Mark Teixeira audio from today
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Podcast on Feb 16, 2009 
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Joe Girardi’s press conference today was much like yesterday — mostly A-Rod. So we’ll toss a change-up and upload the audio from Mark Teixeira’s interview session today.
He arrived in camp today and we interviewed him at his locker. He talked about being a Yankee, A-Rod, his memories of Texas and what he expects this season. He also made some forceful comments about much he is against PED use.
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I’ll write more about Tex later on once I get through my newspaper stories.
Does anyone know whether Arod’s press conference will be televised tomorrow and whether we will be able to get it live?
“David Ortiz said that he thinks that those caught using steroids should receive a season long ban. ”
Everyone has an opinion… of course I think Ortiz should have kept his to himself since he has a past filled with PED use.
I wonder when Gammons gets a chance to interview Tex, will he ask how his wife enjoys shopping in NYC?
from last thread:
“The Scotland one is because that’s me.”
Cool. Are you an American living in Scotland or a Scottish Yankee fan? I’ve had the good fortune to visit Scotland four times. I can elaborate on that if you’re curious, but I don’t want to bore the good folks here with such details.
Boston Dave-
Makes perfect sense for Ortiz to say this. He isn’t using anymore, and it’s a way to make a public statement against PED’s.
It puts him on the good side of the fight, especially since he can’t be punished for anything found out from that 103 list.
Him and Hafner making public statements regarding PED’s is hilarious
trisha- the A-Rod press conference will be on ESPN tomorrow live(I’m guessing ESPN news?)
Tex already off to a good start….except he can throw out that Angels bag now, lol
http://bombersbeat.mlblogs.com/
Teixeira arrives in camp
I was chatting with Brian Bruney downstairs when Mark Teixeira walked in, an Angels bag slung over his left shoulder. Bruney shot up and the two exchanged pleasantries, with Bruney welcoming him to the team and Teixeira saying he was glad to be here.
“This team,” Bruney was saying later, “is going to be the best one, personality-wise, since I’ve been here. These are all good guys we’ve brought in.”
Teixeira certainly seems to fit the part. He shook hands with every single reporter within the county limits and swears that he’s going to try to learn all of our names. The fans should enjoy having him around too – Teixeira said that he is going to have the best year of his career in 2009 and is determined to get off to a fast start.
He’s also ready to get a crash course in the Yankee three-ring circus when Alex Rodriguez takes to the podium tomorrow. Teixeira said he is among those who will be on hand to lend A-Rod support.
“I’ll definitely be there,” Teixeira said. “I’m going to open my arms to Alex.”
“Joel Sherman of the New York Post wrote yesterday about possible midseason trade candidates, Roy Halladay in particular. He says Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi “did not discount” the possibility of Halladay being this year’s C.C. Sabathia… Halladay is signed at a reasonable $14.25MM this year and $15.75MM for ’10.”
It will also be on yes.
No Johnny D sightings yet?
Best part was when Sweeny asked him about going to Arod’s press conference tomorrow and he said “absolutely I will be there, no question.”
I think everyone is going to love him. He seems like he will be a great clubhouse guy and leader down the line.
Mark- Was asked about the Gammons comment and what he thought about it. He avoided the question by saying he watches Seasame Street in the morning, and some other show at night, he doesn’t watch sports center.
I love mark! He’s a class act!
Sadly, it really doesn’t matter what any player says about PEDs anymore, unless he admits to having used them. Palmeiro already salted that earth.
I really like Mark! My new fav player!
plus it doesn’t hurt that he is hot!
Good stuff Pete, thanks.
Tex was great and he is going to be a great addition to the team, on and off the field.
Fortunately, I will be on an airplane tomorrow and won’t be able to watch the circus live.
I’ll try to keep up with it later on the blog.
Hopefully after tomorrow, baseball talk will dominate the conversations.
I’m going to watch the pc, and see how long it takes for a reporter to ask a contentious question and make it personal.
S.A. and jen, thanks! Although having a stomach virus isn’t a fun thing, I’m happy that the timing couldn’t be better. I’ll at least get to watch this live, which is the best way to do it I think (if you can).
Tex’s gonna be the captain of the Yanks someday.
SJ44, don’t worry if you miss the Press Conference. I am sure that the media will be dissecting Alex’s every word for the next few days!
O/T – you said that you had a friend who was being considered for a job on the Jets staff. Did he ever get the spot?
Tex’s gonna be the captain of the Yanks someday.===========================================================
I agree phil, he has the make-up of a captain.
Hey Peter! Are you going to be the one that throws your shoes at Alex tomorrow??? LMAOL
Hey Fran! And that’s why I say it’s good to be able to watch it live. It starts to fall apart for me as soon as the media starts to dissect it.
Here is what I like about the new guys and why I think they will fit in seamlessly.
When you first come to the Yankees, especially if you are a high priced free agent, player agents usually tell their clients to, “keep a low profile, stay in the background and just try to fit in”.
CC, AJ, and Tex are showing up at Arod’s PC tomorrow for support. Some folks (cynics) will say its just for “show”.
Seems to me, these guys are willing to put themselves out there to support a teammate they hardly know. Especially impressive since they are newbies to this team.
That’s leadership and that’s something you have to be impressed with from these guys.
That’s why I think this thing has a chance to bring this team closer together. Its cliche but, its applicable here, IMO.
This team is not going to let this situation manage their entire season. They are going to manage this situation.
It will be a great show of strength tomorrow.
Alex just needs to hold up his end of the deal. Meaning, no more positive tests and no more diva nonsense.
Hey Pete,
Hope you washed ur hands after touching that turtle. They are known carriers of salmonella.
first day of ST and beltre is throwing ichiro under the bus:
http://blog.seattletimes.nwsou....._tens.html
gonna be a long season in seattle
I think the press conference will go down hill once Sherman, Verducci and maybe even the stalker Roberts gets the microphone. It is really pointless to have the conference tomorrow. No matter what he says the media is going to say it was the wrong thing to say and he is lying. He is really in a no win situation. Every single word he says is going to get pulled apart.
no matter what the media asks, arod will probably lie anyway
I agree SJ, but remember, the yankees dont care about what arod does off the field (execpt for the roids). The media does. They want to know what type of Toilet paper he uses. If he has marble kitchen counter tops. They want to find out all the things about him that I could care less about. I care about what he does on the field and nothing more.
benny arod has 4 agents who try to get the media to print articles about what kind of toilet paper he uses and what kind of kitchen counters he has.
