December 5, 2008
Steroids & the Mitchell Report: Full coverage
Congress asks Justice Dept. to probe Clemens
Roger Clemens, one of the best pitchers and most self-confident players in baseball history, bet two weeks ago that he could convince Congress that he never took steroids or human growth hormone. Clemens also bet he could argue compellingly that his accuser and former trainer, Brian McNamee, was lying.
Ken Davidoff: Clemens is having fun in sun, while he can
When the news broke yesterday, Roger Clemens, fittingly, was pitching. Simulating game situations while throwing to his son, Astros catching prospect Koby, in the batting cages here at Houston's minor-league complex.
Nitkowski: Clemens spoke of Canseco party
Former major-league pitcher C.J. Nitkowski told Newsday he recently relayed a story to a congressional investigator and a federal agent that Roger Clemens once told him about being at Jose Canseco's Florida home before a party.
Rep. Towns: I think Clemens was lying
Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), who all but said he believed Roger Clemens did not take steroids after a private sit-down days before the Feb. 13 congressional hearing, told Newsday yesterday that he now believes Clemens committed perjury.
Wallace Matthews: Pedro and Roger have got a lot of nerve
In the famous words of Curt Schilling, circa November 2001, Mystique and Aura weren't qualities the Yankees could rely on, merely "dancers at a nightclub."
Ken Davidoff: Texas-sized meltdown for arrogant Clemens
George Mitchell opened up a fissure between baseball ownership and the Players Association. Roger Clemens got the Republicans and Democrats to go at it like Athens and Sparta.
Knoblauch corroborates Pettitte's testimony
Hard-core Yankees fans will likely never forget the throwing problem that dominated Chuck Knoblauch's time in pinstripes. According to Knoblauch, that same issue led to his inclusion in the Mitchell Report.
Clemens' former nanny doesn't recall party
After Wednesday's congressional hearing, she'll always be known as "The Nanny" -- the woman at the center of a "he said, he said" debate between Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee about whether Clemens attended a party at Jose Canseco's house nearly 10 years ago.
Wallace Matthews: This probe is just a pain in the ...
It was shortly before noon, about two hours into the august proceedings, that the so-called hearing of the Congressional Oversight Committee into steroid abuse in baseball became, to borrow a particularly juicy bit of testimony, a palpable mass on my buttocks.
Clemens said wife was injected with HGH
Roger Clemens, who repeatedly told members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform during Wednesday's hearing he has never taken steroids or human growth hormone, implicated his wife for her HGH use in his deposition to committee lawyers last week.
Shaun Powell: Without Pettitte, hearings proved nothing
In a place polluted with agenda-driven politicians, spin-doctor lawyers, one admitted liar and one strongly suspected liar, the most credible person in the room wasn't even there.
Pettitte's presence weighs heavily at deposition
Andy Pettitte's deposition, when unveiled during Wednesday's hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, revealed three major performance-enhancing-drug stunners.
Canseco: I never saw Clemens ask for steroids
Former major leaguer Jose Canseco told Congress in a sworn affidavit that he has never seen Roger Clemens "use, possess or ask for steroids or human growth hormone."
Davis backs off on Pettitte comments to Newsday
Rep. Tom Davis (R- Virginia), appearing on ESPN's "Outside the Lines" yesterday, refused to discuss his comments in yesterday's Newsday in which he said Andy Pettitte's deposition helped to back up Brian McNamee's claim that he injected Roger Clemens with performance-enhancing drugs.
Johnette Howard: Clemens dug a hole and Pettitte can't help him
If the leaks about Andy Pettitte's deposition are correct, Roger Clemens will sit in a congressional hearing room today on Capitol Hill and continue a crash to Earth of his own making. The narrative about whether Clemens cheated to become the greatest pitcher of his generation will sharpen into more detail. And Clemens' crossover from icon to con man could be near complete.
Clemens, McNamee to meet before committee
No one knows how much Roger Clemens' and Brian McNamee's lives will have changed by the end of business here today. Yet it's anything but an exaggeration to say this: Never has a congressional hearing come with such a plethora of hype.
Congressman: Pettitte's account backs McNamee
The affidavit of Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte helps to support the account of Brian McNamee, Roger Clemens' former trainer, that he gave Clemens injections of banned drugs, according to a ranking member of the congressional committee investigating the use of illegal drugs in baseball.
Wallace Matthews: Steroids foul baseball again
Some things never change. On the day pitchers and catchers will begin to trickle in at spring training camps across the country, for the 25th consecutive year Roger Clemens will prepare to take the hill.
Lawyers: trainer has evidence against Clemens
Lawyers for Roger Clemens' former trainer said yesterday that he will provide Congress with information about physical evidence today corroborating their client's story that he injected the star pitcher with steroids.
Clemens gives deposition, still denies steroid use
Unlike Andy Pettitte, who looked as if he was going to face the executioner, Roger Clemens actually smiled as he walked into Room 2154 of the Rayburn Office Building yesterday morning to give a deposition to the House committee investigating baseball and steroids.
