6 posts tagged “roger clemens”
While digging through my closet, I found an interesting article written by Peter J. Schwartz in a 2008 issue of Sports Money. In the article, Schwartz looks at historical player salaries in comparison to the overall value of the team. Here were some of the players listed:
1930: Babe Ruth's salary - $80,000
Yankees Team Value: $2.5 million
Ruth made 3.2% of the team's total value.
1949: Joe DiMaggio's salary - $100,000
Yankees Team Value: $5 million
DiMaggio made 2.0% of the team's total value.
1980: Nolan Ryan's salary - $1.125 million
Astros Team Value: $13 million
Ryan made 8.7% of the team's total value.
1991: Roger Clemens' salary - $5.38 million
Red Sox Team Value: $136 million
Clemens made 4.0% of the team's total value.
1997: Albert Belle's salary - $11 million
White Sox Team Value: $149 million
Belle made 7.4% of the team's total value.
1999: Kevin Brown's salary - $15 million
Dodgers Team Value: $270 million
Brown made 5.6% of the team's total value.
2001: Alex Rodriguez's salary - $25.2 million
Rangers Team Value: $342 million
Rodriguez made 7.4% of the team's total value.
2008: Alex Rodriguez's salary - $30.5 million
Yankees Team Value: $1.3 billion
Rodriguez made 2.3% of the team's total value.
The Yankees played their first intrasquad game today at Legends/Steinbrenner Field. The teams were split up into the Geese and the Gators, honoring pitchers Goose Gossage and Ron Guidry.
The Geese's lineup had: Melky Cabrera, Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano, Jorge Posada, Shelley Duncan, Morgan Ensberg, Wilson Betemit, Jason Lane, and Jose Tabata.
The Gators' lineup had: Johnny Damon, Jose Molina, MVP Bobby Abreu, Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, Cody Ransom, Nick Green, Chris Woodward, and Brett Gardner.
The Geese won 6-2.
Mike Mussina and Jeff Karstens were the teams' respective starters. Other pitchers included Scott Patterson, Austin Jackson, Billy Traber, Edwar Ramirez, Ross Ohlendorf, Darrel Rasner, Dan McCutchen, Sean Henn, Jonathan Albaladejo, and Mark Melancon (pronounced me-LAN-sun, not melon-cone).
The Yankees committed seven errors and issued eight walks, but most of these were committed by the youngsters. I get the feeling that Girardi isn't being too harsh on the players' mistakes at this stage of the season; instead, he's using players' mishaps as learning experiences.
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Meanwhile, Roger Clemens is back in the news. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is now seeking an investigation with the Justice Department into whether Clemens committed perjury at the latest steroids hearing. Today, foxsports.com cleverly titled one of their articles "Feeling the Heat" in discussing the Clemens situation.
The article basically had one quote that summed it all up: "Yes, Roger still deserves his presumption of innocence. But the more Clemens talks, the more that presumption looks as small as a resin bag."
This saga won't be over soon, but the new season will do a lot in overshadowing new testimonies and letters and blah blah blah.
Well, if you spent any time at home yesterday, you probably saw some of the Roger Clemens hearing.
I really think at this point Clemens has convinced himself he is telling the truth, which obviously isn't good enough. There are several factors that help him: Clemens hasn't exhibited the cartoonish transformation that a lot of other steroid and HGH users have. Also, his numbers at age 40+ did not eclipse the numbers he put up in his twenties; they were just very good. Unlike Bonds, Clemens didn't set a new plateau for himself as he got older, he just remained consistent. He also hasn't shied away from the public, and has flatly denied all allegations on national television and under oath.
That said, there is a lot that favors McNamee. A lot of the congressmen tried to get McNamee to admit he had lied in the past about steroids, to which he admitted he had. But in those cases, he had every reason to lie; here, he gains nothing by lying. Clemens, meanwhile, has a reason to lie, and so that definitely points the needle in McNamee's favor.
On top of that, Andy Pettitte and his wife testified against Clemens. Pettitte said that he had a conversation with Roger back in 1999 or 2000 about using HGH.
Put all of that together with the inconsistencies and contradictions in Clemens' arguments and you've got a one-sided battle here. Other than Clemens' word, we have no substance to believe that he is telling the truth. Meanwhile, there are sworn testimonies and possible DNA evidence that leads us to believe McNamee.