Captains Corner———- Thats whay he needs to be completely honest. They are going to kill him anyway. Like giradi said; he could answer every question perfectly and they would still say it was rehearsed.
Jamie Moyer Just Shut up…..A-rod won so many games for you….what’s with all these players speaking out, why cause they are all guilty
CaptainsCorner, can’t you picture those media players actually getting little sleep tonight because of their excitment about tomorrow. You know how little kids are when they know they are going somewhere special – the night before they can’t get to sleep. Those little kids will go through the same thing tonight. Check for circles under their eyes tomorrow. It probably doesn’t get any bigger for them than this!
CaptainsCorner, can’t you picture those media players actually getting little sleep tonight because of their excitment about tomorrow. You know how little kids are when they know they are going somewhere special – the night before they can’t get to sleep. Those little kids will go through the same thing tonight. Check for circles under their eyes tomorrow. It probably doesn’t get any bigger for them than this!
Thanks for the audio Pete.
You have to be loving these new guys so far. (as far as your job goes)
No surly answers. Very open. It sounds like they “get it”.
Ah I see that cc Roberts has returned! “cc no evil” is Selena Roberts’ pen name.
I’m sure Sherman, Verrducci, and lupica are sitting in tampa right now drinking margarita’s laughing about how they are going to run this guy into the bowels of hell.
Pete,
Dont knock your pics. Everyone here enjoys them for the most part it seems and we all realize its just a phone and not a camera but better those than none. IMO, those are some excellent pictures for a camera.
hey guys,
Finished my second final today – 2 down 2 to go and i had no idea it was a holiday until that post i read just now. Some holiday.
I have to say about releasing that list – I would never have wanted it before and even after arod was revealed as a user from that list, I still did not really think the list should become public. But at this point, with all of the blame and hatred for all of this falling solely on arod, I think i would rather have the list get out. I mean certainly the yanks cant really get any more surprises I wouldnt think after giambi, clemens, pettitte, arod etc. but it just seems a little weird that not a single redsock has been outed. Maybe its because mcnamee works for the redsox and maybe not but I dont really want to hear any more grief from sox fans when I dont have to and I know there was someone on that team doing roids – multiple players in fact. I know I am being selfish and acting like a two year old about this whole thing but I dont really care. It was completely unfair to put it on arod and it will be completely unfair to reveal the other names. I would rather go for the side that helps arod at this point.
And speaking of arod, how dumb do you have to be to go on tv to apologize for taking PEDs and then, falsely accuse the reporter of breaking into your house. There was not a single person in the world that would actually take his side on that one. He really is an idiot sometimes and that was definitely right up there with his worst. And talk about bad timing – when half the world hates him and on national tv. I mean, was there any truth to that story at all or did he just fabricate the entire thing out of anger? Im sure it was all a lie. Selena is doing just fine making enemies these days and getting people to dislike her. There was no reason to fabricate stories to make her look bad. She is already doing that all by herself. Now more than ever, arod really needs to consider thinking before he speaks.
No question about it, some of the media can ask the dumbest, ignorant, prying, insignificant questions ever heard.
I’m sure alex was the type of kid who’d take a hot girl out on a wonderful date only to blow his opportunity for kiss at the end for saying something stupid.
Good call SJ…
Thanks for the Teixeira audio Pete. He sounds like a well-put-together guy and it should be a terrific 8-year relationship.
I only wish most of the questions weren’t ARod-centered, but, hey, “it is what it is.” But even with that, he sounded very forthcoming, no hesitancy in his answers whatsoever. I personally can’t wait for the season to begin.
Cashman did some good work this off-season.
dave, I think we’ve all been there in one way or another and so definitely commiserate with you about missing out on holidays, etc. But it’s part of the price you pay to reap the benefits later on. Or as my father would always tell us when we would complain about something being difficult, “If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.” When I was in law school, holidays for me, and I mean the major holidays, consisted of showing up for dinner and then leaving to crack the books. I really hated it and always felt I was missing out on something important. But I made that decision the minute I decided to go to law school – I just didn’t know it!
Does girardi really do an interview every single day after bullpen sessions and a workout with the media there the entire time watching everything for themselves. How much could he possibly have to say before it becomes just repetition? And dont you guys run out of questions or is it the same ones every day? I cant imagine how much there is to talk about without just talking about the exact same things.
SJ I agree. I’m loving the new guys. I guess there is enough of cynic in me right now to wonder if they truly did know all this was going on and because of it feel some level of responsibility to be there to support a situation they already knew about and did nothing more than anyone else – in other words turned a blind eye. Maybe, maybe not. Maybe being newbies they think the Yankee way is to be there and be supportive.
Whatever it is, it can’t hurt!
Trisha,
Yea I am not complaining about it. I was just surprised I didnt even know it was a holiday before reading the blog posts. Thats how out of the loop I am. We have this same ridiculous week once every seven weeks, six times a year so I am going to be missing out on a lot of stuff. i already spent the superbowl and valentines day in my room with a nice textbook. I dont really mind THAT much. I guess Im getting used to it already.
Tex made some forceful comments about PEDs use but I bet he didnt bash arod in the process. I knew it could be done but no one realizes that the arod bashing can be left out of a conversation on the topic and it will still sound relevant.
I understand that bashing the media is an easy way to make a point when you are otherwise clueless about the situation. It’s the same people time after time.
But you truly are a moron if you believe that this is something 99 percent of the reporters relish or are happy about. None of us got into this to write about drugs, courts and lawyers. We got into this because we like sports and we enjoy writing.
You honestly think we’d prefer to be under that tent listening to Alex’s spin instead of in the clubhouse listening to somebody talk about baseball? Be serious. I want to cover a baseball team, not this crap.
