Earlier this season, Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury was standing on third base at Fenway Park in the fifth inning of a nationally televised game against the Yankees. It was a relatively common occurrence in an otherwise common game, but the idea that entered the mind of the 25-year-old Ellsbury was a very uncommon one. It was a decidedly mischievous idea, one so rare and so daring Ellsbury had never seriously contemplated it before, and had certainly never acted on it. But in that moment, he resolved to do something dangerous. He would steal home.
This Week's Diamond Digits has a heavy American League tilt, as we look at baseball's best pitcher who resides in Kansas City, a second-year player with a Lou Gehrig record in his sights, a pinstriped pair making history and a couple of Rangers who've been down on their luck.
TAMPA, Fla. -- If Alex Rodriguez didn't do as well as teammate Andy Pettitte at his steroid press conference, it isn't totally because A-Rod isn't the best communicator, though that may be part of it. The real problem is A-Rod's story. It isn't as good a story as Pettitte's. And what's worse, of course, is that the story has changed maybe once or twice too often already.
Yankees executives saw Andy Pettitte hit a home run with a beautifully handled, seemingly sincere HGH admission last spring and would like to see an encore from their biggest star and best player.
Longtime Rangers star Michael Young doesn't want to move to third base. But at this point that seems to be a more likely option for him than moving to another team. With five years and $62 million remaining on his contract in this tight market, he won't be as easy to trade as he thinks.
For the 2009 season: Mark Teixeira (8 years, $180 million), CC Sabathia (7-161), AJ Burnett (5-82.5), Nick Swisher (trade)
For the purposes of this exercise, I'll assume there's no turning back the clock. Colleague Joe Sheehan rightly upbraided Yankees GM Brian Cashman for failing to offer Bobby Abreu and Andy Pettitte arbitration, and those decisions are in the books; I won't cheat by hitting the magic "undo" button. We move on.
While the biggest news of this interleague week was the turnover in managers, there was some good news, especially for the Cubs who contribute a duo of dazzling digits to this week's edition.
Brian McNamee's lawyers told a federal judge on Wednesday that Roger Clemens' lead lawyer should be removed from the case because he might be forced to attack the credibility of Andy Pettitte, a former client of the same attorney.
Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, Miguel Tejada and the vast majority of the 89 players mentioned in the Mitchell Report will not be suspended by Major League Baseball for their alleged steroid and HGH transgressions, and it remains possible that none of the 89 players will be banned, SI.com has learned.
Earlier this season, Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury was standing on third base at Fenway Park in the fifth inning of a nationally televised game against the Yankees. It was a relatively common occurrence in an otherwise common game, but the idea that entered the mind of the 25-year-old Ellsbury was a very uncommon one. It was a decidedly mischievous idea, one so rare and so daring Ellsbury had never seriously contemplated it before, and had certainly never acted on it. But in that moment, he resolved to do something dangerous. He would steal home.
This Week's Diamond Digits has a heavy American League tilt, as we look at baseball's best pitcher who resides in Kansas City, a second-year player with a Lou Gehrig record in his sights, a pinstriped pair making history and a couple of Rangers who've been down on their luck.
TAMPA, Fla. -- If Alex Rodriguez didn't do as well as teammate Andy Pettitte at his steroid press conference, it isn't totally because A-Rod isn't the best communicator, though that may be part of it. The real problem is A-Rod's story. It isn't as good a story as Pettitte's. And what's worse, of course, is that the story has changed maybe once or twice too often already.
Yankees executives saw Andy Pettitte hit a home run with a beautifully handled, seemingly sincere HGH admission last spring and would like to see an encore from their biggest star and best player.
Longtime Rangers star Michael Young doesn't want to move to third base. But at this point that seems to be a more likely option for him than moving to another team. With five years and $62 million remaining on his contract in this tight market, he won't be as easy to trade as he thinks.
For the 2009 season: Mark Teixeira (8 years, $180 million), CC Sabathia (7-161), AJ Burnett (5-82.5), Nick Swisher (trade)
For the purposes of this exercise, I'll assume there's no turning back the clock. Colleague Joe Sheehan rightly upbraided Yankees GM Brian Cashman for failing to offer Bobby Abreu and Andy Pettitte arbitration, and those decisions are in the books; I won't cheat by hitting the magic "undo" button. We move on.
While the biggest news of this interleague week was the turnover in managers, there was some good news, especially for the Cubs who contribute a duo of dazzling digits to this week's edition.
Brian McNamee's lawyers told a federal judge on Wednesday that Roger Clemens' lead lawyer should be removed from the case because he might be forced to attack the credibility of Andy Pettitte, a former client of the same attorney.
Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, Miguel Tejada and the vast majority of the 89 players mentioned in the Mitchell Report will not be suspended by Major League Baseball for their alleged steroid and HGH transgressions, and it remains possible that none of the 89 players will be banned, SI.com has learned.
