Clemens to appear on ESPN Radio
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on May 11, 2009 
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Good get for ESPN Radio and the Mike & Mike Show.
Roger Clemens will appear on their show at 8:25 a.m. tomorrow. It’s on ESPN Radio 1050 in New York and simulcast on ESPN2.
Not coincidentally, The Daily News is about to publish a book about Clemens. American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America’s Pastime comes out tomorrow.
The book is by the award-winning investigative unit of the News.
Presumably, there are no pre-conditions to the interview on ESPN. If so, here is what needs to be asked:
• Do you still deny having used PEDs?
• If so, can you prove that what Andy Pettitte and Brian McNamee have said is wrong?
• Now that Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez have been caught used PEDs, how do you view the era during which you played?
• Was the incident when you threw the bat at Mike Piazza fueled by “roid rage?”
• Is there any chance you can still pitch? Because the Yankees need bullpen help.
There is no way Mike and Mike would be granted this interview unless they were provisions beforehand. I’m sure they may ask a controversial question or two though, so it should be fun.
>If so, can you prove that what Andy Pettitte and Brian McNamee have said is wrong?
Can any of them provide solid evidence?
Interested to hear Rocket’s response to that last question.
Has anyone checked out Bill Simmon’s column on Page 2 about the 2004 Red Sox team being made up PED users? He makes some intersting points in regards to the influx of HRs hit by half that team, most notably Ortiz and Millar.
They also need to ask:
Is the Ben Gay on the privates story true?
I defend ESPN all the time but its sickening to me that when I click on “MLB” there is absolutely no mention whatsoever of the Lou Merloni story. If it had been Shane Spencer this would the lead story off the homepage
Rumor Central:
(from the rotoworld.com message boards)
“Okay, here’s the deal. I work at CBS Sports and across the street is the MLB Network. I overheard one of our execs talking to a PR guy here. He said, “rumor is another big star is going to be suspended 50 games.” Now, like I said, you can’t get more rumory (yeah, I’m making this word up) than this. I heard no name or anything, but you know how the world works, the high ups have the info and they talk to each other. This is all I have on the matter.”
obviously just a hearsay rumor but who knows…
I agree – NO SHOT – mike and mike have carte blanche.
his handlers have definitely put in restrictions of some sort.
but i hope not – i’d like those quesions answered
Paulie
May 11th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
Interested to hear Rocket’s response to that last question.
Has anyone checked out Bill Simmon’s column on Page 2 about the 2004 Red Sox team being made up PED users? He makes some intersting points in regards to the influx of HRs hit by half that team, most notably Ortiz and Millar.
I have and I printed a copy of that and the Story about what Lou Merloni said.
I’m going to have them in my pocket when I go to Cape Cod this summer.
I won’t put up with any Aroid garbage up there.
Its a baseball problem not a Yankee problem.
Remember when Hank said that he isin’t wasting a pitcher with a 100 MPH fastball in the bullpen?
Maybe the redsox have had more success with their younger players from the farm but we have seen cano come out of the farm system to almost win a batting title and wang came out of the farm and turned into a 2 time 19 game winner. Coke has come out of the farm to be our ONLY reliable reliever so far this season. Joba has come out of the farm to be the best setup man in baseball followed by a potential ace of the staff at some point. Hughes who has yet to really show his talent was the prospect we had that was ranked second best pitcher in all of the minor leagues. Melky has been a capable center fielder for an entire year for us in the past and is now on the verge of doing it again. AJax is hitting 360 in triple A in his early 20s. Montero is 19 and soon to be one of the best prospects in baseball. Melancon has shown nothing but dominance at all levels and will soon be our bridge to Mo this season.
Im sorry but i still fail to see how our farm is completely failing us over the last 2 years. We dont yet have an mvp/ cy young player but many of the above could be one at some point. There was every reason to complain about the farm system in between 96 and 2004 but i think the ascent of wang and cano followed by Joba and Hughes marked an end to an era of the abysmal farm system that the yanks had for so many years. It was cano, then, wang, then, joba, next is hughes and melancon and soon after that will be ajax. A year or so later, montero. That doesnt sound like too bad of a procession.
Seriously
Why Aren’t WE discussing what Merloni said?
I think its a BIG DEAL.
I have no reason to doubt Merloni.