I wish it wasn’t a story. But meanwhile, no matter what I post, people keep commenting about it so apparently there is a lot of interest in it.
I already have a baseball crush on Tex – it’s going to be a real pleasure having him on the team for the next 8 years. Eventually the Jeter/Mo/Andy/Po gang will be gone and Tex may very well be the face of the franchise. The fact that he has given his unqualified support to Alex in his time of need speaks volumes about what kind of person he is …..and his Sesame Street comment shows he has a sense of humor, lol. The media has at times made it sound like Tex is a robot, but thus far, he has shown himself to be just a really decent guy and not at all a buttoned up, corporate clone.
SJ, I wholeheartedly agree. It’s very clear that CC, AJ and Tex are relishing the opportunity to be Yankees – and it’s not just lip service. They are part of a team and they intend to support their teammate. It’s easy to be a good teammate in prosperous times, but it’s only during the rough times that you see what people are made of. Clearly the new guys are made of the right stuff. The fact that they are bonding so quickly with the veterans is a great sign – this bonding will have ramifications during the course of a long, grueling season. Instead of the team sniping at each other during a long losing streak, the guys will lean on each other. These next few weeks are when teams become real teams or just collections of individual players.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02.....ref=sports
For what it’s worth
I could imagine Bora$ wanting to set up Arods press conference similiar to how Pete did his video conference today. Sit behind the computer and only choose the questions he wants to answer. Seems like something he would try.
I am waiting for one of those golf ball reporters to say how can anyone believe anything you say, why should we believe you. Something along those lines. The SI and ESPN losers are probably on 3 way tonight talking about how nasty the questions can be. I don’t know what he is going to say when they ask if he injected? Ahow often he did them….It is not going to fun tomorrow or for the next week as a Yankee fan.
Fran,
Yes, he got the job. He is Asst. DB coach. He is working with the safeties. He started the Tuesday after the Super Bowl.
ARod is going to continue doing silly stuff that makes us shake our heads. I believe he’s off PEDs, but he can’t just switch off his propensity for saying the wrong thing. It’s part of who he is.
The Times reports that he went out with a model in Miami on Saturday night, so he’s not exactly holed up in his house crying and praying. He’s enjoying the life of a rich and famous athlete. If that makes him a diva, so be it. No one second guesses Jeter for hawking cars, a gym, and a cologne because his commitment to the game is unquestionable. ARod should be judged the same way. As long as he plays as hard as he can, he’s free to do whatever he wants as long as it doesn’t hurt the team.
Those of us who lobbied for Tex from the start of the off-season are happy to welcome you skeptics aboard the bandwagon. This is a tremendous player and outstanding person and personality who will make a huge impact on getting the Yankees back into the post season.
I will watch the news conference tomorrow for just one reason…. So I can see the whole thing, not the filtered version. Good luck Alex, don’t throw anyone under the bus… unless it’s “Commissioner for Life” Baby Doc Selig!
3. I try to ignore all the conspiracy theories that cloud my brain, but I will share this one with you that keeps popping up over and over: Manny Ramirez will sign with the Dodgers tomorrow. Why?
Two reasons: 1) Scott Boras represents both Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez, and I have no idea if Ramirez walking into Dodger camp tomorrow can distract any of the attention away from what will occur at the George tomorrow with A-Rod’s press conference, but it sure might be worth a try. 2) But I am sure that the A-Rod press conference can distract from Ramirez. And if Ramirez ends up signing a contract for the same two years at $45 million range (or worse) that the Dodgers first offered in early November then isn’t Boras going to look, you know, silly? Since Boras reacted to that initial bid by ignoring it and saying dismissively,
“On behalf of Manny Ramirez, we will, for the first time, begin accepting serious financial offers.”
funny thing, the lawyers calling the media sleazeballs…
rumor is that manny is considering dropping boras
Of course we’re interested in it and it’s still a story. You’re a reporter, we’re fans. We certainly have a lot more vested interest in it than you might. He plays for our team.
And this may get me thrown out of here but you are a moron if you believe that there aren’t any members of the press who relish the thought of bashing Arod’s brains in.
Whether they have it in for Arod or have it in for the Yankees there are reporters, and we all know the names, who have made a life of bashing the Yankees whenever they can. I don’t think anybody was talking about every reporter out there. In fact specific names were mentioned, and yours wasn’t one of them.
“funny thing, the lawyers calling the media sleazeballs…”
There are bad apples in every profession. The media isn’t exempt. I will be the first to say there are lawyers who are deplorable and I am embarrassed to be in the same profession as them. Since I am not a sleazeball lawyer, I never take offense when people show little respect for the legal profession. Unfortunately, the legal profession has earned black eyes, just as the media have.
best part is, you know it was a lawyer who leaked the info to the media.
Two seasons ago, I heard an interview on XM with Teixeira. I “fell in love” with him then. I thought of that interview today, because in it he talked about the need to drink lots and lots of water in Texas. Something he mentioned in the interview today. I wanted him in NY but was starting to be discouraged when CC and AJ cost so much money. I was happy with all 3 signings, but absolutely thrilled when Teixeira became a Yankee!
Vase, I heard on WEEI that Roberts said the four people who leaked the information were players. That makes me wonder where they got the information.
“You honestly think we’d prefer to be under that tent listening to Alex’s spin instead of in the clubhouse listening to somebody talk about baseball? Be serious. I want to cover a baseball team, not this crap.”
ok, so your motivation getting into sportswriting was to write about baseball; then what was selena robert’s motivation?
Thanks for the audio Pete.
I really like what I hear from Tex. He seems like a great guy. He said he hoped he would have his best season this year, and lets hope that’s not simply true, it’s just the first of many.
i had heard that radomski said it was players. since i dont know enough about radomsky i dont take that seriously until i hear it confirmed somewhere else.
Has anyone found any pics of Tex from today?
Radomski knows.. find him quickly.
Vase, I think that’s what I heard also. It was reported on
EEI but yes, it was supposedly Radomski who said it. I cannot imagine that it would be a lawyer or a member of the court, only because if the California federal court chooses to make a case of this, someone will be forced to give up names. You would really have to hate Arod a lot to put your reputation and profession on the line by being the first line in a leak of court-protected information.