The secret to a perfect apology, according to perfectapology.com, is "asking to be forgiven in the right way and at the right time." Those simple and true words lead me to two cast-iron conclusions:
TAMPA, Fla. -- I keep hearing this idea from fans about how Andy Pettitte wronged Roger Clemens by telling the truth to Congress about their now infamous HGH conversation of 1999. They think Pettitte should have conveniently "forgotten'' that conversation, as if lying under oath is the right route.
Andy Pettitte deserves credit and the respect to leave alone, for now, his involvement with human growth hormone. His admission, apology, and answers to questions were detailed and apparently sincere, which cannot be said of feeble responses from the likes of Eric Gagne, Paul Lo Duca, Mike Stanton, David Justice, Fernando Vina, Lenny Dykstra, etc.
One afternoon in April 2003 a group of advertising executives gathered for a luncheon at the 21 Club in New York City to hear Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens speak. There was slight alarm that Clemens might not attend because, it turned out, he was scheduled to pitch that night against the Seattle Mariners, and on the days they take the mound, starters are known to be as edgy and unsociable as thoroughbreds on race day.
The most important man that we heard from Wednesday on Capitol Hill, amid all the bluster, the embarrassing fawning over Roger Clemens and the multitude of mind-squishingly moronic questions, happened to be nowhere near Capitol Hill. Yet Andy Pettitte's presence at baseball's latest hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform was unmistakable, his words unshakeable.
Though stumbling on a couple of questions and leaving several others unanswered, Roger Clemens nonetheless emerged favorably from Wednesday's hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Keep in mind, Clemens' primary goal was not to preserve or rehabilitate his baseball reputation or even to convince the legions of fans who disbelieve him -- as others have written, he may have failed miserably on those ends -- but rather to avoid perjury charges. Unless verifiable physical evidences emerges to the contrary, it seems unlikely the available evidence would lead to a conclusive finding that he committed perjury. Here's why, along with other observations:
Roger Clemens said Wednesday he received only vitamin shots from Brian McNamee, but the ex-trainer insisted before a House panel that every injection contained steroids or other performance enhancers.
By the end of an often absurd hearing, the only thing clear was that either the pitcher or his steroids accuser was lying
It was a day of misremembering, misunderstanding, and mystifying inconsistencies, and, in the end, committee members' conclusions about whether or not Roger Clemens used steroids and human growth hormone seemed to hang on how credible Andy Pettitte is, or how credible Brian McNamee isn't.
Editor's Note: Richard Deitsch is blogging live during today's congressional hearing in Washington, D.C., which includes testimony from Roger Clemens, Brian McNamee and Charles Scheeler, a partner with George Mitchell's law firm, DLA Piper. SI's David Epstein is at the hearing and will offer periodic first-hand accounts. Senior writers Tom Verducci and Jon Heyman will also weigh in. And you should feel free to add your observations.
For those expecting another predictable round of wild accusations between Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee during Wednesday's hearing on Capitol Hill, with no clear-cut resolution as to who is telling the truth and who isn't, take note: At least one member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said he already has a pretty good idea of who's lying.
1) Why would Andy Pettitte, Chuck Knoblauch and Kirk Radomski ask out of the hearing?
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Roger Clemens and his accuser, Brian McNamee, will be the main witnesses at a House hearing on the Mitchell Report after New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte and two others were dropped Monday night.
This is great news, really. It turns out baseball doesn't really have a steroid problem at all. Never did.
Andy Pettitte has told the Yankees he will return to pitch in 2008, SI.com has confirmed.
Nobody wants to go down 0-2 in a best-of-five series. Nobody wants to be in the situation the Cubs and Phillies find themselves in today.
Chien-Ming Wang or Andy Pettitte will start the New York Yankees playoff opener next week.
Roger Clemens is being given an extra day to rest his left hamstring and was pushed back until Tuesday night in the New York Yankees' rotation.
Andy Pettitte got a milestone ball from Mariano Rivera and the lineup card from manager Joe Torre.
Alex Rodriguez believes his third 50-homer season is a lot more meaningful than the first two. This time around, he's playing for a team in a pennant race.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Andy Pettitte proved reliable again for the New York Yankees, right after they lost faith in Mike Mussina.
I. The NL ROY runner-up to-be: At this point, Milwaukee's Ryan Braun has pretty much locked up National League Rookie of the Year. Through his first 79 games, "The Hebrew Hammer" has compiled impressive stats: .332 batting average, 24 homers, 17 doubles, 62 RBIs, 59 runs and 10 steals. But enough about Braun.
(Stats through Tuesday)
Well, it's early May, and we've already had our first casualty. No surprise, it's a Yankee. No surprise again, it's the strength and conditioning man who has overseen a disastrous run of injuries to front-line Yankees pitcher, many of those injuries involving the hamstring.
The Astros need to trade struggling, just-demoted Brad Lidge while he still has value. And apparently, he still does. Three executives contacted Tuesday said they'd gladly take Lidge off the Astros' hands -- at the right price, of course.
Also in this column: • Lukewarm trade market • Griffey's move to right • More news and notes
This year's Major League Baseball All-Star game is being played in Houston on July 13, and the hometown Astros have been garnering all sorts of attention--even though they're nine games out of firs...
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