McNamee isn't exactly the best guy in the world, but this all points to him telling the truth.
The hearing in itself was really a joke, i.e. Republican Dan Burton saying to McNamee, "This is really disgusting. You're here as a sworn witness, you're here to tell the truth, you're here under oath. And yet we have lie, after lie, after lie...I don't know what to believe. I know one thing I don't believe, and that's you...Roger Clemens...is a titan in baseball."
Republican Virgina Foxx then held up pictures of Clemens and deduced that there was no physical difference over his career. What is this, some kind of joke?
And the best quote of the day had to come from Democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton, who proclaimed: "Mr. Clemens, all I can say is, I'm sure you're going to heaven."
To the average eye, Clemens might seem like he's telling the truth. Clemens played himself off as a hard-working, determined man who spends his free time with kids. McNamee is a corrupt ex-cop. Even so, McNamee gained more credibility yesterday.
As for me, I want Clemens to be telling the truth. But you can't always get what you want.
When the hearings closed, no verdict was given and no questions were answered. The biggest new information that came out of the hearings was that Andy Pettitte had also taken HGH in 2004. But referring to Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee, no questions were answered. In fact, more questions were probably raised. Ultimately, while a lot of the evidence points against Clemens, our government was unsuccessful in giving a definitive answer on who is telling the truth and who is lying.
If you're wondering why our government accomplishes so little, the Roger Clemens congressional hearing has answered your question.
As if the Roger Clemens saga wasn't weird enough. Today, it is being reported that Brian McNamee injected Clemens' wife with HGH before she appeared in Sports Illustrated in 2003. Supposedly, Clemens approved of the injection.
Meanwhile, Clemens is roaming around Capitol Hill, signing autographs to those that will eventually rule on his case. He might as well help himself the best he can.
Clemens' representatives also made some more statements:
"In a few months, all of those who are against Roger Clemens will regret it. When the evidence comes out, Roger will be proven innocent once and for all."
McNamee's reps responded:
"One person is lying, and it isn't Brian McNamee. Any statements of denial are absolutely ludicrous."
Well, I think Michael Wilbon said it best: "Just strap the two of them to a lie detector test on a special edition of the Budweiser hot seat. We want some answers."
We all know that Roger Clemens has denied his steroid allegations many, many, many times. He has appeared on 60 Minutes, he has created his own youtube video, and he has gone to court. Surely, he can't possibly be lying.
I really want to believe Clemens. I really do. He is one of the greatest pitchers of all time, and I want his memories of playing in a Yankee uniform to be pure, not tainted. So obviously, I am hoping that Clemens is innocent.
But Brian McNamee is making this interesting. Apparently, he has handed over vials, syringes, and gauze pads with Clemens' DNA.
If the results come back positive, Clemens could face perjury charges and jail time. As one writer said, Clemens will earn an "eternal place in the Hall of Shame in the back streets of Cooperstown with Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, and Pete Rose."
There is always the possibility that McNamee has tampered with the tools he is handing over to Congress. Also, why wouldn't he have mentioned these to George Mitchell for the Mitchell Report? Something is fishy here.
I believed Clemens for a long time, but now, I am starting to think differently.
Ultimately, I think Clemens has convinced himself he is telling the truth. But that's just not good enough in a case like this.
Whats up with all the conflicts circling the Yankee organization right now?
First, Brian Cashman verbally degraded Bernie Williams' performance in his final years. Cashman said that Williams had a terrible season in 2005, and he made no effort to resign him after 2006 because Williams was too concentrated on his music. Cashman also criticized Torre for playing Williams too much in 2006, even when he had other options.
Williams said this in response: "I don't think he has any basis to say anything like that. Let me put it this way: Questioning a person's commitment to the team is a very serious accusation, at least in my book."
Technically, Bernie still isn't retired, although it's pretty obvious he won't play again. It's a shame that his career had to end the way it did.
This morning, another conflict emerged, this time involving Roger Clemens (again). Peter Abraham of The Journal News reports that the Hendricks brothers (Clemens' agents) have released a report online. The report is more like a mini-novel, covering 45 pages.
Basically, the report compares Clemens to other players and disregards any notion of him taking steroids. I think the Hendricks brothers are trying to prove via statistics that Clemens did not suddenly have a burst of success, which often marks steroid use.
This report will probably be met with some harsh words from George Mitchell and his staff. We'll see how this unfolds.