Just my opinion.
LOL I loved Tex’s comment about how the media ” you guys” will say he stinks after an 04 night………but that, you know what? He did! It’s funny, but clearly the guy is prepared to take responsibility for his peformance and not blame anyone else – another player or the media. Tex seemed relaxed and honest, showing a sense of humor to boot – he’s a very likeable person and he’s off to a good start with the media, I think.
Randy,
Roberts was just reporting facts you didn’t want to hear!
Nevermind the fact she created a cottage industry out of reporting on ARod’s personality and private life.
Trish……that post is so true.
it just always seemed to me that the leaks in the bonds case always worked in the prosecution’s favor so i always assumed they were probably coming out of the u.s. attorney’s office.
Jeremy,
Silly is not the right word – not even close to the right word. Fabricating a story about the reporter who outed you while you are on tv doing an interview and trying to apologize about peds use. That was one of the dumbest things he has ever said in his yankee career. He is lucky that not too many people seemed to follow up on his comments. Because it makes him look vengeful and stupid. I cant imagine how that kind of thing can just pop out of his mouth like that knowing the situation. Its unfathomable to me what he was thinking to say that at that moment when there was clearly no truth to it. Im be one of arods biggest supporters in here defending him time and time again but I will not even condone that kind of cluelessness.
the media will pick his evasive answers apart tomorrow, unlike gammons tossing softballs and not following up.
“I heard on WEEI that Roberts said the four people who leaked the information were players.”
That really doesn’t make much sense..if it is true. Players might know that he did them, but that doesn’t mean he failed a test. She needed to make sure that he failed that test not just that he was a steroid user. How would a player find out about the failed test unless someone heard it from the government and or someone from the Bonds case.
SJ44,
Doug Plank? The one who Buddy Ryan named the 46 defense after?
the shaq dance last night was awesome and i hate the nba.
CaptainsCorner February 16th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Has anyone found any pics of Tex from today?
===============================================
http://tinyurl.com/athqtt
Oops. Try this:
http://tinyurl.com/cuf7sg
Randy: I don’t know her beyond saying hello. I have no idea. But I guarantee you that 99 percent of the reporters in there tomorrow would rather not be.
Meanwhile, she has never said what profession her sources are in. She never said they were players, that was speculation.
i think this arod story sold a ton of papers and covered a huge amount of air time in between football and baseball. I think that most of the media likes great stories and this is a great story for them as it can be talked about and written about for weeks or even months on end. Especially when reporters completely blow things out of proportion, it makes the story and the articles and shows even better. How can you deny that reporters dont like that? Especially those that constantly bash the yankees and there are some out there.
Vase, except that Ellerman, the attorney who leaked the Balco stuff to the reporters, got 30 months in federal prison for his act of “bravery.” You know his law license is gone once he gets out. That’s a lot to put on the line just to get at a ballplayer. I’m thinking that players make much more sense. Ellerman was a defense attorney, by the way, not a member of the prosecution team.
Dave,
You’re right. He was stupid and thoughtless.
We have to make peace with the fact that our best player says stupid and thoughtless things.
Guys, it makes no sense to me that it would be a government attorney leaking the stuff because there is so much to lose if you get caught. Of course I have no idea who leaked it.
S.A.,
Thanks, I guess tomorrow is when he dons the uniform.
Cute pictures:
http://tinyurl.com/abwqp4
http://tinyurl.com/ajxdke
CC!
http://tinyurl.com/alrdqb
And by the way, nothing says that Roberts hasn’t had this information for two years and was just sitting on it until she was ready to publish her tell all book. I find it a little hard to believe that she just came across it. But that’s me.
He just needs to think before he speaks. Especially now and definitely, when he is on tv to apologize for lying about one thing and then, lies about another. great way to show us how credible he is. I dont even care if he is credible. I dont even care if he says the dumbest things in the world except that it will just create more negative attention for the team. So maybe arod should start biting his tongue a little more or maybe he can have rubenstein talkt to the media for him like george did. That would be something.
Heh, the only skepticism I had about Texeira was if the Yankees could afford him, after signing CC and AJ. I always thought he’d be a great addition to the team, it sounds like that perception was right.
Has this been confirmed? That Roberts said her 4 sources were players?
That’s weird. The story was that Alex flunked a drug test in’03. They even knew the type of steroid(s). So how would four players know this?
“99 percent of the reporters in there tomorrow would rather not be”
approx 200 reporters times 99% = Roberts and Verducci.
I’ll tell you what I find really interesting, and I would be interested to know whether anyone out there knows if there have been worse years, is the list of free agents still not signed.
I know it has to be a sign of the economy but it still kills me for those guys. What happens to them now? Do you think they will eventually be picked up? Do they sit out the year and then hope they get picked up next year?
Trisha:
Nothing except she would be fired by SI immediately and never get a job again. There is that.
m, no. Actually it was Kirk Radomski who reported that it was players who leaked the information. I was wrong when I said Roberts said that. I too wondered what players could have gotten their hands on that information.
Kurt Radomski was on WFAN last week and he said he knew who Roberts source was. He said it was 4 players and he knew who they were. Don’t know if that’s true or how he would know that.
I haven’t heard Roberts say her 4 sources were players. All I heard was Radomski mention that it was 4 players
Pete, that is if she told them she sat on information.
In terms of the media supporting its own, one of the biggest shams I ever saw was Mike Barnacle being let go by the Boston Globe (not a shoddy paper) for plagiarism and immediately being picked up by other papers. I mean if you’re a journalist, is there really a bigger sin you can commit than plagiarism???
Robert certainly wants to be there. Look at how far she has gone – she did abrout 100 interviews last week. I heard her on three seperate interviews within a couple of hours the other day.
My problem with selena Roberts is not that she reported his steroid use, but rather the d
Fact that it seemed prudent to her not only to write a cover story about non-baseball related arid stuff, but to also write a full length book. A sports reporter with real dignity shouldn’t put out garbage like that.
