Posted on 12/14/2007 8:40:56 AM PST by meandog
On Clemens' stance regarding claims in Mitchell Report that he used and was injected with banned performance-enhancing drugs from 1998-2001: ``Roger Clemens adamantly, vehemently and whatever other adjectives can be used, denies that he has ever used steroids or whatever the word is for improper substances. ``He is really concerned and upset that he has been named in this report based on the allegations of apparently, reading the report, based on a trainer (Brian McNamee) that he has had in the past. ``That's not a standard somebody should be held out in public to have done something as serious as have used steroids in baseball.''
In a release by Hardin's office earlier Thursday, NcNamee is described as a "troubled and unreliable witness" and "a former trainer who worked with Clemenson the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees, (who) has repeatdedly denied these current claims, including in June of this year whe he was first contacted by federal investigators. According to McNamee, after a day of repeated denials to federal investigators, he changed his story under the threat of federal criminal prosecution. He says he was then forced by those federal prosecutorial authorities to tell the same story for inclusion in the Mitchell Report."
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
I recently saw a high school game. The speed of these kids amazed me. I bet that at least five of those I saw on one team were quicker than the fastest player on my team fifty years ago, and he could run the 100 in 10-flat.
He was in Framingham North, or as the residents call it, South Sudbury. (Near the farm of another former Red Sox pitcher, Babe Ruth.) It’s a ten minute drive from Rio de Framinghamo to his house, which was isolated on a large lot. Notice nobody puts a sign in their driveway declaring their home to be a gun-free zone. Clemens didn’t have to, the Chief of Police told the Framingham (now Middlesex) News that he was pulling Clemens permit.
I have a few 'favorite' players and none of them showed up on the list - or lists.
Well, I'm normally very libertarian about these matters, HOWEVER, baseball is sacred to me and it taints the deed of Cobb, Aaron, Clemente, Ruth, Young and others to have cheats of such low and callous character associated with them. If they get in, then both Rose and Shoeless Joe have got to follow.
So...Nixon and Warren Harding were Republicans too, David Duke is one also.
Its a shame, years ago kids might take steroids to get a competitive advantage.
Today they take steroids to even the playing field.
If they don't take them now, they are at a competitive disadvantage.
You make an excellent point that had eluded me. Thank you.
I loved Michael Strahan’s comment about this during an interview at Giants Stadium last night. He said (paraphrasing): “Why would these guys need to take steroids? It’s baseball, right?”
I think it would be libel, not slander.
If he thinks he has a case, let him bring it.
I rather doubt that he will do so.
Wait. I see...he’s saying slander because he is claiming the trainer lied to Mitchell’s investigators.
Regardless, let him bring the lawsuit. Let’s see what he does.
FWIW, I don’t like what Barry Bonds did, but did get the feeling he was being unfairly singled out as far as public opinion goes, when probably half the major leagues is juiced.
I love Andy Pettitte and I could care less. I don’t know why but this does not bother me at all ! PLAY BALL!
What prominent person would live in Framingham when Dover or Weston is nearby?
It should bother you. Even if you don’t care about the cheating aspect...these guys are harming themselves. Yeah, it’s ultimately their decision, but it’s unfair to the guys that try to compete fairly.
Interesting. Very good thread. Thanks to all posters!
The trainer, is a bit different, but yea, any checks to him could be for training sessions, or just to reimburse him for travel expenses, etc.
The greatest test of freedom is when we apply principles of liberty to situations we don’t agree with.
“I know nothing about baseball and very little about this case..”
Yeah, well,...there’s your point. Technically, I don’t think it is a “case”??
I’m a big baseball fan and I don’t really know what to think about the whole deal? I guess I was thinking that baseball had cleaned up it’s game. If this report would do that then I suppose that it would be a good thing, but it seems like it’s going to raise more questions than it resolves.
It is just a report, but it would appear that the report is pretty thorough.
Like you, I guess the part that stinks is that it seems like these folks aren’t going to get their day in court to refute the charges. Some of the players who may have used a banned substance once will be painted with the same brush as some of the habitual users? I guess thems the breaks?
Now we have one of them coming out and threatening slander? Why not? He’s got nothing to lose even if he was a cheater. He’s not going to jail. There’s no punishment if he is lying yet again.
Like so many things in life - and in baseball under the watch of Bud Selig - one should have clear objectives and goals in pursuing such a course of action.
I feel quite certain - and quite comfortable in that certainty - that many of these guys are probably cheaters, but this thing seems more like a witch hunt than it does any kind of productive undertaking.
“4) Andro was neither illegal nor a banned substance when McGuire took it. I wonder if the concept of ex post facto means anything to any one?”
Yeah, I remember that.
McGuire was very open about his use of Andro. At the time I thought, hey, that can’t be right. But any of the other players could have legally used the stuff, as well.
I don’t like cheaters, but I like 20/20 moralists even less.
I was thinking the same thing. Clemens needs to get a lawyer smart enough to know the difference between adjectives and adverbs.
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