Uncle Ellsworth,
Because it’s not the Yankees. For one reason or another the Boston press doesn’t go hard after these stories.
haha
Hell, I’d take Rogah in the eighth right now. If nothing else, it might shut those “Joba to the pen!” people for a little while.
It appears that Javier Lopez has been DFA’d by Boston and Daniel bard is being added.
Another big star going to be suspended? Curious to 1. wonder who it is and 2. is the rumor even true.
Merloni speaks the truth!
The Yankees are the most fragile team in sports.
Oh, and that’s not to say I don’t think it’s a big deal: it is.
The story, if true, would blow the lid off of the steroid era.
Tom in N.J.
May 11th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
Uncle Ellsworth,
Because it’s not the Yankees. For one reason or another the Boston press doesn’t go hard after these stories
Tom the story is on Boston.com
and Merloni is a much loved player up there.
As much as it sounds like “anti Yankee conspiracy” talk I must say if this was the Yankees?
FOR GET ABOUT IT!
Do you think Pete will post it???
whatever. just put him in the Hall of Fame along with Bonds, practically the whole league was juicing, no sense penalizing the guys who got caught. and enough of this baseball purist crap – NFL HOF is filled with juicers
Frankly, I don’t care about the Merloni story because I’d rather not talk about steroids anymore.
The sooner we get past all this garbage, the sooner we can concentrate on baseball going forward.
If that Merloni story has merit, some reporter out there looking to make a name for himself (or herself) will investigate it.
BTW, it makes me smile to know that the Selena Roberts book has completely bombed and her intentions to air more of A-Rod’s dirty laundry has turned him into a bit of a sympathetic figure.
Call it poetic justice as far as I’m concerned.
Very interested in seeing what Bard does for the Sox
He could be their Joba out of the pen
Uncle Ellsworth – I just e-mailed it to a cousin of mine who is a die-hard Sawx fan.
His response – A lot of the die-hard fans are beginning to have a sour taste in their mouth about the championship teams and their beloved players from the 04 squad.
I say, the roid era revelations has only touched the surface. And I’m beginning to believe that the truth about the Red Sox and steriods within that organization will come about and big the biggest news of this decade. At least that’s what my gut tells me.
Ellsworth,
The reason I’m not worked up about it, is that I just want the issue to go away. I’m from the school that believes numerous players from all teams took PEDs since the late 80s.
I was bored this weekend, so I fired up the 1998 WS game 4 from Yankees Classics on the DVR, and the first batter of the game – Chuck Knoblauch – looked leaner, and much more muscular than I ever remembered. That could either mean he was on the ‘roids, or I’m so suspicious that I just assume every guy who’s in good shape was using. It really puts a damper on everything. I wish MLB would adapt the NFL’s policy of suspending the guy, and sweeping it under the rug. Unfortunately, I just don’t think that’s possible anymore.
All I know is that Jose Canseco said on MLB Homeplate the other day is that he thinks there are so many guys who have tested positive that they are staggering the suspensions…Has he been wrong about anything so far?
All I know is that Jose Canseco said on MLB Homeplate the other day is that he thinks there are so many guys who have tested positive that they are staggering the suspensions…Has he been wrong about anything so far?
———–
Canseco needs to worry about surviving with his life intact against a 7-2, 330 LBS Korean monster later this month in his MMA debut.
If he can’t beat Danny Bonaduce how the hell is he going to fare against someone who could squash him at the drop of a hat.
I’m sick of it too.
really is a mess.
“Last night, you mentioned the name Carl Taylor. Is that the same Carl Taylor that played as a catcher/outfielder with Pittsburgh and KC in the early 70s?”
gb7-
see:
http://yankees.lhblogs.com/200.....ent-783650
I wouldn’t be surprised if every player from the mid 90s until now has tested positive at some point
At this point, It’s about who was lucky enough not to get caught
Uncle Ellsworth,
Pete should write a post about it. I was watching Countdown during the Arod mess and Richard Justice was on. He said something to Olbermann which I found shocking. He said (paraphrase) “Keith you and I both know there were GM’s in the league who looked down on guys who didn’t use.”
I remember thinking, who were these GMs? and why didn’t you report this at the time!.
Nice. A bunch of annoying attack-journalist questions and a major jerk question.
Roid rage ? Really ? You don’t actually think thats funny, do you ? Good Lord.
Tom
I remenber that too and no one followed up on that either.