Dave,
I’m sure ARod thinks about what he says quite a bit. Look at all the companies he hired to work on his image. He has seen therapists (I don’t know if he still does). I’d be astonished if no one ever told him to put more thought into his words.
I’m sure that, before the Gammons interview, ARod’s handlers beat into his head what he should and shouldn’t say, and yet he still said things he shouldn’t.
It should be clear by now that’s just who he is. I can’t speculate why.
The big issue is not whether ARod can learn to be a more socially adept person, but whether his PED started in 2001 and stopped in 2003. His being a social moron at times pales in comparison.
Pete, not to sound like a moron…(feel free to insert your own joke here) but why would she be fired for sitting on information? Aren’t there papers who wouldn’t publish stuff if they knew it was court-protected? Or would all papers print the stuff regardless?
“Roberts was just reporting facts you didn’t want to hear!”
jeremy-
don’t tell me what i want to hear. you don’t know what i want to hear or don’t want to hear.
the fact is i burst out laughing when first heard the reports that arod tested positive for steroids.
i haven’t ever considered arod a real yankee, and i was pretty neutral to him as a person neither liking or disliking.
selena roberts is barely worth me even forming an opinion about. i have no interest in her at all. she’s come on the radar because she was likely handed information from a fed with an agenda who broke a serious law giving it to her.
as far as i’m concerned she’s a paparrazzi who was handed an illegal leak.
you do realize leaking that info would put a federal agent in jail for a few years, while arod being caught with steroids in his possession wouldn’t even get him jail time.
roberts has steadfastly refused to characterize her sources other than to say that they are credible and were in position to know the names on the list. that could be players, agents, union people or any of the lawyers, clerks and such involved in the case.
Just fixing my tagline
Yea i heard it was four players too – mcgwire, bonds, sosa and clemens. They really made quite the team outing a fraud like arod.
Peter, At least admit the fact that there are plenty reporters ( who i will not mention) that bash the yankees. The context in how they write their stories makes it blatantly obvious to a yankees fan. Hey! Why dont you schedule another live video chat and let us ask you a bunch of questions on various topics, including your thoughts and opinions of Arod and your collegues for whom you work with; and with the help of a body language expert, lets examine your expressions and facial gestures to determine if you are being honest and truthful in what your beliefs and convictions are. Thought that might make you laugh… dont band me…LOL
Roberts’s sources could not all have been players. The 2003 drug test was anonymous. No player could know who tested positive. Whoever knew that ARod tested positive had access to both the test and additional data that linked ARod’s results to him.
Kurt R. said he bets he can “guess” who the players were. Not that he knew who they were and he was the person who said he thought they were players. That is most likely not true. Only someone really high up would know the info. To know not only that he was on the list but to also know exactly what he took. Some nobody would not know that info..
Since we’re back on this subject, I’m going to repost my theory on the sources based on reading the print SI story:
The print story is all about Roberts’ gotcha moment – it doesn’t really add much to the online version. However, twice in the story she talks about 3 players who told her that Orza tipped off ARod in 04 to a test. This suggests to me that the same 3 players were her original sources on the 03 test. Radomski has also been claiming that players were the source.
Now, as SJ44 has talked about, that’s not enough to get it published. Which leads me to the theory that David Epstein got one of his sources (who had access to the list) to confirm it. He’s written a lot on steroids, and has no other obvious contribution to the story, yet he shares the byline.
It also defies credibility to suggest that 4 people with knowledge of the list independently decided to violate a court order and leak it to Roberts. If, however, SI had been told about the list, it’s perfectly possible that they convinced one person to verify what they already knew.
Now, how did 3 players know, either about the list or about the alleged tip-off, and why would they leak it? As KLaw said, it was leaked purely out of spite.
But why include the part about Orza? I know ballplayers aren’t the brightest bulbs on the tree, but it’s not hard to see that this does more damage to the union than ARod.
Plus, how did 3 players know this? ARod talked about a “meeting” with Orza in August or September of 04 where he learned he was on a list, and might or might not have tested positive. I assume that was a private meeting, because if it wasn’t, that’s malpractice on Orza’s part. If this is what those 3 players are referring too, then someone must have told them about it.
ARod was on the Yankees at that point, so I really hope none of the 3 players who sold him out were teammates. Considering how completely and maliciously he was sold out by other players (who in the process also damaged their own union) he’s been remarkably stand-up about this.
(And, obligatory PeteAbe disclaimer – yes, ARod was wrong in the first place for taking steroids).
So what do you guys think? Any holes in my theory? (and apologies for the dave-length post).
Randy,
I was being sarcastic, as illustrated by the following sentence knocking Roberts for being ARod’s garbage collector.
Roberts, as far as I’m concerned, is no journalist.
Randy,
I’m probably telling you something you already know, but the Mets signed Livan to a minor league deal.
My question to you is, who made the superior minor league signing: the Mets in Livan, or the Yankees in Brett Tomko?
Im sure arod thinks about what he says alot too – In fact, he is paying so much attention to what he should say that it distracts him from what he is saying. He should pay less attention to thinking about what he should say and start paying attention to the actual words that come out of his mouth while he is deep in thought. Im sure those are the ones that get him into trouble.
“I’m sure that, before the Gammons interview, ARod’s handlers beat into his head what he should and shouldn’t say, and yet he still said things he shouldn’t.”
Jeremy, I could be wrong about the timing, but I thought I read that Arod just signed a new image team. In any event, I actually cut anyone, short of the President of the US, slack for things they may say in the passion of a moment, especially a passion such as watching your entire career potentially go down the drain while the entire nation watches you have to admit that you are a cheat. If you think that situation is conducive to total composure, maybe you aren’t thinking hard enough. Also, I don’t think Arod said anything that didn’t have some basis in fact. Roberts agreed with everything Alex said about where he was and whether law enforcement was called. Alex said there were police reports, Roberts said that routine reports were written as part of police being called. If Arod was guilty of anything it was talking off the top of his head and characterizing things in a way that may have been an exaggeration of a situation. You want to get on him for that kind of stuff, do it when he is merely being questioned about going 0 for 4. Don’t do it when he is being nationally televised for cheating. Even you Jeremy, cool as you are, might also lose your head in that situation.
clare, ive suspected from the beginning that epstein had gotten the list and since roberts was about to write the arod tipping story, they glommed them together.
i dont nessesarily agree on the players theory though.
