In his response to the BBWAA’s Hall of Fame shutout earlier this afternoon, Roger Clemens tweeted a picture of a message to his followers:
If you can tell me what the heck “MUCHIE PEACHIE” is, I’d be forever grateful.
Courtesy of Mathew Jackson
In case you missed it this morning, Peter Abraham currently of the Boston Globe, formerly a Yankee beat writer for the Journal News, decided to write a surprisingly candid piece about how he has come to a decision in regards to the manner in which he will cast his Hall of Fame vote this year.
Why is this year so special? The 2013 ballot is the first one with two of the most well-known, most feared players of the past 30 years who also happen to be forever linked with steroid usage: Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.
Instead of acting sanctimonious and saying that the Hall Of Fame should only have guys with “good” character enshrined, Abraham throws that sanctimony out the window and decides to say what others are afraid to say. That voting guys like Bonds and Clemens into the Hall of Fame should be a reflection of baseball history, that people can draw their own conclusions about the PED usage but that the Steroid Era did indeed happen, that it’s a part of the baseball timeline and that the players who happened to suit up during those years, shouldn’t be penalized for being in its periphery.
The Steroid Era is a part of that of history, too. There was a time in baseball when everybody — owners, players, management, the Players Association, media — looked the other way at drug use. It was generally accepted that a lot of players took steroids.
I thought it was pretty amazing of Abraham to do that. He also admits that at first, he was one of those guys who automatically left people off the ballot just because of their proximity to the Steroid Era.
In this piece, Abraham’s calling out his fellow writers by pointing out the hypocrisy but without really calling them out. Instead, he asks questions:
What of the guy like Andy Pettitte, who swears he tried HGH only briefly? Is he excluded when he gets in the ballot?
Are amphetamines OK because the players back in the 50s used them? Is Ryan Braun in or out because he figured out a loophole in the testing system last winter when he tested positive?
At the end Abraham finishes with this:
The Hall of Fame is a wing in a museum, a place to go learn about the game. PEDs were part of the game and my ballot will reflect that.
Hallelujah. A writer who finally gets it.
So bravo Peter Abraham for having the guts to go against the majority and speaking out in an honest, thoughtful way.
The Needle And The Damage Done
Is it bad that I don’t have an opinion about Roger Clemens being cleared of all of the charges that were brought up against him by the government? I’m just so sick of hearing and reading about steroids in baseball.
Guys did them. Lots of them – both steroids and lots of guys were doing them.
So what? It’s over and done with. Plus, baseball turned a blind eye to them for so long that the faux outrage in recent years is completely laughable. And the Mitchell Report was a farce. Yes, let’s have someone who sat on the Red Sox board of directors conduct an investigation that didn’t investigate anyone other than ex-Yankees because as we know, the Red Sox and every other team in baseball was clean. It’s just the evil Yankees who injected stuff into their bodies.
Oh wait, Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Manny Ramirez…
But Manny was only caught recently and it didn’t happen when he was Boston. Excuse me.
There, that was an opinion, sort of.
Here are some links to stories written by people who have bigger opinions about the trial, the outcome and of Clemens’s Hall of Fame chances now that everything is over:
And here are a couple of links from my fellow Yankees bloggers:
The Yankees also reacted to the news. Derek Jeter had this to say about his former teammate:
“I’m happy for Rocket,” Jeter said. “I’m happy it is over with. I think that it is good for baseball that it is over with. We can stop talking about it for a little bit. I’m happy that everything turned out well for him.”
Manager Joe Girardi added:
“It is good for the game of baseball,” Joe Girardi said. “We are trying to move on from all of the stuff that we have went through the last 10 years with the PEDs. We can focus on the game at hand. There is a lot of focus on this trial.”
Randy Levine and Brian Cashman declined comment and Andy Pettitte who testified during the trial said:
“I don’t even care to talk about that.”
