A Great Story
As we continue to hear about HGH and Roger Clemens' many women, it is nice to read a story like this. It serves as a reminder of why we watch sports in the first place.
Personally, I think they best line in the movie is either the part about candlesticks or when Susan Sarandon asks Tim Robbins if he thinks "Dwight Gooden makes love with his socks on", but whatever your favorite part, I bring you some sad news. "Bull Durham" is now 20-years old.
In honor of the 20th brithday, ESPN has done an amusing update of the movie. Isn't it sad how realistic it sounds?
The Santana contract has been finalized and it is a stunner, $150 million over the next seven years. (they reworked his 2008 contract as part of it.) That is absolutely crazy money and besides the money, think of the length. Seven years is a long time to bet on a pitcher, even a pitcher of Santana's ability. The Mets certainly have the money, but whether or not they spent it wisely remains to be seen.
One thing is for sure, CC Sabathia is probably the happiest guy in the world right now.
Fantastic news fans, the Mets have completed a trade for Johan Santana. The Mets will send Carlos Gomez, Phil Humber, Deolis Guerra and Kevin Mulvey.
It's weird, but this is one of the few times both fans of the Yankees and Red Sox can be happy. Neither fan base (or the authors of this blog) wanted to part with the players and cash it would take to attain Santana and seeing him go to the National League is great news.
Of course the Mets have to sign him and that may cost big, big bucks, but they have the $$ and the need, so I don't expect a problem.
If you are a Twins fan, my condolences. It looks to me like your club really blew it big time with this deal and you have every right to blast ownership.
What do you think? Vote below
So yes, Andy just happens to be a Patriots fan and I happen to be a Giants fan, but I'm sorry if I just don't get the comparisons of that "rivalry" with the Yankees-Red Sox. Sure, Boston-New York is a good storyline, but the Giants and Patriots have played a total of eight times in 47 years. And, under the current NFL schedule, they will not play again until 2011 (unless it's the Super Bowl)
So, while we are going to be bombarded with countless comparisons (I have already heard the Patriots compared to the 1998 Yankees and the Giants compared to the 2004 Red Sox) and hype, it only reinforces in my mind how special Yankees-Red Sox is. 19 times a year in the regular season, three times in the last nine seasons in the playoffs and for almost 100 years these two teams have been going at it. You simply can't beat that.
I guess the best thing about this game from both sides is that the papers will be dominated with football stories and we won't have to suffer through another round of Santana to "x" for a couple of weeks!
Congress has gotten into the act and asked Clemens, Pettitte, McNamee, Radomski and Knoblauch to testify January 16th. I am not sure if asking is the same as subpoenaing, but it doesn't matter in Clemens' case. If he doesn't testify, his claims of innocence become totally absurd.
Now, if Clemens goes before Congress and proclaims his innocence does that change things in your mind about the case against him?
In light of the Mitchell report, the BALCO findings and the other various performance inhancing drug (PED) news, I thought it would be an interesting idea to play Hall of Famer voter for a day. Let's operate under the following guidelines:
- You must make a vote today knowing what you now know.
- You must vote yes or no. A "maybe" or "withholding until more info is available" is not an option.
Let's also add to this exercize with some statistics:
Roger Clemens:
Career, age 21 - 44:
354 - 184, 3.12 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 4916.7 IP, 4185 H, 1580 BB, 4672 K's, 8.55K/9.
1984 - 1997 age 21 - 34 (we'll call this the pre-steroids career based on the Mitchell Report):
213 - 118, 2.97 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 3040.0 IP, 2563 H, 924 BB, 2882 K's, 8.53K/9.
1998 - 2007 age 35 - 44 (we'll call this post-steroids):
141 - 66, 3.38 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 1876.7 IP, 1622 H, 656 BB, 1790 K's, 8.58K/9.
Barry Bonds:
Career age 21 - 42:
.298/.444/.607/1.051, 2935 H, 2227 R, 762 HR, 1996 RBI, 2558 BB, 1539 K, 514 SB
1986 - 1999 age 21 - 34 (we'll call this the pre-streroids career for Bonds based on BALCO and Game of Shadows):
.288/.413/.559/.972, 2010 H, 1455 R, 445 HR, 1299 RBI, 1430 BB, 1112 K, 460 SB
2000 - 2007 age 35 - 42 (post-steroids career):
.322/.520/.724/.1.244, 925 H, 772 R, 317 HR, 697 RBI, 1128 BB, 427 K, 54 SB
I won't comment on the numbers above. But I will ask the following: If we are to believe the news, is it fair to say these guys are deserving of the HOF regardless of any possible PED because their numbers were already HOF calibre prior to PED use? Or does the use of PEDs negate any prior accomplishments? Please vote below:
It's bad enough hearing all the excuses flying around, but now Curt Schilling has joined the party, suggesting that Roger Clemens give back his awards won since 1997.
Yes, the same Curt Schilling who was called before Congress in 2005 to testify about the drug problem in baseball because of comments he had made and when he had the chance, told Congress he had "grossly overstated it" (the problem)
Schilling also stated at those hearings in regards to the drug testing in baseball, "If there are loopholes....we will close them." (2-1/2 years later, that still hasn't happened)
If Frank Thomas, the ONLY active player who helped the Mitchell investigation would like to offer any suggestions, I am all ears. Otherwise, all the active players who didn't and Curt who didn't follow up on his promises, should zip it. Is Clemens guilty? It certainly seems like it, but how many other guilty players are out there who didn't get named? How can we ever sort out what record should be expunged if we don't know the full extent of the juicing? Richard Nixon was impeached, but he is still listed as the President from 1969-1974. Historians of baseball will have to cast a wide net over the last 20 years and the next few until the testing is real and it will forever be known as the steroids era. Judge the numbers with caution, that's the reality of all of this.
The Assistant to the Traveling Secretary of the New York Yankees, George Costanza, was promoted to Traveling Secretary today. The job was made available when former Traveling Secretary David Szen was convicted of filing a false tax return and failing to report $50,000 in tips from players and coaches and was subsequently fired by the club.
Costanza takes over immediately. His first act as Traveling Secretary was to eliminate 5-Star hotel accomodations in favor of the Motel 6 chain.