MY BASEBALL BIAS

From ESPN.com:

Former Yankee Chuck Knoblauch is being subpoenaed by a congressional committee investigating steroids in baseball after he failed to respond to an invitation to give a deposition.

Knoblauch was asked to appear Thursday, the first of five depositions or transcribed interviews scheduled by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee prior to its Feb. 13 hearing.

Roger Clemens is scheduled for Saturday, followed by Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte on Jan. 30. Brian McNamee, a former personal trainer for Clemens and Pettitte, is due in Jan. 31, with former New York Mets clubhouse employee Kirk Radomski to appear Feb. 1.

“The committee has taken this step because Mr. Knoblauch failed to respond to the invitation to participate voluntarily in a deposition or transcribed interview and the Feb. 13 hearing,” committee chairman Henry Waxman and ranking Republican Tom Davis said in a statement Tuesday.

Knoblauch recently talked about the Mitchell Investigation to the New York Times:

“I have nothing to defend,” Knoblauch said. “I have nothing to hide at the same time.”

He described the Mitchell report as “crazy” and “interesting,” and added that what actually bothered him about being mentioned in the report is that “I’ve got nothing to do with any of that, I mean, any baseball.”

“And I don’t want anything to do with baseball,” he added.

“I love baseball,” he said, “but I’m not trying to get a job in baseball. I don’t have any friends from baseball. Baseball doesn’t control my life anymore.”

When asked at the time if he would talk to the committee, Knoblauch said:

“Yeah, if I have to do that, then what are you going to do?”

His testimony may be the most interesting during the Feb. 13 hearings.

Shocking revelation tonight from Ken Davidoff of Newsday. He confirms, through a unnamed source, that Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte were never as close as the public was led to believe:

“They were never as close as they were made out to be,” a friend of both said on the condition of anonymity. “They just sort of went along with it in the media, because it was a good story.”

Though Clemens and Pettitte enjoyed working out together, their relationship didn’t extend much beyond that. Clemens is an extrovert, Pettitte an introvert. Clemens enjoyed going out after games on road trips; Pettitte almost always stayed in. Their families aren’t particularly close, although both make the Houston area their full-time residences.

When Clemens sat out the start of the 2006 season, keeping the Astros waiting for months on yet another unretirement, Pettitte joined other veteran teammates in growing annoyed by The Rocket’s prima-donna vacillating.

As Davidoff later mentions, the real showdown will come before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Feb. 13th. Will they play nice, or will Clemens have less than flattering things to say about Pettitte because of the position he was put in?

Regardless, it’s a fascinating revelation.

From the NYT:

Roger Clemens accepted a Congressional invitation to give a deposition to staff members of the House committee investigating performance-enhancing drugs in baseball, his lawyer said Friday.

“Roger looks forward to telling the truth under oath,” Rusty Hardin said Friday. “The date they proposed for us to meet with staff is the actual date we proposed, so we appreciate it.”

Clemens will talk to committee staff members on Jan. 26, two weeks before he is scheduled to appear before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Clemens, his former personal trainer, Brian McNamee, and three others were invited to appear in Washington to answer questions beginning next week and to testify under oath on Feb. 13.

In case you missed it, Clemens has also hired Washington lawyer, Lanny A. Breuer, who represented former President Clinton during his impeachment hearings.

I’m still not looking forward to this Capitol Hill escapade a day before Spring Training opens.

Just a few more things before we close up shop here tonight.

Jose Canseco has procured a new publisher and collaborator for “Vindicated,” his sequel to the tell-all, steroid-induced “Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ’Roids, Smash Hits and How Baseball Got Big“, according to the New York Times. Although the name of the publisher has not been released, Canseco’s collaborator is none other than Pablo F. Fenjves, a former National Enquirer writer who you might remember was also the ghost writer of “If I Did It,” by another fan favorite, Mr. O. J. Simpson. (As an aside, if you haven’t seen the video of a Las Vegas judge tearing Simpson a new asshole today in court, check it out here. I promise you’ll watch it more than once). Anyway, I wouldn’t expect Canseco’s sequel to offer anything of substance like his first book did. And I wouldn’t trust anything he has to say about Alex Rodriguez.

