007 age 35 - 42 (post-steroids career):
.322/.520/.724/.1.244, 925 H, 772 R, 317 HR, 697 RBI, 1128 BB, 427 K, 54 SB
I won't comment on the numbers above. But I will ask the following: If we are to believe the news, is it fair to say these guys are deserving of the HOF regardless of any possible PED because their numbers were already HOF calibre prior to PED use? Or does the use of PEDs negate any prior accomplishments? Please vote below:
It's bad enough hearing all the excuses flying around, but now Curt Schilling has joined the party, suggesting that Roger Clemens give back his awards won since 1997.
Yes, the same Curt Schilling who was called before Congress in 2005 to testify about the drug problem in baseball because of comments he had made and when he had the chance, told Congress he had "grossly overstated it" (the problem)
Schilling also stated at those hearings in regards to the drug testing in baseball, "If there are loopholes....we will close them." (2-1/2 years later, that still hasn't happened)
If Frank Thomas, the ONLY active player who helped the Mitchell investigation would like to offer any suggestions, I am all ears. Otherwise, all the active players who didn't and Curt who didn't follow up on his promises, should zip it. Is Clemens guilty? It certainly seems like it, but how many other guilty players are out there who didn't get named? How can we ever sort out what record should be expunged if we don't know the full extent of the juicing? Richard Nixon was impeached, but he is still listed as the President from 1969-1974. Historians of baseball will have to cast a wide net over the last 20 years and the next few until the testing is real and it will forever be known as the steroids era. Judge the numbers with caution, that's the reality of all of this.
The Assistant to the Traveling Secretary of the New York Yankees, George Costanza, was promoted to Traveling Secretary today. The job was made available when former Traveling Secretary David Szen was convicted of filing a false tax return and failing to report $50,000 in tips from players and coaches and was subsequently fired by the club.
Costanza takes over immediately. His first act as Traveling Secretary was to eliminate 5-Star hotel accomodations in favor of the Motel 6 chain.
You know I watched Selig and Fehr and a bunch of commentators talk about the Mitchell Report last night and I was struck by how many of them think this will allow us to move on. I think that is impossible until a couple of things happen.
First, all the current investigations have to come to an end. As Tom Verducci so rightly points out Mitchell essentially got lucky that Radomski and McNamee "fell into his lap". Without them, this report would essentially name the same names as BALCO did. Radomski is sentenced February 8th, other investigations are still ongoing. Until all of that has wrapped up, I would expect we will learn other names.
Next, we can't move on until we know that there is a test for HGH. Reading through the report it struck me how much HGH was being used. I had, somewhat naively, thought that HGH was something that only the heavy hitters did and, most importantly could afford. But look at the names in the report, Mike Bell (19 career games in the majors in 2000) for one admits to using HGH.
In addition, from the prices named, it appears it costs from $1200-$1600 for "a kit" of HGH. While the report specifically says that Chad Allen could not afford HGH I would think that a player on the major league level, making the minimum salary (380K in 2006) could afford a couple of doses of HGH. Players also on the big league roster get $85 a day for road games and travel days. So, a thrifty big leaguer could probably afford a kit of HGH by cutting back on their food purchases. My point is, I don't think any of us can look at any player and know whether or not he is clean. From A-Rod to a fringe major leaguer (like Mike Bell) these drugs are readily available and affordable.
So, the sad lesson I draw from all of this is that everyone is suspect until baseball really cleans things up. It won't stop me from rooting for my team or admiring the game, but I won't look at the players in the way I used to.
Well, Clemens has chosen to fight this and since he really has nothing to lose at this point, it isn't a shock.
The question is, can MLB, the media, whomever, prove these accusations? It seems to me that the only way to get that proof would be for the Feds to intervene. McNamee, the guy who named Clemens, is part of the Kirk Radomski investigation. Radomski named McNamee as someone he had given steroids and HGH to and in turn, Radomski named Clemens and Pettitte as recipients.
Now, Radomski pleaded guilty in April, but he will not be sentenced until February 8th because the investigation is ongoing. That leaves open the possibility that the Feds subpoena a player like Clemens or some of the other players named in the report. To me, that is about the only way you will ever know the 100% truth about this because that is when the players will be under oath to tell the truth and face the same choice that Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi did in the BALCO investigation.
And, I would be very, very careful if I were a player who did some of this stuff. There are other investigations that are ongoing and more names will probably be on the way.
I have skimmed the Mitchell Report and I have some initial conclusions.
1- I think Mitchell did a pretty good job. He will rightly be targeted as biased because of his involvement with the Red Sox but I am pretty sure that is not the reason for all the Yankees named in the report and the lack of many Red Sox players. The fact is, Mitchell got a lot of testimony from Kirk Radomski and Radomski was based in New York. Just as there are a lot of Giants and A's players who got fingered because of BALCO, Radomski brought in the New York element. If Mitchell had gotten someone from a lab in Quincy or Natick, I am sure we would have a lot of Red Sox names. That being said, baseball would have been smart if they had put someone in charge of the investigation who didn't have ties to the sport in any capacity.
2- The sad reality of this report, that Mitchell fully admits, is that he has only scratched the surface. Mitchell talks about how the people who design these drugs are ahead of the testers. Furthermore, they are serious problems with how the test are conducted. MLB can fix some of this, but not without significant help from the players' association.
3- Based on the above, you have to view stats carefully. As the report showed, it's not just power hitters who use this stuff. Nook Logan bought some of it. I will be interested to see how Baseball Prospectus handles this with their PECOTA system.
4- Roger Clemens is as big a crook as Barry Bonds. You cannot excuse one and condemn the other. Reading the reports of Clemens getting injections in the butt makes you realize that the greatest hitter and the greatest pitcher of the past 20 years are both cheats.
Those are my initial reactions, what do you think?
The Marlins are sending Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera to Detroit for six players. The Tigers just got a lot better.
This trade may also put the Angels into the Santana sweepstakes because they were considered the favorites to land Cabrera before this trade and they have a ton of prospects they could deal.
That was Peter Gammons tonight on Sportscenter talking about the Yankees and Red Sox offers for Santana. Gammons believes a deal is going to happen, it's just up to the Twins to decide which package they like more.