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Finally, They’re Going to Let Him Play
Posted by The Danza on Mar 11, 2008
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been waiting for 50 years to see Billy Crystal play baseball for the Yankees. As it turns out, my dreams have come true and Crystal will now suit up and play for the Yankees in this Thursday’s spring training game against the Pirates. Ohhhh, they’re playing the Pirates……now it makes more sense. Who knows? If it turns out well, maybe they’ll save a roster spot for him to takeover the shortstop position, since that guy they got now is statistically the worst in the league. After all, Crystal did “hit .348 and was captain during his senior year at Long Beach High School in New York.”
Rog’s Wife and Jose’s Wife Compared Breast Implants at Party in Question
Posted by The Danza on Feb 27, 2008
This story just gets better each day. Not only was Roger Clemens at the party at Jose Canseco’s house in which he was supposedly introduced to steroids for the first time (the one he said under oath he was never at), but apparently, Clemens’ and Canseco’s wives compared breast augmentations after Jose was bragging about how great his wife’s went. I’m not sure why Clemens thought he could get away with claiming he was never at the party when he supposedly told that story repeatedly to players in the clubhouse for years after it occurred. Also, there is more evidence for the perjury investigation from a boy that was 11 at the time and at Jose’s party and just so happened to be taking random pictures with his baseball heroes. Why was an 11-yr old boy at Canseco’s party anyway? A young Rick Ankiel, perhaps?
Calling All Wisconsin Men, Wanna Move to Miami?
Posted by The Danza on Feb 24, 2008
The Florida Marlins are recruiting fat guys for an “all-male, plus-size” cheerleader squad. The best part? They’re calling them the Manatees. Unfortunately, the Marlins’ season overlaps with the beginning of Packers’ season, so that takes out of play the largest niche of candidates for the troup.
Rog and Deb Partied With Canseco
Posted by The Danza on Feb 23, 2008
According to an ESPN report, there is now evidence that Roger Clemens actually was at the party at Jose Canseco’s house that was an important point during the Congressional Hearing that Clemens was a part of. Originally and under sworn testimony, Clemens said that he was not in attendance at this party. If it proves that he lied under oath to Congress about this, the Feds could pursue perjury charges, which is exactly why they were waiting like vultures in the courtroom when the original testimony was conducted. I never had reason to believe Clemens in the first place when he denied steroid use. Maybe that’s because we have been tempered to assume that everyone used steroids at some point during that era in baseball. To be honest with you, I blame MLB more than I do the players for that. They were desperate for loyalism after the strike destroyed what loyalists they previously had.
Selig Knew Rocker Was On the Juice
Posted by The Danza on Feb 12, 2008
According to a report from Yahoo! Sports, John Rocker gave an interview to 680 The Fan in Atlanta in which he claims that MLB Commissioner Bud Selig knew in 2000 that Rocker was using steroids and “didn’t do anything about it.” While Rocker’s character has always been it question, it at least provides some substance to everyone’s suspicions that MLB officials knew of the steroid problem but chose not to do anything about it because of its positive effect on baseball’s anterior.
Perhaps even more interesting is what Rocker said next:
Rocker said that doctors from management and the players’ association, following a spring training talk with the Texas Rangers about steroids and other topics, pulled himself, A-Rod, Rafael Palmeiro and Ivan Rodriguez aside. Rocker was with the Rangers in 2002.
“Look guys, if you take one kind of steroid, you don’t triple stack them and take them 10 months out of the year like Lyle Alzado did,” Rocker said the doctors told them. “If you do it responsibly, it’s not going to hurt you.”
Not only were league officials ignoring the problem, but team officials seemed to be promoting the problem. Also, I love seeing A-Rod squished between Rocker and Rafael Palmeiro, calling the guilt by association card into play. I have long suspected that A-Rod had a hand in the steroid era too, and I believe it to be pretty naive to think otherwise. While this doesn’t implicate A-Rod in having used steroids, it certainly associates him with a group of guys that did, and that’s one step closer to getting to the truth.
Roger Clemens: “Hey, Honey, Wanna Get Juiced?”
Posted by The Danza on Feb 9, 2008
Not only did Roger Clemens choose to tarnish his career by using steroids, it is now being rumored that he asked Brian McNamee to shoot his wife, Debbie Clemens……………..with HGH before her SI swimsuit shoot in 2003. So, basically, not only is he dirty enough to juice to help his career, but he’s dirty enough to tell his wife to juice, so that he can look cool with a hot wife on his arm in Sports Illustrated.
What an egotistical ass. I’m not saying whether it’s true or not, because I have no way of knowing, but if it is, this guy rakes the bottom of the barrel. And he has the nerve to keep viciously denying the evidence and under oath? If they ever get hard enough evidence, Clemens is going down for a long time. Shots of steroids won’t be the only thing he’s getting in the butt.