Even Chipper Jones, who is in town with Atlanta to take on the Yankees had this to say about Clemens:
“Roger was a great player during our era,” the future Hall of Fame third baseman said. “Regardless of steroid use or no steroid use, whatever, I think he was a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and I don’t have a problem with Roger Clemens being in the Hall of Fame regardless.”
Happy Tuesday.
Good morning. Once again, I am live blogging the live tweeting of Andy Pettitte’s testimony from the Roger Clemens perjury trial.
Just as in parts three, four and five, all timestamped tweets are from Jim Baumbach of Newsday. All other tweets from other reporters are labeled as such:
10:16AM
TJ Quinn ESPN: Curious now whether AUSA Durham will be more aggressive w Pettitte, or whether he’ll treat him sympathetically.
10:19AM Durham is up, begins with Clemens accomplishments and asking him about the merits of Hall of Fame. Is it goal of Clemens? “I’m sure it is.”
10:20AM
Quinn ESPN: Would PED use increase/decrease your chances of making HOF? “I’d say it would decrease my chances.”
10:20AM: Your use of HGH increased or decreased HOF chances? “I’d say say it’s decreased it. People will think I tried to cheat to get better.”
» Continue reading “Andy Pettitte Testifies At The Roger Clemens Trial (Part 6)”
Good morning. Once again, I am live blogging the live tweeting of Andy Pettitte’s testimony from the Roger Clemens perjury trial.
Just as in parts three and four, all timestamped tweets are from Jim Baumbach of Newsday. All other tweets from other reporters are labeled as such:
9:10AM: Clemens and co are in courtroom waiting for everyone else. Judge had said Pettitte testimony to resume at 9 but had to break briefly at 930.
9:12AM
NYDNSportsITeam: We’re hearing Judge Reggie Walton is stuck in traffic.
(Just stay away from Dupont Circle, I hear it’s murder this time of day.)
» Continue reading “Andy Pettitte Testifies At The Roger Clemens Trial (Part 5)”
I am live blogging the live tweeting of Andy Pettitte’s testimony from the Roger Clemens perjury trial.
Just as in Part Three, all timestamped tweets from Jim Baumbach of Newsday. All other tweets from other reporters are labeled as such:
3:13PM
TJ Quinn ESPN: 10-min break. Bear in mind, none of this is new. Except to the jury.
(And I was right, Baumbach was thrown into twitter jail so he may start tweeting from the NewsdaySports account instead. This is all so gripping, isn’t it?)
3:23PM
Quinn ESPN: Judge Walton apologizes, says he was trying to help a clerk get a “paying” job. Apparently not looking to be a journalist.
3:24PM: Durham* resumes questioning of Pettitte, who says 2005 conversation with Roger is first time he ever learned Clemens’ wife used HGH.
(*Durham is the federal prosecutor) » Continue reading “Andy Pettitte Testifies At The Roger Clemens Trial (Part 4)”
They returned from lunch recess. I am live blogging the live tweeting from the trial. All timestamped tweets from Jim Baumbach of Newsday. All other tweets from other reporters are labeled as such:
1:48PM: All rise! Judge has returned.
1:49PM: Pettitte also has returned to the witness stand.
1:50PM: Pettitte is leaning back in chair while waiting for jury to return. His seat is turned looking away from Clemens. Looks more relaxed.
1:52PM: Everyone waiting for the jury. Clemens is looking at Pettitte. Meanwhile, Pettitte looking in the other direction. Uncomfortable scene.
1:52PM: Jury is back. And it’s on again.
(here we go…) » Continue reading “Andy Pettitte Testifies At The Roger Clemens Trial (Part 3)”
The judge just called a recess for lunch. They will resume at 1:45 p.m. He also explained to the jury that today is National Law Day and that the lunch break will be a bit longer because he is meeting with some students.
According to Jim Baumbach, “Pettitte leaves witness stand and walks through courtroom again without even looking in Clemens’ direction.”
DRAMA!
Stay tuned for more.
