AP Photo (Sanchez)
Rick Ankiel is retiring after finishing one of the most unusual careers in baseball history.
What does our reaction to Rick Ankiel tell us about our real thoughts about performance enhancing drugs? A lot.
That is the main topic for today’s episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
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Look, most of what I know about being a lawyer I know from watching Jack McCoy in Law and Order.
But I do know one thing… if something has been declared inadmissible as evidence, you don’t bring it up at trial.
The judge in the Clemens case said a First Year Law Student would know that.
Screw that. I’m a Film School graduate and I know that!
Between the Casey Anthony trial and the Roger Clemens trial WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH PROSECUTORS?
Seriously, you think you are going to go after a high profile client in a public case, you’d make sure you’d cross all your T’s and dot all your I’s before you go in there.
This was over so fast that the sketch artist could barely finish one picture.
What does this mean?
It can’t be double jeopardy, can it?
We didn’t even get to hear how Clemens was going to blame everyone but himself for the use of steroids and HGH… including blaming his wife!
Nice job prosecutors. You think a slick guy like Rusty Hardin was going to be taking a nap when you played that tape?
Now, I have no idea how this trial will resume or if there will be a new one.
But we all know what happened…. and like when I talked about Barry Bonds at a barbecue, the burden of proof is obviously very low here.
Roger Clemens wanted to prove to the world (and by “the world” I mean “Dan Duquette”) that he wasn’t done when his Red Sox career ended.
And while he had one year that he basically willed himself to greatness, reality and physics trumped willpower and 35 year old pitchers tend to slip.
Enter old teammate Jose Canseco and trainer Brian McNamee and suddenly willpower could be injected.
Seriously, why would McNamee be telling the truth about Pettitte and Knoblauch (both who confirmed it) but not Clemens who was the big Alpha Dog?
Sure McNamee saved the needles. He was a former cop and he knew something like this could help him if he were in trouble.
Sure he lied early on. These trainer/’roids distributors are hangers on who look to be taken care of by their rich clients for their loyalty.
Don’t believe me? How long does Greg Anderson have to sit in jail before you realize how much loyalty means to these guys.
McNamee even took the bullet in that sketchy “was it a sexual assault? Was it not?” night in Florida in 2001 that is being brought up. Why? To protect the Yankees player or coach who had relations with the woman earlier that night.
It’s all consistent.
And he lied right up until the point where he realized he might go to jail for lying.
Anderson did. McNamee didn’t.
And that’s why the Bonds thing ended and the Clemens case is going on. (That and the fact that Bonds knew when to keep his mouth shut and Clemens is too bull headed to do so.)
Clemens side doesn’t make any sense.
A trainer gave him B12 shots… and that caused an abscess that B12 doesn’t cause but steroids do?
He works out and trains with a guy who is on his payroll who gave Pettitte, Knoblauch AND Clemens’ wife juice but NOT Clemens?
Clemens body just HAPPENS to balloon up and he just HAPPENS to increase velocity in his late 30s around the time that he is in Toronto with a steroid distributing trainer who he swears by and Jose Canseco who has injected everything except Windex into his ass?
None of it makes sense.
All I know is everything I read in the book American Icon makes 100% sense to me.
Then again, the burden of proof at Barnes and Nobles is pretty low as well.
I can’t prove it in a court of law.
That’s not my job.
Maybe it should have been.
Yeah Mark, how silly of us to be suspicious. It’s not like Albert has access to anyone who used Lord Knows What to get ahead.
Oh wait…
Pujols was hurt with a broken bone. And he came back faster than anyone could imagine. Faster than even the most optimistic prediction.
Under the supervision of Mark McGwire… and we’re supposed to say “Wow, it must be a fluke”?
Remember when McGwire gave his “Oh yeah, it turns out I DID take steroids” interview?
He kept insisting it didn’t help him hit homers. (Of course not.)
It was for recovery.
Well! Then that wouldn’t apply to Albert recovering in record time… oh wait.
And it’s not like he is going to be a free agent soon where a fast recovery time would increase his value… oh wait.
And it’s not like there is an All Star Game coming up where if he were injured, the talk would have been how Pujols was hurt instead of playing in front of a national audience… oh wait.
And it’s not like Albert is a native of a country that has relaxed steroid and HGH laws… oh wait.
And it’s not like his manager Tony LaRussa has a history of managing players who have juices… oh wait.
McGwire said “They don’t know Albert. They don’t know the desire to be the best in the game.”
Doesn’t that sound a lot like Bonds, Clemens, A-Rod and McGwire?
Of course he’s talented. Of course he’s working hard.
But our guard is up. We’ve been seduced by feel good stories and been burnt by too many of them.
If you are offended by that Mark, here’s a suggestion.
Take a look in the mirror and blame what you see.
Sully Baseball 
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