Ombudsman On ESPN’s Handling of the Mitchell Report
Posted by The Danza on Jan 26, 2008
Earlier, I reported on ESPN’s new ombudsman, Le Anne Schreiber, and her bashing of ESPN’s handling of Herbstreit’s false report of Les Miles going to Michigan. I found her pieces to provide some insider insight into the happenings at ESPN and why they do certain things. Honestly, I was hoping to read her monthly piece and see something regarding the lack of coverage of Reggie Bush’s investigation and the new book, Tarnished Heisman. Instead, I found a piece (mostly) praising ESPN’s handling of the Mitchell Report’s release.
Unfortunately, I was away from a television the day that the Mitchell Report was released, so I found this to be an interesting and honest piece on ESPN’s coverage and possible conflicts of interest, given that many of its analysts were former MLB players that could possibly be named in the report. It is a long article, so be prepared to sit down for a 5-10 minute read, but I think you’ll find it interesting as well. Something about hearing someone who’s paid to be impartial and honest about a large corporation, in which she has almost unlimited access to personnel, intrigues me, and while this month’s piece didn’t contain what I was hoping for, it did provide a good read. I only wish that she would write more often than monthly.
Read the ombudsman’s report here.
My favorite quote from the article:
“Why do you gotta name the names?” [John] Kruk asked, referring to former players no longer “dirtying” the game. “Why drag them all through the mud? Let them go. You don’t have to get out in the public with this.”
Yeah, let them go. They’re doing no harm now, right? They just artificially “set the bar” high for all of baseball’s future athletes and took our money under false pretenses. I say muddy them up. At least most of the people who enjoy professional wrestling “know” that it’s fake.
My Dream Job Market Is Now an Actuality: Sports Player Investing
Posted by The Danza on Jan 25, 2008
Yes, as the title suggests, you can now own a portion of a sports player’s future salary. According to this report, Randy Newsom of the Cleveland Indians minor league program is selling 4% of his future earnings related to baseball for $50,000, implying the present value of his future earnings will be in the $1.25 million range. Anyone can register on the Real Sports Investments, LLC website to purchase shares for $20 each of the baseball player’s earnings.
This, in my opinion, is the beginning of a new market with huge potential. Some may call it sports gambling, but in essence, it’s the same as purchasing stock in a company, which also pays you future residual earnings. Look for this to happen more and more often as more underwriting firms get in the business and a few successful deals go through to ease concerns of baseball players and investors. Read the rest of this entry »
A-Rod’s Clean!
Posted by The Danza on Dec 18, 2007
Or so he says. Alex Rodriguez felt compelled to do a “60 Minutes” interview to say to the world, “Hey, I’m good enough without the steroids or HGH.” He’s borderline cocky in his interview, saying:
“I’ve never felt overmatched on the baseball field,” he said. “… I felt that if I did my, my work as I’ve done since I was, you know, a rookie back in Seattle, I didn’t have a problem competing at any level.”
He went on to say “no” to a question of whether he had ever used steroids or HGH. Ok, maybe I’m a little skeptical of his words because of some things that I have heard from people close to the source, but I don’t believe him. Prepare yourselves for a conspiracy theory: I don’t think Major League Baseball will let A-Rod’s name be associated with any steroids or HGH allegations, regardless of whether he’s tested positive before in the past (*cough, cough*).
This is a dark era for baseball, an era where there is a lot of blame being thrown around but very little accountability stepping up. It’s the Players’ Union’s fault, or Bud Selig’s fault. No, wait, it’s the media’s fault, or the fans’ fault for wanting the “long ball” so badly. I don’t know, and I don’t care whose fault it is. Baseball is in a tough spot. Its home run king is a very publicly accused juicer. Its second greatest pitcher of the last 35 years “took it in the butt.” (Nolan Ryan was the greatest, damnit!) Read the rest of this entry »
Mitchell Report Reportedly Coming Out Thursday
Posted by The Late Spider Moltisanti on Dec 11, 2007
Sen. George Mitchell’s investigation into performance enhancing drugs will reportedly be released to the public Thursday, December 13, 2007, a day that will either crush the steroids talk around baseball or set them off to another level. While we sit and wait MLB executives and team officials get to view the report over the next 48 hours. This is likely a move to give league and team public relations departments enough time to prepare for the impending doom. But, will the Mitchell Investigation solve anything? I don’t have that answer, but Howard Bryant over at ESPN has an interesting take on what the Mitchell Investigation has been and where it will take Major League Baseball. We here at TH&L have some inside sources, but admittedly Bryant’s are a little better. If you care about the state of baseball, are a baseball fan or just plain hate Barry Bonds then I suggest you read both Bryant’s article and the Mitchell Investigation. More on this after Thursday.