I hate to say this, but I bet Jose is right. I swear if it’s Jetes or Posada, I’m giving up on baseball forever.
Its sad but I just wish Clemens would go away. By now we all know how big roids were in the game back in the 90′s. Also another star is about to be suspended? Its either Papi or maybe someone unforeseen, like Pujols
Clemens has < 0 cred.
Here is Richard Justice talking about ARod and steroids on Keith Olbermann:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29257163/
“Not only that, Keith, you and I know general managers that sort of looked down on a player if he didn‘t try it. Hey, this guy is not trying as hard as he should have.
So you are right. It was the wild wild west in that. Now that they
are getting caught, it is very hard to come forward and say oh, you know, I
I should have known. They did know. I mean, when you use steroids, you are crossing the line. You‘re breaking the law. But there was such a culture around them that they all thought it was OK. “
Additional Question for Rajah:
Since it is widely known that you used steroids while with the Yankees, do you consider those Championships won there as being tainted? Like everyone else does?
That think about another suspension
Is a RUMOR right now.
more from the Richard Justice interview:
“because you heard old-timers—you and I have heard hall of famers say, hey, you give me a silver bullet that allows me to win 100 more games or something else, I would try it. There were a lot of guys tainted.
You and I both heard young guys say hey, if the guy next to me gains 17 pounds of muscle over the winter, what am I supposed to do? “
Honestly, are people still buying books about steroids in baseball? I have no idea how anyone could buy one now, given all that we know already.
For those that have MILB subscriptions, Andrew Brackman’s game for charleston will be shown tonight at 7:00 PM. The scranton game is also being shown.
So much for testing huh? There are still plenty of players using PEDs. Until you get a real hard 1st penalty, like first time you test positive you’re out of the league. Something crazy like that, it won’t stop IMO.
“Since it is widely known that you used steroids while with the Yankees”
———–
‘known’ and ‘presumed’ are different, at least outside of the dense jungle that you call a brain.
I have been avoiding sports talk radio today has anyone said anything about the Merloni story?
“There are still plenty of players using PEDs. Until you get a real hard 1st penalty, like first time you test positive you’re out of the league.”
——-
or adopt a stronger testing policy. The Olympics has tried to stay ahead of the game in that department.
There really are zero valid excuses for not following suit when the next CBA comes up for discussion.
That Justice quote makes me mad. I guess it’s because it makes it seem as if the media where complicit in the ruse. It makes more sense now then it did back in February because of Merloni’s tale.
The latest I heard is that list of 104 is actually closer to 160 and that there are some very big names there. Some names that won’t appear on the list are those that have already retired but from what I was told is that you’d be amazed by who has used it. Those that we’ve suspected as “clean” are not.
“I have and I printed a copy of that and the Story about what Lou Merloni said.”
Uncle Ells:
Heard an interview this afternoon on WEEI in Boston with Dan Duquette, the GM for Boston at during Merloni’s time there. Merloni, who apparently works for the station, was part of the interview team and was guilty of a little backtracking. “People are saying I said this, when I meant this” type stuff. Duquette vehemently denying some of Merloni’s claims, etc. Merloni stands by a doctor coming to discuss the dangers of steroids. Duquette backs that, but Merloni was changing his story a little and Duquette 100% refutes the notion that the guy was brought in to teach the prpoer use of them. Who knows what to believe?
Not sure it really matters anymore. That was the era. If I thought the Yankees were any less guilty than the Red Sox, or every other team, I’d probably look to be making a bigger stink about this, but what’s the point? It was an era of PED’s. Not just for the Yankees and Red Sox, but for baseball and everything done in that era, be it records, titles, whatever, is going to be viewed in that context. Personally, I can live with it, because I honestly believe that in general teams were on a level playing field so far as PED’s go. I’m perfectly happy knowing the PED’d up Yankees were,for a significant stretch of time, superior to the rest of PED’d up Baseball.
“or adopt a stronger testing policy. The Olympics has tried to stay ahead of the game in that department”
Certainly this getting caught the first time and being suspended for 50 games isn’t working…
Steve B
http://fullcount.weei.com/
coincidence: I just found this before i saw your post.
Transcript of the Duquette interview
Does Wang pitch wednesday???
MLB and Selig would have to admit guilt and Selig would have to step down. So far the stories that have been “leaked” have for this to end been individual players who pal’d around with shady trainers and how the MLPA protects them. The powers that be knew about it too.