Trisha, think for a second, why would a reporter for SI not reveal that A-Rod used steroids for two years?
She would be fired immediately for that. We’re in the business of dispensing information, not hiding it.
I have no idea who her sources are. I know only that SI would have confirmed it nine ways to Sunday before publishing it. And obviously they were right.
It would not surprise me if it proved to be players. Alex is not a particularly popular guy. I can think of several teams (Toronto, Texas, Seattle, Boston) who dislike him for things he has done or said.
If you’re some player and you’re clean and you know this guy is making the most money in the game and is dirty, there’s your motive. It’s not hard to imagine it’s a player.
I suspect it was a mix of players and government types who were looking to justify their expensive investigation into all this.
Trisha – I can tell you the exact comment he should not have said – she broke into my house while my girls were sleeping upstairs. Maybe not exact but that was the jist and if he called up to apologize, there is NO WAY that had any basis in fact.
I think it could have been a player or two but not all four were players. Dont they need some sort of tangible evidence to write this? Could you really go on a few players words who dont like him to begin with? There has to be someone who had access to that list at some point obviously. I dont think it was a player accessing that list. It was some law/government official.
Trisha,
I just take it for granted that ARod won’t say “the right thing” when he’s outside of his comfort zone.
He’s not a Rain Man type who can’t put a sentence together. I always enjoy listening to his postgame interview when he’s had a great game. He will credit Kevin Long and his teammates and never accept a compliment.
Get him uncomfortable and sure, he can screw up like everyone else. It’s just frustrating because we want him to handle himself off the field as well as he plays.
I just don’t think it matters anymore. He’s a baseball player, not the President. We really shouldn’t have to care about what he says.
I’m ready to cut him all the slack in the world at this point, as long as he’s being honest about his PED use.
the nytimes was right behind si with the arod test story. i suspect that epstein didnt really have an article ready, just the test info, but roberts was at a point with the ozra story that could be put together as a feature length story for the magazine, so they threw them together.
it really should have been 2 separate stories, both deserved feature length treatment but the list story was about to break in the times so they had to do something.
Pete, if you want to answer this question, feel free. If you don’t, I can understand that too. If you had information leaked to you that was under the protection of the court, and you were able to verify the information as credible, would you report it knowing that you could end up in jail for contempt of court?
I’d think that only ARod’s teammates Seattle would have any knowledge of ARod’s PED use. And only Texas players would know about his PED use from 2001-2003.
How could a player who wasn’t ARod’s teammate from 2001-2003 be a credibile source for a story that ARod tested positive for PEDs in 2003?
she specifically said that the sources were in a position to know, it doesnt sound like players.
Another weird thing about Roberts was when it came out that Arod apologized to her, her reponse was that she wouldn’t talk about it until AFTER the press conference tomorrow. I thought she already had her 15 minutes, more like 45 but now she is going to talk about that convo?! Or is she going to ask him a question tomorrow and if she doesn’t like the answer then she will talk about him more in interviews?!! It will just get worse when her stalker book comes out. Enough already…
“Only ARod’s teammates would have” that is.
Jeremy,
I actually think the bigger issue is what he says. Either way you slice it, arod did not get caught for using after 2003. He may have done it but there is very likely to be anything saying he did. They changed the rules in 2004. If he got caught, people would already know about it. Especially, people like cashman and he would not be going on tv and saying those dates if that were the case, Frankly, the part that he did PEDs is already out – it will never change after that first day it was published. But he could start to be a little bit smarter in what he says to make himself look better. He could start making people outside of die hard yankee fans start liking him more. That WILL help him. So to me, the issue for hi is not the peds but the way he presents himself from here on out.
Seemed like A-Rod went into diva-mode while fuming about Selena Roberts during his ESPN interview, and got himself carried away saying she was breaking in to his house. That warrants an apology simply because he could have shown restraint and just said that she showed up at two of his houses and his gym, not that she tried to break in to any of them or was arrested or anything to the extreme. Just saying she showed up frequently would have accomplished his goal of painting her as a creepy stalkerazzi-type reporter (which she has not disproved in the course of her public statements). But instead he had to become Mr. Tragic Figure/Victim, which was stupid. But in no way does this not make Selena Roberts paparazzi with a reputable sports publication on her press credential.
Maybe a clerk, if you want to call that a court official. I just can’t see any court official taking that kind of chance. It makes no sense to me. You put your profession on the line when you are the link to the leak.
trisha
the act of contempt is in not answering the question in court, not in publishing the material. so your question is nonsensical.
other lawyers, please correct your brethren!
The story was that he flunked a test, not that he used from 2001-2003.
Knowledge of the test could only come from the union, MLB, or the Feds.
CaptainsCorner, ugh, I suddenly see this getting even weirder. Roberts won’t talk about it until after the press conference. But doesn’t it make for another good topic of discussion.
“Alex, it has been reported that you called Selena Roberts and apologized to he. Can you tell us exactly what you were apologizing about?”
“Alex, does that mean you were lying when you said that Selena Roberts had been stalking you”
etc. etc. etc.
Jesu this promises to be very ugly. And Roberts probably doesn’t want to address it until after the press conference because she wants to see exactly what Alex says about it before she further rides herd on him.
“Randy: I don’t know her beyond saying hello. I have no idea. But I guarantee you that 99 percent of the reporters in there tomorrow would rather not be”
i totally believe that. baseball is a great sport. what a great way to make a living. i just wonder what the other 1% ‘s motivation is .
i believe testing should be really thorough and fair. i believe that baseball should move forward and not look back. having crusaders like novitsky who don’t even seem to like baseball trying to bring baseball to it’s knees by looking backward seems to be a pointless endeavor because it opens up endless problems.
for example, he is retesting all of the urine samples of all 2003 players with more sophisticated testing. this is not 104 players; it will likely be 200-300 if novitzky has his way he is driven to bring baseball to it’s knees.
reporters who play along with him simply do not get my respect.
