Category: MLB (Page 83 of 448)

      Nationals should shut down Stephen Strasburg for the rest of 2010

      August 22, 2010 /
      Washington Nationals' Stephen Strasburg wipes sweat from his face after the second against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Nationals Park on on August 15, 2010. UPI/Kevin Dietsch Photo via Newscom

      After throwing a 90 mph changeup and grimacing on the mound in pain during the fifth inning of Saturday’s game against the Phillies, the Nationals have little choice but to shut down Stephen Strasburg’s 2010 season.

      This is the second time this month that Strasburg has dealt with an injury. A couple of weeks ago he had a shoulder problem that caused him to miss some time and yesterday’s injury has been diagnosed as a strain of the flexor tendon in his right forearm. Considering this is a club that’s 17 games below .500 and 19 games back in the NL Central, this should be a no-brainer decision for the Nationals. Regardless of what a MRI reveals – his season should be over. Why risk further injury here?

      Something that will be lost in the injury news is how well Strasburg pitched yesterday. He threw 56 pitches before departing the game, throwing 38 for strikes and allowing just one run on two hits to go along with his six strikeouts. He showed the type of mastery of hitters last night as he did when he was first called up in June.

      But again, regardless of how good he looked or how many tickets the Nationals want to sell from here on out, they have to look at the bigger picture. Just because he has suffered a couple of injuries this year doesn’t mean that he’ll have issues the rest of his career and in fact, the early indication is that he should be fine. But why take any chances right now? Both the Nationals and Strasburg have more to look forward to than the rest of this season, which essentially means nothing.

      Shut his season down, have him take a MRI and then proceed with how to handle the results. Getting the young phenom back onto the mound should be the least of the Nationals’ concerns right now.

      External Sports, MLB

      Report: Roger Clemens turned down plea agreement

      August 21, 2010 /
      New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens testifies before a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the Mitchell Report and its allegations that Clemens used performance enhancing drugs on Capitol Hill in Washington on February 13, 2008. (UPI Photo/Kevin Dietsch) Photo via Newscom Photo via Newscom

      According to a report by ESPN.com, Roger Clemens was offered a plea agreement but his attorney Rusty Hardin said that his client declined the offer.

      “The government made a recommendation [for a plea agreement] and we declined,” Hardin said. “I will tell you the recommendation they made was a very good one if he was guilty. And if he was guilty we would have jumped on it. Everybody has all this great solicitous advice, all the media and you guys — ESPN. Nobody is answering the question: What if he didn’t do it, what should he have done? And everybody wants him to confess.

      “I have even heard people suggest that even if he didn’t do it he should have said he did so that everybody will move on. That is a helluva commentary.”

      Hardin reiterated he and his staff have drilled Clemens on the need to fess up, if he did steroids or human growth hormone.

      “He’s been told from the beginning if he did it he ought to do exactly what Andy [Pettitte] did. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that. And everybody assumes it is his arrogance and his ego that kept him from doing it.

      “He wasn’t the greatest witness before Congress, I understand that. But I got to tell you, we’ve sat on him probably for 100 of our hours over the last two-and-a-half years, always with the same thing: ‘If you did it, the best thing to do is just admit it and move on and we’ll deal with it.’ He has never, ever wavered.”

      Talk about rolling the dice. If he’s guilty and he didn’t accept this deal when he had the chance, then he’s absolutely out of his mind. The government has essentially given him a nice out and he decided not to take it, so he’s either truly innocent or clinically insane.

      I will give Clemens this – he has maintained his innocence throughout this whole ordeal. He’s never wavered in his denial about talking steroids and obviously he’s willing to go to extreme measures to prove his innocence. One would think that if he were guilty, he would have taken the deal and then faced the public scrutiny to avoid jail time.

      Of course, I wouldn’t put it past Clemens to go to jail and maintain his innocence, rather than accept a plea agreement and admit that he’s been lying this entire time. Even if he’s proven guilty in the court of law, he could continue to tell the public that he never juiced and that he was screwed by the judicial system.

      What a mess.

      External Sports, MLB

      Mikey’s MLB power rankings

      August 21, 2010 /

      With football season upon us, that’s when baseball gets real interesting. To me, there is no better time of year than that first weekend in October when you have four MLB playoff series and a full slate of NFL games. As for the pennant races, they’re starting to shift and some teams are beginning to pull away while others lose hold on their position…

      1. New York Yankees (75-47)—A one-game lead but the Mariners are in town this weekend, so it’s as good a time as any to start padding the margin over the Rays and Sox again.