Oops that last post reads as if on LSD. Sorry.
“Those that we’ve suspected as “clean” are not.”
I swear if Jeter/Mo are on the list……Someone give me gun…..
Forget I’ll go look for Plaxico Burress…
randy l.
May 11th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
“Last night, you mentioned the name Carl Taylor. Is that the same Carl Taylor that played as a catcher/outfielder with Pittsburgh and KC in the early 70s?”
gb7-
see:
http://yankees.lhblogs.com/200.....ent-783650
————————————————————
Thanks, Randy. I read that last night with great interest. I wonder why he isn’t back with the Yanks. He could be a big help with the influx of good young catchers in the system. There’s now enough and most are about the same age, that cleaning up their defense would be just the thing to rocket through the system. It’s defense that will hold them up. I like Tony Pena coaching in NY, but, damned, what an instructor he would be for the youngest of the kids.
Merloni’s words give new meaning to the “Cowboy Up” slogan of that Red Sox team.
How can the Yankees’ championships be tainted when the whole league was using them? It’s not like the players on the Yankees were the ONLY ones using them. Heck, they beat a Red Sox team in ’99 that had Mo Vaughn and Nomar on it and a Texas team with Juan Gonzalez, Rafael Palmeiro and I-Rod on it. I wouldn’t be surprised if it came out that 85% of the league was on PEDs in the 90′s.
Who Cares!!!
Can one actually “appear” on the radio?
I understand why ESPN would want to do this interview but what is Clemens trying to accomplish?
With an impending lawsuit, Clemens has nothing to gain by putting statements on any record no matter how informal a setting it is.
Possible Steroid Annoucements:
25% – Pujols
25% – Ortiz
5% – Soriano
5% – Berkman
5% – Varitek
5% – K. Youkilis
5% – C. Delgado
5% – M. Ordonez
5% – V. Guerrero
1% – V. Martinez
1% – F. Rod
1% – I. Rod
1% – C. Schilling
1% – B. Myers
1% – J. Dye
1% – J. Thome
1% – P. Konerko
1% – G. Sheffield
1% – H. Blalock
1% – M. Lowell
1% – D. Lee
1% – T. Helton
1% – C. Lee
1% – JJ Hardy
1% – T. Hafner
ooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh……I would love it to be Schilling. Honestly, people that the Yanks championships are tainted are just jealous fools. There was a Macnamee in every single locker room during that era. No team was spared the wrath of liquid strength.
The first three questions are good, but the 4th question is one of those really useless questions that interviewers shouldn’t be asking. The guys who think they’re “tough interviewers” ask questions like that, except those questions NEVER get answered and all they do is get the interviewee pissed off and less likely to answer the other questions. Asking if he can prove McNamee is lying or if he still denies it aren’t really confrontational…they’re “tough questions” but it’s not making a judgement. Asking if the bat throwing was roid rage is one of those trap questions that pisses people off, and it always bothers me when “tough interviewers” ask questions like that. Don’t bother, you won’t get an answer and you will ruin your chance at actually getting a good interview. Use common sense and try to be more subtle about it.
Out of curiosity, why would you put Pujols at 25%? Just because he’s good? Ortiz I get, not because I’m a Yankees fan but because he wasn’t that great, then was an amazing hitter, and now has gotten a lot worse (not that I’m saying he did it, just that I understand the high percentage) but Pujols has always been that good and continues to be that good.
Don Zimmer tested positive for HGH…..So obvious.
What if Clemens goes on ESPN radio and nobody tunes in?
If Pujols never used that really sucks for him because he will always be suspect now because of his gawdy numbers. I really think they have to wipe the records of anyone proven to use off the record books that’s the only way to give the players who never used their somewhat rightful place in baseball history. There was always something odd about the home run kings of the steroid era that seemed really off – like the ball was going much further than their swing or connection warranted.
I’m assuming the last two questions are jokes right?
Roger has his story,and he’s sticking to it..He has no relevancy in the game today,other than,he’s on the “suspected list”…Who really cares..
Just listened to the podcast of the interview. I don’t know why Roger keeps maintaining that he is innocent. In Canseco’s book, He came out and asked Jose what the stuff was and how to use it. It’s becoming apparent to me that he’s maintain innocence until he has a shot at the Hall Of Fame.