I know I will get slammed because of “sox fan”
However, one important point that does not get mentioned here is that AROD championed the cause that he was clean re:60 minutes interview and other public statements. (which I might add was not in the heat of the moment)
He lied when he didn’t have to. I bleieve this is why it is so polarizing. He did not have to accept a 60 minutes interview with “the media”… His choice.
The percentage of users on all teams will be about even in my opinion. This is not a Yanks/Sox thing. Hopefully people that have seen my posts over a year+ do not take it that way. -dennis
There was no way any player was the main source for the article – no player saw that list of positively tested players. It had to have been someone with access to that list at one time or another – since it has only been the government since the MLBPA had it siezed, I am going to go with one of those guys, Could SI really publish a story like this based on the collaboration of four players who dont like him? Even if they all saw him do it, who is to say they didnt just get together a week prior and decide they would make this thing up. SI needed hard proof so I dont find it likely that all four were players. And if so, why do we all of a sudden know of the list of 103 other players? It has to be some government official or court official.
“trisha
the act of contempt is in not answering the question in court, not in publishing the material. so your question is nonsensical.”
Nobody said otherwise. You are TRULY dumb. What are you five years old, where you have to have every sentence explained to you? Grow up!
Andrew,
Only to us it does. The media respect her and think shes a great reporter.
this 5 year old has no problem exposing your legal ignorance. what law school did you graduate from?
Pete
If it was just players, it would be a case of their word against his.
How would SI verify that? Would they go on another players word? How would players get their hands on anonymous test results? None of that seems plausible.
Dennis
Go away. This is a family matter! j/k
“The media respect her and think shes a great reporter”
Ooo, I don’t know that you can say that about all the media. In fact I have heard a few reporters who showed sympathy for ARod based on some of Roberts’ tactics.
It’s always dangerous to paint with a broad brush.
Trisha,
The only way any one would be in contempt is if they refused to name their sources when asked to do so by a judge.
trisha-
a lot of people who have power abuse the rules. the logic that there is too much to risk to leak info doesn’t make sense to me. we have members of congress and government indicted all the time it seems for illegal activity . didn’t they have too much to risk by breaking the law?
even grabbing the samples as the feds did in the first place may have been an illegal act and that’s why it’s in the california courts as we speak.
thank you!
“However, one important point that does not get mentioned here is that AROD championed the cause that he was clean re:60 minutes interview and other public statements. (which I might add was not in the heat of the moment)”
Den, no offense, but that is old news. Do you know how long we’ve been talking about this here? We did the 60 Minutes schpeel early on. Not everyone was protecting Arod for lying about it either.
Tarheel.
My alma mater took care of your arch enemy last night so it was a good week for both of us..
Besides, this family is as dysfuncional as my own. Makes feel like I am at Thanksgiving dinner and the politics discussion breaks out after the wine has hit everyones system…
-dennis
Well, the major sports media in NY seemed to agree. David Cone came on the michael kay show and talked about how great she was for a good five minutes. If anyone, you would think those two would be more bias towards a yankee. iT was a very prevalent notion around anyway with maybe a a dissenter here and there who felt bad for arod and it was still more about arod and less about roberts.
“The only way any one would be in contempt is if they refused to name their sources when asked to do so by a judge.”
And? HELLO!!!!! Earth to dave. You were probably studying for exams when we talked about the Balco Reporters and what almost happened to them? For refusing to give up their sources? Were you also studying when we talked about the 30 month sentence the defense attorney received for leaking the information?
Yes, this is about contempt of court for refusing to name sources. So what else is your point?
so what law school graduated you again, trish?
“the logic that there is too much to risk to leak info doesn’t make sense to me.”
It doesn’t have to. It’s enough in the legal profession to see what happened to Troy Ellerson for leaking steroid information to be extremely cautious. Maybe it’s levels of hubris we’re talking about here, but government lawyers aren’t necessary at the top of the food chain. I would however put Congress right there.
But thank you for calming down the five-year-old who has been wetting his pants all day because he feels the need to spell out every line of the law when the rest of us have already been able to fill in the blanks without having to preface every comment with the obvious. Hopefully now he’ll have his cookies and milk and go to bed.
“so what law school graduated you again, trish?”
I don’t provide information about my life to nonentities. You are at the top of that list child.
trisha when you and another one on here stop slandering roberts, i will go away.
Dennis
Speaking of disfunctional, your Alma Mater is quite schizophrenic. Beating Dook and UNC but losing to Harvard?
It’s a very crazy time. A lot Sox and Yankees fans on the same side of the fence. Who would have thought Arod would have brought us together.
Tarheel.
No doubt. I could see us losing to Valpo in the first round or going to the elite 8…
-dennis
“it was still more about arod and less about roberts”
As it should have been until Roberts resorted to guerilla tactics in hunting Arod down like a fugitive.
By the way, the greatest irony is that in her fervid attempt to make an example of him, (it’s no secret she’s working on a book trashing him) she ended up garnering sympathy for him. A lot of the media feels he shouldn’t have been singled out. Again, your exams keep you from being totally current.
In any event, some people respect that she leaked information that was protected by the court. I can tell you that are many who don’t.
dave, if the final analysis, I truly don’t care. How’s that? I hope Roberts gets hauled into court and ends up having to spill her sources or ends up in jail for contempt. And then I hope we don’t hear any more about this. I don’t care about the other names on the list. I was brought up to respect the law. I do.
As I pointed out from the get go, if Tom Brokaw broke this story, it likely wouldn’t have been as much a story. Selena Roberts brought an axe with her. Most people don’t trust axe murderers.
Disclaimer – yes, ARod was wrong to take steroids.
“The percentage of users on all teams will be about even in my opinion. This is not a Yanks/Sox thing.”
dennis-
the problem is that a red sox director investigated the game. it is likely mitchell was told who was on that list from the feds. they couldn’t go public with it in the mitchell report, but it was obviously good info for an investigator to have and maybe the red sox when signing free agents or trading for players.
i think the fix is in and we will not see many red sox players outed. the only ones will be ones they have gotten rid of or want to get rid of. at some point it will look too obvious to have no red sox players outed so some token ones will have to be outed.