Rocket's report alleges career followed normal trends
On the surface of the situation, the Mitchell Report seems to confirm the theory that Roger Clemens turned his career around with the use of illegal, performance-enhancing drugs.
Ken Davidoff: Andy, Rocket rift widening
Andy Pettitte is said by friends to be upset with Roger Clemens because of Clemens' aggressive defense to the charges leveled against him in the Mitchell Report. Most of all, Pettitte didn't care for Clemens' public airing of his taped phone call with accuser Brian McNamee, which accomplished little.
Mitchell defends steroid allegations vs. Clemens
For weeks, Roger Clemens has been delivering a relentless attack upon the Mitchell Report, repeatedly denying the assertions of former Sen. George Mitchell that he used steroids and human growth hormone.
Loophole in MLB drug testing?
Have baseball players discovered a loophole to the drug-testing program? Congressman John Tierney (D-Mass.) raised the question yesterday. Baseball will likely look into it.
Selig, Fehr take share of blame in Steroid Era
The alleged offending players have received the brunt of the scrutiny from baseball's Mitchell Report. But yesterday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee turned the spotlight to the other side, baseball's management, and the San Francisco Giants came away in the worst shape.
Clemens' day at Congress postponed
The Congressional committee that had called for a hearing with Roger Clemens and others next week postponed the meeting until Feb. 13 to allow for further investigation.
Wallace Matthews: Pampered Clemens just doesn't seem to get it
I'm sick of Roger Clemens. I'm sick of people who think like him. I'm sick of people who think it's OK to think like him and I'm sick of people who make excuses for him.
Clemens-McNamee flap is all spin-doctoring
The Roger Clemens-Brian McNamee melodrama primarily is being tried in the court of public opinion, and that by definition entails media spin - relentless, expensive, shameless spin.
Segui defends Clemens' former trainer McNamee
David Segui, one of the few major-leaguers to admit using steroids and human growth hormone and not apologize for it, is sick of seeing himself quoted in newspapers. That was one of the first things he said when reached on his cell phone by Newsday yesterday.
Shaun Powell: Will we ever know the truth about Clemens?
He's lying about the Hall of Fame part.
Angry Clemens again denies he used steroids
Roger Clemens made his most forceful attempt yet to convince the world that he did not use steroids, as was alleged by his former personal trainer, Brian McNamee, in the Mitchell Report.
McNamee regrets steroid involvement
Brian McNamee, breaking his three-week silence, told Newsday yesterday that he made a mistake by getting involved with steroids.
Rocket fires back with lawsuit
Roger Clemens has done what some have been saying for weeks he needed to do if innocent - sue. Clemens filed a defamation lawsuit against Brian McNamee Sunday evening in Harris County (Texas) District Court.
Clemens fires back on "60 Minutes"
Roger Clemens fired back at the allegations of steroid use against him, denying ever using any type of performance-enhancing drugs in an interview with Mike Wallace that aired on "60 Minutes" last night.
Wallace Matthews: Wallace Matthews: Roger fails on "60 Minutes"
They stuck him in a lineup that would have protected even A-Rod in October, and still, Roger Clemens couldn't manage to look good.
Trainer's lawyer: Baloney
Roger Clemens may have done himself one bit of good in his "60 Minutes" interview last night. A lawyer for Brian McNamee, Clemens' accuser, says it is less likely that McNamee will bring a lawsuit against Clemens for defamation.
Clemens, McNamee have 'emotional' phone talk
In a surprising twist to their public war of words, Roger Clemens and his former trainer, Brian McNamee, spoke by telephone Friday night, Newsday has learned. It was their first contact since the Mitchell Report was released Dec. 13, and a person close to the situation described the hourlong conversation between the longtime friends as "emotional."
Wallace Matthews: Snowing Wallace is one thing, Congress another
It's one thing to swear before Mike Wallace, but would Roger Clemens tell the same story if put under oath before a congressional committee?
What's gotten into Rocket?
It's true. Roger Clemens admits this Sunday on "60 Minutes" that his trainer, Brian McNamee, gave him injections, as stated in the Mitchell Report released last month.
Schilling: Clemens should return awards if guilty
Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling called on Roger Clemens to give up the four Cy Young Awards he's won since 1997 if he can't clear his name from allegations that he used steroids to prolong and enhance his career.
Baseball's drug problem: No short-term solutions
Even if baseball and the players union agreed to every recommendation in the Mitchell Report tomorrow, stemming the use of performance-enhancing drugs will be a long-term project with no easy solutions.
Ken Davidoff: And now, the Mitchell Report card
At least the Mitchell Report is behind us now, even if illegal performance-enhancing drugs aren't. So let's see what this highly publicized investigation begat.
Pettitte admits using HGH, not steroids
Yankees left-hander Andy Pettitte yesterday admitted the Mitchell Report's allegations are true - that he did use performance-enhancing drugs.
Ken Davidoff: Pettitte's confirmation could bring down Clemens
Imagine growing up wanting to be someone, his poster on your wall and everything. Imagine that you don't quite get to be that person - you're not that good - but you do become a protégé. A good friend, for nine years.