Also, former Yankee Jim Leyritz will be charged with an additional count of manslaughter after toxicology reports revealed his blood alcohol level to be almost twice the legal limit (Leyritz topped out at 0.14 and the Florida’s limit is 0.08). Leyritz, who was driving under the influence after celebrating his 44th birthday, hit and killed a young woman who was returning home from her waitressing job. Truly a sad story.

Have you been watching? I must say, I’ll watch a little and then switch over to The View.

In case you’re looking for a good place to get caught up on the day’s proceedings, try the NYT’s where Alan Schwarz must be tied to a chair live blogging the event.

Back with some highlights later.

Michael McCann writes a column over at SI.com called Sports and the Law and today he tackles what to expect during tomorrow’s steroid hearings where George Mitchell, Donald Fehr and Commissioner Bud Selig will testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

If you’re a little worn out from all this PED talk like I am, it’s still a very good “prep piece” if you plan on listening or watching tomorrow.

Here is the official schedule and release from the Committee:

Full Committee Hearing on “The Mitchell Report: The Illegal Use of Steroids in Major League Baseball”
Witnesses will include Senator George Mitchell, Mr. Bud Selig, and Mr. Don Fehr.

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Tuesday, January 15, 2008, 9:30 AM at 2154 Rayburn House Office Building

————–

Chairman Waxman Schedules Hearings on Steroid Use and the Mitchell Report

On January 15 and February 13, the committee will hold hearings to obtain additional information regarding the Report to the Commissioner of Baseball of an Independent Investigation into the Illegal use of Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball, commonly known as the “Mitchell Report.”

Media note: If you are planning to attend either hearing, please advise the Committee press office in advance. Media credentials will be required and can be obtained through the House press galleries.

The first hearing will include testimony from Senator George Mitchell, Mr. Bud Selig, and Mr. Don Fehr. Invited witnesses for the second hearing include Mr. Brian McNamee, Mr. Kirk Radomski, Mr. Andy Pettitte, Mr. Chuck Knoblauch, and Mr. Roger Clemens.

The second hearing was previously scheduled for January 16. Chairman Henry A. Waxman and Ranking Minority Member Tom Davis released the following joint statement regarding the postponement:

“The Oversight Committee will postpone the hearing until February 13, 2008, which is after the sentencing of Kirk Radomski. The witnesses to be invited to the rescheduled hearing are Brian McNamee, Kirk Radomski, Andy Pettitte, Chuck Knoblauch, and Roger Clemens. In preparation for the hearing, we will ask each witness to provide the Committee with a deposition. Postponing the hearing will provide additional time to coordinate the Committee’s investigation with the Justice Department’s ongoing efforts.”

Must-see TV to say the least.

Here’s the official release:

The Oversight and Government Reform Committee today announced that the hearing previously scheduled for Wednesday, January 16, 2008, has been rescheduled to Wednesday, February 13, 2008.

Chairman Henry A. Waxman and Ranking Minority Member Tom Davis released the following joint statement:

“The Oversight Committee will postpone the hearing until February 13, 2008, which is after the sentencing of Kirk Radomski. The witnesses to be invited to the rescheduled hearing are Brian McNamee, Kirk Radomski, Andy Pettitte, Chuck Knoblauch, and Roger Clemens. In preparation for the hearing, we will ask each witness to provide the Committee with a deposition. Postponing the hearing will provide additional time to coordinate the Committee’s investigation with the Justice Department’s ongoing efforts.”

The hearing scheduled for Tuesday, January 15, 2008, at 9:30 a.m. with Sen. George Mitchell, Baseball Commissioner Selig, and Union President Fehr remains unchanged.

Great, just dandy.

Brian McNamee’s character is called into question:

Detectives believed the former New York Yankees trainer who says he injected Roger Clemens with steroids lied to them during the 2001 investigation of a possible rape, according to documents released Tuesday by police.

Police said Brian McNamee denied having sex with a possibly drugged woman in a hotel pool, even though security guards and other witnesses said they saw him.

McNamee hired a New York attorney, who called detectives to arrange an interview.

“I explained to him that his client did talk with me once, and he lied to me,” St. Petersburg Police Detective Donald Crotty wrote in a report.