Trisha,
M and I were responding to the same comment and ypu snapped back at both of us
You asked pete: “if you had information leaked to you that was under the protection of the court, and you were able to verify the information as credible, would you report it knowing that you could end up in jail for contempt of court?”
M and I basically responded by saying that question does not have much relevance because pete would not be putting himself in contempt of court unless he later refused to disclose his sources when asked. Otherwise, i dont believe pete is really do much wrong as someone else is leaking the info and breaking the law. The judge would want to know who and then, pete would be held in contempt if he wanted to protect his sources but whos to say he would? So the question doesnt make much sense to us.
ANyway, I dont think i was around when you guys were talking about that. I do agree with you when you were question the motives of the person who leaked the info. Randy mentioned leaks all the time in government but often, they are getting rich off of it or something out of it. What the heck were roberts sources getting out of it? I doubt it was the satisfaction of seeing arod suffer. That often isnt worth so ones career and life.
m
Mlb did not have the list.
dave,
Are you referring to me? You may be thinking about someone esle.
Rosa,
Thanks for that.
Trisha,
We are in agreement for the most part. I do agree with most everything you are saying. I just have no seen many reporters/writers criticizing selena or supporting arod in any of this unless it is yankees fans who have blogs. Even media that are yankees fans dont seem to think selena did anything wrong in her “process” and have said how much they respect her work. I certainly dont agree but I have failed to come across many people with a pen who agree with me. Maybe you are right and i have just been out of the loop this week but last week, it seemed that roberts garnered no criticism amongst the mainstream media for her methods. Maybe it changed at this point- I dont know.
I want the list to come out merely because I am selfish and dont want the blame to be placed solely on arod. So yes, I would rather have the lives of many other players destroyed to take the heat off arod. i also dont want to see these equally deceiving players make a hall of fame vote when so many others may be kept from it. We can only have it one way or the other – PUT THE PAST BEHIND US OR REVEAL THEM ALL. Doing this – one at a time, only the bigger stars BS is just annoying as anything. That is the worst, most bias way to do it. And having the names leak out over the next twenty years and prolonging this agony is the last thing baseball needs. So we should just have the list out now and be done with it five years from now. No point dragging this thing out for another 20 years as there will be fans left by that point if all we hear about is PEDs for the next two decades.
I’m watching mlb hot stove and the panel all agree that the because of alex, the yankees wont be able to concentrate on winning games this year. I guess i shoudnt attend a single game this year huh?? I hope the yankees win this year so that they can stick it to the media haters.
dave, stay with me for a minute on this and then I am leaving it because I really have to do some other things tonight.
Are you ready? It’s law 101 that the reason a reporter is hauled in is because they are the link required to divulge the source. Okay? So let’s just get past that. I don’t want any more posters losing sleep over that fact. Well it actually seems only two have. The rest understand the process and don’t need it spelled out every time.
The question I put to Pete was whether he would want to put himself in potential jeopardy by leaking information that was court protected. Do you get it now? I mean is it so hard a concept to understand that reporters who publish court protected information can end up in jail? Really? Is it? And can you see why a reporter might think twice since the only two options, if the repoter is hauled into court, is to give up the names or go to jail? Reporters who give up sources don’t end up getting any more.
Can you understand the concept now that I was attempting to get at? It really isn’t rocket science. Not every reporter would jeopardize her or his life by leaking information that could end her or him up in jail if they refuse to dilvulge the source. Truly.
And here’s another one for y
yea m sorry,
It was cc no evil – you were the next post so I must have glanced at it and thought you wrote it for some reason. Sorry.
I get it. I understood that the whole time. The way you phrased the question it sounded like you were assuming that pete would be so hard pressed to protect his sources that he would go to jail for it. I just dont think that is such an easy thing to assume. I mean – no more sources or go to jail. It seems like a pretty straight forward decision to me but i am not a reporter.
dave, I will tell you another reason I asked Pete that question. ABC News got in trouble a while back for something it broadcasted. NBC reported that it had the same information but chose not to run with it.
I don’t believe that every reporter will put her or his life on the line for a story. I truly don’t. Not everyone who has information having to do with a court-protected source is willing to risk running with it.
I hope you can understand that I as a lawyer take seriously court-orderd information.
I don’t mean to hop all over you on this. I truly do not like it when reporters put themselves in positions where they end up thinking they are bigger than the law. Because they are not. There’s enough out there to report without having to dig into things that are privileged.
“I just have no seen many reporters/writers criticizing selena or supporting arod in any of this unless it is yankees fans who have blogs. Even media that are yankees fans dont seem to think selena did anything wrong in her “process” and have said how much they respect her work. I certainly dont agree but I have failed to come across many people with a pen who agree with me.”
With this type of story there’s no way the media would be attacking one of their own, for three reasons:
1) A-Rod first went on the offensive against Roberts in his ESPN interview with some intense (and untrue) claims.
2) A-Rod is in no way a media darling
3) Roberts didn’t do anything for this particular story that would qualify as a blatant journalism no-no. As it pertains to this story, no questions have to be raised about her “method” or her bias because she got it right (not so much the case with all her Duke lacrosse hand-wringing).
The press doesn’t have to raise questions about her career-long trend of taking shots at A-Rod or the undisputed fact that she has tried and failed a few times to get unannounced face-time with him for her unauthorized bio, just because A-Rod spoke up and came after her.
Maybe if A-Rod had said nothing about her to Peter Gammons, more media members looking for a fresh angle on this cooled-off controversy would be asking questions about Roberts’ motives. But, then again, it still would be unlikely considering it would require the press turning on one of their own — which seems as likely as a player openly ripping a member of their own team over an in-house spat during the season.
Trisha,
It seems we are on the same page with everything except we keep misunderstanding what the other person meant. I do agree with you about most everythig when you clarified yoursrlf however.
i really like this tex interview….hes a good one for sure
Lagavulin.
Peter, you are doing an awesome job down there. I really appreciate your updates and enjoy reading each one.
Also, the pictures are great-don’t knock them.