Lost in the Roger Clemens – Brian McNamee spat that has resulted in Clemens filing suit against his former trainer is the story of the little guy. You know, the guy who never made it because he wasn’t juicing. Ex-minor-leaguer Rich Hartmann reportedly may file a class-action suit against MLB. Quoth Hartmann:
Was I cheated of my dreams of a big-league career? I don’t know. But I do know there were thousands of guys who were right on the doorstep between 1990 and 2005 and they were cheated because they didn’t use steroids.
And a little further down:
I hear these guys apologize …read more

Following the Roger Clemens saga? I’ve lost interest — silly me, I’d rather focus on baseball — but for those of you still wondering what’s going on, here are a few links that you may find useful:
News:

Transcript: Clemens on ‘60 Minutes’ (Boston Globe)
Clemens files defamation suit against his ex-trainer (Houston Chronicle)
Clemens, Pettitte asked to testify before Congress (USA Today)

Commentary:

McNamee’s attorney: Baloney (Newsday)
Friends (Baseball Analysts)
Clemens’ interview was a waste of time (Dallas Morning News)

This should get you up to speed for now. My opinion? The whole thing sucks, as it always has.

Oh, my. The good folks at Baseball Mogul are giving away the 2007 version of their game. No, it’s not brand spankin’ new, but this is a fantastic sim and did I mention it’s free?
I just downloaded my copy and am replaying the Padres 2006 season. First move? Sign Roger Clemens for 1 year at $11.1 million. Second move? Trade Ryan Klesko and his $10 million contract to the Yankees for Wayne Franklin to clear a little payroll for Clemens.
Ah, I love a good sim. And I really love a good, free sim.

Congratulations to the Diamondbacks and Rockies for completing their series sweeps on Saturday. The NL West is now 6-0 in the postseason, if you’re scoring at home.
Meanwhile, we’ve got two AL teams looking for the sweep on Sunday:

Red Sox at Angels, noon PT — The situation is looking bleak for the team that slaps “Anaheim” at the end of its awkward name. Jered Weaver and Curt Schilling hook up in this one. The Angels desperately need to find a way to contain David Ortiz. Yeah, good luck with that. Also, they need to start hitting. Did I mention it’s looking …read more

Happy Labor Day. Watch your favorite team on television today, assuming the powers-that-be allow you to do so…
American League

Mariners at Yankees, 10:05 a.m. PT — Good thing folks in Seattle like coffee; this one’s kicking off good and early. The Mariners start the day two games back of New York in the AL wild card race. Felix Hernandez gets the start against a man twice his age, Roger Clemens. Hernandez was born three days before Clemens’ 37th big-league start. Interestingly, their age 21 seasons are kind of similar. Both got hit harder than you might expect for guys with such …read more

Wednesday? Must be a full schedule. Let’s jump right in…
American League

Angels at Mariners, 1:35 p.m. PT — Division rivals, great pitching matchup (Jered Weaver vs Felix Hernandez). Most days this would be a no-brainer as the game to watch, but there are several good ones today.
Red Sox at Yankees, 4:05 p.m. PT — Josh Beckett goes up against Roger Clemens. Advice to hitters: look for the fastball. The AL East is slipping away from the Yankees, as they are now 8 games back with 31 remaining. They’re only 2 behind Seattle in the wild card.
Twins at Indians, 4:05 p.m. PT …read more

Super lightning quick, here are your games for Friday:

Yankees at Tigers, 4:05 p.m. PT — It seems like these two teams are always playing each other. Anyway, Roger Clemens and Andrew Miller makes for an interesting matchup. Aside from the fact that Clemens is twice as old as Miller, it’s also worth noting that lefties are hitting just .140/.241/.180 against the young southpaw. Granted, it’s in all of 60 plate appearances, but yikes.
Blue Jays at Angels, 7:05 p.m. PT — Roy Halladay and Jered Weaver hook up at Anaheim. If I didn’t have a softball game, I’d make the drive …read more

Not as catchy as “Two For Tuesday,” but it will have to do. Real quick like, here are your games for today:

Tigers at Yankees, 12:55 p.m. PT — Two teams fighting for a playoff berth, Roger Clemens pitching… Clemens’ career ERA by team: Tor, 2.33; Hou, 2.40; Bos, 3.06; NYA, 3.99.
Angels at Red Sox, 4:05 p.m. PT — Same as above, but with Curt Schilling instead of Clemens.
Cardinals at Cubs, 12:55 p.m. PT — Take the NL Central, please. Nobody wants it, and here come the Cards. Gee, I sure hope another 83-win team wins the World Series this year.
Diamondbacks …read more

Once again, Aaron has been good enough to have me on his show over at Suicide Fan. We talk about the MLB draft, Roger Clemens, steroids, the National League West, Sam Perlozzo’s firing, and the recent trade that sent Michael Barrett from the Cubs to the Padres (more on that at Ducksnorts).
Go give it a listen; you’ll be glad you did…

I’m trying to think of an angle that hasn’t been worked to death, and I doubt that any exist. After all, this is Roger Clemens and the New York Yankees. It’s hard to imagine a more overexposed story in all of baseball.
But I’ll give it a shot anyway.
In Clemens’ big-league debut, on May 15, 1984, he faced the Cleveland Indians and got a no-decision. Clemens didn’t pitch particularly well, but he played alongside or against a Hall of Famer (Wade Boggs), the father of a current big leaguer (Tony Armas), a front-office staffer (Reid Nichols), a field manager …read more