Getting in late on this because a) I have a book to finish writing, and b) I find the whole affair disgusting, but for those interested, pitcher Roger Clemens and his former trainer Brian McNamee are testifying before Congress. Jayson Stark is blogging it at ESPN.
People suck…

ESPN reports that federal agents haven’t been able to track down ex-big-leaguer Chuck Knoblauch to serve him with a subpoena to appear before a House panel investigating steroid use in baseball:
When the committee didn’t hear from Knoblauch or a representative, it issued a subpoena to force the 1991 AL Rookie of the Year to submit to a deposition next Tuesday.
As of 7 p.m. Wednesday, though, that subpoena had not reached the former infielder who, like Clemens and more than 80 other players, was accused of using performance-enhancing drugs in last month’s Mitchell Report on baseball’s steroids era.
Knoblauch swiped 407 …read more

“Witch Hunt Backlash” sounds like some crazy dance from the ’60s, but the Cardinals’ Albert Pujols might have other ideas. Seems he “was incorrectly linked to the Mitchell report” and now the media outlet that did the linking has lost the privilege of listening to Pujols speak:
Pujols asked Cardinals media relations director Brian Bartow to make a reporter and cameraman from St. Louis Fox affiliate KTVI leave the room where Pujols’ news conference was taking place on the final day of the Cardinals’ winter warmup.
Not that you can blame Pujols. Assuming he’s clean, someone has tarnished his reputation, which is …read more

I seem to be on a Hall of Fame kick lately. Maybe it’s because I actually visited the place this summer. Or maybe there’s not much else going on right now (seriously, don’t make me bust out some transaction haiku on the Darin Erstad and Miguel Olivo signings). Whatever the case, that’s where my head is at, so let’s take a look at another worthy candidate, Rich “Goose” Gossage.
On second thought, let’s take a look at someone else taking a look at Gossage. In this case, we’ll check in on a couple of guys with a vote, ESPN’s Phil Rogers …read more

Ready for the Mitchell Report? Totally psyched? Man, it’s just like the World Series, only with allegations of drug use instead of baseball games. I can’t believe it’s almost here, just in time for [insert winter holiday of choice].
Howard Bryant at ESPN writes a detailed piece outlining the troublesome nature of this investigation (hat tip to Baseball Musings). You really need to read the entire article, but here are a few little nuggets worth mentioning:
The teams’ general managers, too, felt pressured by questions that led them to believe the Mitchell report will judge them harshly for condoning widespread drug use …read more

{democracy:20}

We’ve spent a lot of time talking about the National League MVP race, while perhaps neglecting the AL side. It feels, at times, like a one-man race, but is it?
ESPN’s Jayson Stark assembled a list of key contenders a few weeks ago, and most of ‘em make sense (not sure about David Ortiz this year, and he’s a little too excited about J.J. Putz for my taste), although my personal opinion is that the real battle here is for second place. Then again, the writers are full of surprises, so I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Who do you …read more

Maury Brown at Biz of Baseball chats with ESPN’s Rob Neyer. They touch on performance-enhancing drugs, Barry Zito’s contract, the Matt Morris trade, and more. [Tip o' the Knuckle Curve cap to Baseball Think Factory.]

We touched on the Cy Young award last week — specifically Rich at Baseball Analysts’ take on the leading candidates. Now another heavy hitter — ESPN’s Jayson Stark — weighs in with his thoughts.
Like everyone else, Stark has San Diego’s Jake Peavy and Arizona’s Brandon Webb in the top two slots in the National League. Nice to see Stark also recognize what Aaron Harang is accomplishing on a very bad Cincinnati team.
I still think Dodgers closer Takashi Saito belongs in the discussion. Lefties are hitting just .194/.239/.311 against him this year. They are the lucky ones: right-handers are batting — …read more

The College World Series schedule is now available. Two teams from California — UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton — have made it to Omaha.
My adopted team, Irvine, plays Saturday against Arizona State. First pitch is 11 a.m. PT and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.
Here’s the thing about the Anteaters. Ordinarily you wouldn’t want your team to “suck” but if my understanding of anteater physiology is correct, that’s pretty much what this particular animal does to its prey.
It’s all very confusing…
Update: Upon further review, it appears that “lick” is a more appropriate verb. Very well, then; we’ll go …read more

In case anyone is interested, ESPN broadcaster Gary Thorne has apologized for getting the Curt Schilling bloody sock story completely wrong. Now the only thing left to determine is whether this whole affair is funny, sad, or both. Hey, that sounds like a poll:
{democracy:16}