      2. Tampa Bay Rays (74-48)—Still hanging on, as the Yankees continue to look in their collective rear-view mirror.

      3. San Diego Padres (73-48)—The Giants had their five-game winning streak, and the Padres answered with one of their own, widening their late August lead to 6 games over the G-men until losing last night. Is there any question about manager of the year here?

      4. Atlanta Braves (72-50)—Bobby Cox hopes his team will feast on Cubs’ pitching at Wrigley while the Phils face the Nats at home.

      5. Texas Rangers (68-53)—The Rangers lost four in a row this past week but still have a seven-game lead over the A’s and Angels. I’d say they have nothing to worry about.

      6. Minnesota Twins (71-51)—As we suspected, the Twins keep adding to their lead, now 4.5 games over the White Sox.

      7. Cincinnati Red (71-51)—Just when the Cardinals made a statement, the Reds have now won 7 in a row while St. Louis has lost 5 straight, giving Dusty Baker’s boys a 4.5 game lead and increasing the chances Brandon Phillips will start smack-talking again, if he hasn’t already.

      8. Boston Red Sox (69-54)—Time is running out on the Sox, and also on Roger Clemens’ days as a free man.

      9. Philadelphia Phillies (69-52)—They’ve stayed hot, but so have the Braves. Do you think the Phils wish they still had Cliff Lee?

      10. San Francisco Giants (69-54)—Only trailing Philly in the wild card chase by one game, two in the loss column. But a recent slide took them out of that spot and their hopes of a division crown are fading away.

      External Sports, MLB

      Marlins’ Ronny Paulino suspended 50 games for PED use

      August 20, 2010 /
      Florida Marlins catcher Ronny Paulino (R) celebrates with pitcher Burke Badenhop their victory over the Washington Nationals after their MLB National League baseball game in Washington August 10, 2010. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

      According to a report by MLB.com, Marlins’ catcher Ronny Paulino was suspended 50 games on Friday for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance.

      Paulino says the drug was a dietary pill to control his weight and will not appeal the suspension.

      “To control my weight this season, I used a dietary pill,” Paulino said in a statement released by the Marlins. “Regretfully, I recently learned that the dietary pill contained a substance banned under Major League Baseball’s drug policy. I am ashamed and saddened for disappointing and distracting my family, my teammates, the entire Florida Marlins organization and baseball fans. My heartfelt and most sincere apology.”

      The last Major Leaguer suspended for testing positive under MLB’s Drug Policy was Reds starter Edinson Volquez on April 20. Volquez wound up serving his 50-game suspension while on the disabled list. Prior to Volquez, Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez received a 50-game penalty in May 2009.

      It’s good to see Paulino own up to the situation and not appeal the suspension. It’s akin to getting pulled over for speeding and even though you know you’re in the wrong, you challenge the police officer that pulled you over. Just take the ticket like a man and slow down.

      Are dietary pills and HGH in the same category when it comes to giving a player an advantage on the field? Absolutely not, but the bottom line is that they’re both on the banned substance list and players have to take responsibility for what they putting into their bodies.

      External Sports, MLB

      “Rocket” once again denies taking HGH or steroids, lying to Congress

      August 20, 2010 /
      Former New York Yankee Major League Baseball pitcher Roger Clemens is flanked by his lawyers while testifying before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing on The Mitchell Report: The Illegal Use of Steroids in Major League Baseball, on Capitol Hill in Washington in this February 13, 2008 file photograph. Clemens, one of the best pitchers in the sport's history, has been indicted on a series of charges related to lying to the U.S. Congress during an investigation into doping, court papers said. Picture taken February 13, 2008. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/Files (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS SPORT BASEBALL CRIME LAW)

      After he was indicted yesterday on charges of making false statements to Congress during his testimony about his use of performance-enhancing drugs, Roger Clemens made a statement via his Twitter page denying that he ever used steroids.

      I never took HGH or Steroids. And I did not lie to Congress. I look forward to challenging the Governments accusations, and hope people will keep an open mind until trial. I appreciate all the support I have been getting. I am happy to finally have my day in court.

      Rocket

      Is it just me, or does anyone else think there’s something sad about the way Clemens signs off as “Rocket” at the end of his note? That’s his nickname of course, but it almost feels like he’s trying to play to the crowd that beloved him during his playing days.

      Regardless, if you’re innocent, you shout it from the rooftops as much as possible – just like Clemens has done. It’s also important to keep in mind that he has never been proven guilty of anything as of this point.

      But given how much evidence there is linking him to performance-enhancing drugs, I can’t help but to think about the Dana Carevy stand-up routine when he pokes fun at the O.J. Simpson trial.

      Here sits a mountain of forensic evidence and Roger’s like, “Why we even havin’ a trial?”

      External Sports, MLB

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