Mitchell Report fingers Clemens, Pettitte
New York baseball - all of baseball, really - will never be quite the same.
Steroids pose risks to health, 'spirit' of sports
Yesterday's Mitchell Report on chemical cheating in baseball, at last putting on record the decade-old reports of widespread steroid use in the sport, provided the shock value of marquee names and a public-relations spin of future commitment, but barely touched on the major concerns of anti-doping experts.
THE MITCHELL REPORT
Radomski linked to 12 of 13 Mets in report
Kirk Radomski, the former Mets clubhouse attendant whose place in baseball history was forever stamped with the release of the Mitchell Report yesterday, also factored into a bit of Mets history as well.
Source of Mitchell report has Long Island ties
One of two major sources in the Mitchell Report investigating baseball's steroid problem is a well-known fitness guru to Major League prospects on Long Island, a graduate of St. John's University and a resident of Breezy Point.
Clemens denies steroids claims
Roger Clemens, long considered the best pitcher of his era, now has an element of doubt surrounding the legitimacy of his accomplishments. He was the biggest name - besides Barry Bonds - linked to the use of steroids in the Mitchell Report released yesterday.
THE MITCHELL REPORT
Trainer: I injected Pettitte to aid recovery
The Mitchell Report, a 21-month investigation into the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball completed by former Senator George Mitchell and released yesterday, is littered with the names of Yankees players, past and present.
Wallace Matthews: Clemens must be judged same way as Bonds
For the past 10 years, one guy has been treated like he's Nicky Barnes, the other like he's John Wayne.
Johnette Howard: Mitchell Report has plenty to blame for steroids
With every turn of the page in the Mitchell Report on performance-enhancing drug use that was released yesterday, what had been seen as a baseball-wide scandal at the start of the day narrowed swiftly and sharply, at least for New Yorkers. It became a Yankees and Mets story that will cast aspersions on everything from the Yankees' title runs of the 1990s to the damaged Hall of Fame candidacy of Roger Clemens. A few minutes after 2 p.m, Clemens officially became the white Barry Bonds.
Neil Best: Mitchell Report gives baseball center stage
Alex Rodriguez is nearly as fascinating a media figure as he is a baseball player, but yesterday he outdid himself with this trick:
Canseco surprised A-Rod is not on Mitchell's list
During yesterday's Fox Business Network's "Happy Hour," Jose Canseco had an observation concerning a current, very prominent Yankee. When asked whether Alex Rodriguez should have been mentioned in the Mitchell Report, Canseco responded: "All I can say is the Mitchell Report is incomplete. I could not believe that his name was not in the report."
Bonds had advance warning for drug tests
Barry Bonds and his supporters often pointed to the fact that the home run king never flunked a drug test administered by Major League Baseball.
Timeline: Steroids in baseball
October, 1988 Washington Post baseball writer Thomas Boswell claims Jose Canseco is "the most conspicuous example of a player who has made himself great with steroids." Canseco denies it. June 7, 1991 Commissioner Fay Vincent sends a memo to each team announcing that steroids have been added to the league's banned list. No testing plan is announced.
Kirk Radomski at center of Mitchell steroid report
Kirk Radomski, the Long Island man at the center of the explosive probe of steroid use in baseball, was curious himself yesterday about the report that blasted his name into American sports history.
Ellis Henican: "Ball Four" author Bouton saw steroid mess coming
There's a scene in "Ball Four," Jim Bouton's unvarnished diary of the 1969 baseball season.
LI-area pols chime in on steroid report
Rudy Giuliani called yesterday's report of widespread baseball steroid abuse "sickening," a view shared by fellow New York politicians.
Steroid list disappoints Long Island baseball fans
As he watched commentators dissect the blockbuster steroid report on a television at Play Like A Pro Baseball, an indoor training facility in Hauppauge, Patrick Lennon reflected on his six seasons in the major leagues and how he never would have used performance-enhancing drugs.
In NYC, fans worry about game's integrity
The din and clatter of the first-floor bar and restaurant at ESPN Zone in Times Square fell quiet just after 2 p.m., all eyes trained on TV screens showing George Mitchell stepping to a lectern.
Congress wants new steroids hearing
Congress wants to hear more about the Mitchell Report on drug use in baseball.
Red Sox noticed red flags
The Red Sox suspected relievers Brendan Donnelly and Eric Gagne of using performance-enhancing drugs but acquired them anyway, according to the Mitchell Report.
Memorabilia company apologizes for bad taste
Few sports-related businesses are as shameless as the memorabilia world, where if a player loses a non-essential body part, it just might turn up for sale before sunup.
MLB
Steroids era not over, just beginning
One got the impression, listening to the grave remarks of former Sen. George Mitchell and MLB Commissioner Bud Selig Thursday, that baseball would love to be able to slap a "Steroids Era" label on a vaguely defined period of ugliness and then let it be forgotten in the wintry mix.