I also heard someone say today on WFAN’s Mike and the Mad Dog radio program that Brian McNamee’s son, who is sick, could easily be treated. I’m not sure what he is sick with, but the caller said he just needed to change his diet, alluding to the fact that McNamee was playing on the sympathy of his own son.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Clemens and his lawyers try and break this guy down to discredit everything he has said.

From ESPN.com:

Jay Reisinger, the lawyer for New York pitcher Andy Pettitte, told 1050 ESPN New York’s Andrew Marchand that it is “premature” to say if Pettitte will attend next Wednesday’s hearings on Capitol Hill.

Reisinger, who also represented Sammy Sosa at the 2005 steroid hearings before the same congressional committee, said he expects to soon hear what the committee’s plans are for Pettitte. When he gets those answers, he will discuss the options available to Pettitte.

I think Pettitte needs to show up. Answer the committee’s questions and get ready for the 2008 season. Don’t go into spring training having to answer questions about why you ducked the dopes Capitol Hill.

Now McNamee’s lawyer is pissed off.

From the Daily News:

“What does (Clemens) do, he calls him back with his lawyer in the room and a tape recorder going,” McNamee attorney Richard Emery told the Daily News last night. “He wants to play that game, he’s going to get buried. I have no compunction about putting him in jail.

“This is war.”

This whole thing is about to get down-right ugly.

The Press Release from McNamee’s Lawyer can be found here.

Well, was that was a crazy 24-hour news cycle as it pertained to Clemens or what? In case you missed anything, here’s the timeline:

• Sunday night: 60 Minutes interview with Mike Wallace

• Monday morning: Word breaks that Clemens has filed a defamation suit against McNamee

• Monday afternoon: Clemens press conference

Brian McNamee hasn’t exactly sat on the sidelines while Clemens has lambasted him in the media. John Heyman of SI.com landed an exclusive interview with McNamee while he watched the Wallace/Clemens interview Sunday night. Some of what he told Heyman is quite revealing:

“Roger was in no way an abuser of steroids,” McNamee said. “He never took them through our tough winter workouts. And he never took them in spring training, when the days are longest. He took them in late July, August, and never for more than four to six weeks, max … it wasn’t that frequent.

“Within the culture of what was going on, he was just a small part of it. A lot of guys did it. You can’t take away the work Roger did. You can’t take away the fact that he worked out as hard as anybody.”

Gene Wojciechowski of ESPN.com has one of the better dissections of the McNamee/Clemens phone call where he looks at “Clemens logic versus reality”.  Alan Schwarz of the New York Times has more on their “frayed friendship”. Schwarz also has a great piece on just how far players are willing to go to get an edge.

Jim Baumbach over at Newsday explains how Clemens flat-out lied during his interview with Wallace.

Jerry Crasnick breaks down the 60 Minutes interview and offers up this bit of wisdom:

News flash: The steroid saga is a complicated mess. So let’s take the Clemens interview for what it’s worth. If he’s telling the truth, he got his chance to vent. And if he’s lying, he’s out on a very tenuous limb.

Couldn’t agree more with Jerry. Also, I though Wallace, for all the grief he received for being on rather friendly terms with Clemens, did an admirable job. The guy looks great 89 and can still pose tough questions in a persuasive manner.

Buster Olney writes that Clemens can sue whomever he wants but his name will forever be linked with the Mitchell Report. In the end, Olney explains, it won’t matter what he says:

There is nothing that he can say or do that can change the reality that his name is in the Mitchell report, and his reputation is damaged forever. But he has chosen to fight the accusations, in a battle in which he probably can never achieve complete success, and the stakes will continue to go up, day by day.

If you missed Monday’s press conference, Richard Sandomir’s piece in the NYT’s is a must-read. Here is a snippet:

This was live, raw, sour Roger, the one you get in a foul mood, and more riveting than the comparatively polite Clemens who appeared opposite Mike Wallace a night earlier on “60 Minutes.”

Here was the great, brush-cut Rocket character, filled with denials about the accusations by Brian McNamee, his former personal trainer, and chesty indignation bordering on intimidation. There was his wisecracking lawyer, Rusty Hardin, who soun