Someone is Lying

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 article 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

Jays gain in arms race

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.