Forgive and forget?

Alright, the boys did a good job of trying to distract me last night -- the baby-faced knuckler and the nearly 40 runs. What a wild ride it was. But it's morning and I'm still mad. Surely Sox fans remember the ALCS last year against the Cleveland Indians and we remember that Paul Byrd was busted for HGH use during that series, missing his start. Are we supposed to have forgiven and forgotten?? Come on -- we're Red Sox fans. Red Sox fans never forget...

I know the Sox need a starter as they make a playoff bid, I really do get it. I want the Red Sox to win. But I'm not convinced I want an admitted HGH user in the clubhouse. But I didn't want to be quick to judge, so I looked around. Byrd claims to have a tumor on his pituitary gland which causes him to be deficient in HGH, so his doctor prescribed it for him. . Ah that sounds convincing enough. But just to be sure, I looked him up in the Mitchell Report. Here's what George had to say:

On October 21, 2007, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Cleveland Indians pitcher Paul Byrd had bought nearly $25,000 worth of human growth hormone and syringes from the Palm Beach Rejuvenation Center, one of the anti-aging clinics implicated in the Signature Pharmacy investigation, in thirteen transactions between August 2002 and January 2005. According to the story, Byrd used his credit card to purchase the substance and received more than 1,000 vials of human growth hormone in the transactions, which were sent to his home in Georgia, to the spring training facility of the Atlanta Braves, where he was playing at the time, and in one instance to a New York hotel.

In public comments in response to the article, Byrd admitted that he had been taking human growth hormone but said that he had been using it to treat a tumor on his pituitary gland. Byrd reportedly said that he had never taken “any hormone or drug that was not prescribed” to him by a doctor. The Chronicle reported that two of Byrd’s prescriptions had been written by a Florida dentist whose license was suspended in 2003. Byrd also reportedly said that “[t]he Indians, my coaches and MLB have known that I have had a pituitary gland issue for some time,” but Rob Manfred in the Commissioner’s Office denied that Major League Baseball had given Byrd or any other player a therapeutic use exemption for human growth hormone.

A dentist? The same dentist that prescribed HGH to other ballplayers, like Jose Guillen. Oh brother. If you want to really clear your name, you clear it. You show the MRIs of your tumor. He show your medical charts. You show your prescriptions. Your doctor speaks on your behalf.... Byrd knew that HGH was a banned substance in baseball, but has yet to present documentation that he was indeed a medical exception to the rule. If you know you are breaking the rules, you'd better document your excuses. I don't know if Byrd is telling the truth or not, but I can't find anything to convince me he's not guilty, that he didn't cheat. Yet, I'm supposed to cheer him on and hope he helps the Red Sox on the way to a championship. Maybe after his first win, I'll be able to put the past in the past. I'll forgive and forget. Who am I kidding? I'm a Red Sox fan...

Clemens throws his wife under the bus

Just when you thought it couldn't get uglier -- Andy Pettitte, former bff of Roger Clemens admitted Clemens told him he used HGH. According to Extra Bases, Clemens, still clinging desperately to his original denials, claimed that Pettitte must have misunderstood him in the first conversation, that his wife, Debbie had used HGH. . I have no words....

A new twist on the steroid controversy...

look at those biceps!

When I read the New York Times headline "Prominent Entertainers Cited in Steroids Inquiry" I thought it was a joke -- a spoof of the Mitchell Report. Then I read the first paragraph and I was sure it was a joke.

Entertainers including the singer Mary J. Blige and the rapper 50 Cent are among thousands of people whose names are turning up in an investigation into obtaining steroids or human growth hormones, an Albany newspaper reported on Sunday.

But it's no joke. Mary J. Blige is now Mary J. Blige*. Yup, she gets an asterisk on her grammy award... Will she ever be voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? I wonder if Arnold is on that list?

I Want To Believe

I feel the need to chime in on this whole Roger Clemens fiasco....

First, on the 60 Minutes interview, I felt like Roger was pretty well-rehearsed and coached by his legal team. I have no doubt that they wrote the questions. It was a press conference with Mike Wallace's wrinkled face for decoration. Now despite seeming rehearsed, Clemens still came off defensive and a little smug. He has chosen to play the victim card here. He was wronged, yet nothing about his answers or his demeanor cried victim. He didn't elicit any sympathy from me and I WANT TO BELIEVE. I actually felt like A-Rod elicited more sympathy in his interview a few weeks ago. I felt like he was honest and human. I don't know what to think about Roger. I do think that his answers to the most important questions -- about taking a lie dectector test and about McNamee's reasons -- were not even close to adequate -- heck, those questions were not even close to answered. And Pettitte! Clemens and Pettitte were best buds and training partners forever and Clemens never knew Pettitte used. Seriously? That never came up in a conversation? Seems unlikely, huh? And why would McNamee tell the truth about Pettitte but lie about Clemens? BTW, major props to Pettitte for taking responsibility for his actions, though...

It was B-12. Yeah right. I think he could have pulled this one off if he had acknowledged the joke in Canseco's book. Canseco said that when talking about steroids in the clubhouse, they called them B-12 shots. But without acknowledging that yes that was a joke, but in my case it's real, Clemen's credibility is lost. He could have also said that he took B-12 shots. If there was something else in there then he certainly didn't know it. Play dumb, Roger. You'll be good at that ;)

The phone call.. Why?? Why did they release this? How does it lend any credibility to Clemen's statements?

Clemens telling mac that no one was on his line, yet he was taping it.. Tell me what you want me to do? and yet Clemens didn't say TELL THE TRUTH. At the same time, McNamee doesn't say BUT YOU DID IT! I don't know what to think of it. I really don't get why Roger didn't have an answer to McNamee's incessant WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO? I thought the answer was pretty obvious. hmmm.. maybe tell them that you lied about me.

I don't know know whether Clemens is telling the truth or not. I doubt it, but who am I to judge? I do know that that I'm not impressed with the man that I've been watching on tv. I'm really really not impressed by his legal team, who are undoubtedly being paid a fortune and doing such a crappy job. And I don't think we'll ever really know the truth. But I know I'd feel much more satisfied if Clemens had fessed up rather than done such a bad job denying it.

Mitchell Report

aahhhhhhh. that's my sigh of relief. I just skimmed over the pdf file (mlb.com/mitchellreport) and the only sox on there were Eric Gange and Brendan Donnelly. Not liking either of them, I am perfectly fine with the fact that they were called out. Rumors that Tek was going to be on that list had me shaking all morning.

I actually suspected that Donnelly might be named since the Sox failed to sign him last night....

The report, itself, is tedious. The players named aren't listed, but each is given a section describing the evidence against them. I tried to read the bit on Clemens but I couldn't get through it. It had me tearing up...

I very much like what Mitchell has to say. He places the blame on the organization and culture within and not on the individuals. Individuals are forced to decide between being lesser than their illegal drug using counterparts or using drugs themselves. This is not a decision that anyone should be forced to make. It is the responsibility if Major League Baseball to keep young men from having to make such a decision.

Mitchell also emphasized that this is about the future of baseball and letting go of the past. Amen...