Roger Clemens Files Defamation Suit Over Steroid Accusations

This should get entertaining. Roger Clemens is suing Brian McNamee for defamation for the claims made to Major League Baseball's George Mitchell, who released a report claiming that Clemens took steroids administered by McNamee. It's the only way that Roger Clemens can clear his name, but the entertaining part is how Clemens has to prove his case.

Roger Clemens beat Brian McNamee to court, filing a defamation suit against the former trainer who claimed to have injected him with performance-enhancing drugs.

Clemens filed the suit Sunday night in Harris County District Court in Texas, listing 15 alleged statements McNamee made to the baseball drug investigator George Mitchell. Clemens claimed the statement were "untrue and defamatory."

"According to McNamee, he originally made his allegations to federal authorities after being threatened with criminal prosecution if he didn't implicate Clemens," according to the 14-page petition, obtained early Monday by The Associated Press.

The key in these kinds of cases is the discovery. It opens up McNamee's lawyers to ask all kinds of questions of Clemens and call into question Clemens' conduct and character. Clemens has a very tough case to prove here, and going on 60 Minutes to proclaim his innocence isn't sufficient.

Going before Congress and testifying under oath would be a sigificant step, but if h says something before Congress that is contradicted by other statements made, he could find himself in trouble for perjury.

It's a very sticky situation, and one of his own doing.

Andy Pettitte: I Did It

Lo and behold, Andy Pettitte has admitted to taking HGH to deal with an arm injury:

Pettitte said he tried HGH on two occasions - back when it was still legal in the big leagues.

"If what I did was an error in judgment on my part, I apologize," Pettitte said yesterday in a statement released by his agent. "I accept responsibility for those two days."

Pettitte is among more than 80 players named by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell's investigation into performance-enhancing drugs.

Pettitte had not until now commented on the allegations revealed Thursday.

Pettitte asked the trainer he shared with Roger Clemens, Brian McNamee, to help him with HGH while Pettitte was on the disabled list early in the 2002 season, according to the report.

"In 2002 I was injured. I had heard that Human Growth Hormone could promote faster healing for my elbow," Pettitte said in the statement released late yesterday by his agent, Randy Hendricks.

Nice. I'm still not sure how I feel with all this, but the problem for baseball is that they're trying to deal with a class of drugs and performance enhancing aids that were not illegal during the time in which Pettitte admits to having taken them.

It's also worth noting that he isn't alleged to have taken steroids, but fans will likely not see the distinction. His name is forever linked with the Mitchell Report.

Musing on the Mitchell Report

Well, I've had a bit of time to think on the Mitchell Report and its effect on baseball. I also got to listen to a bit of sports talk radio and that was surely entertaining.

Here's my two shekels.

The report is anything but a complete document, even at a mind boggling 408 pages. It barely scratches the surface and it omits some very prominent names that have been linked with performance enhancement over the past decade, including Sammy Sosa.

The people that were included in the report are those that Mitchell couldn't have gotten unless he caught two very lucky breaks.

Without Brian McNamee or Kirk Radomski, Mitchell would have had next to nothing to work with. He didn't have subpoena power, and the only current players who talked with him were Frank Thomas and Jason Giambi, and Giambi put himself in jeopardy by making an offhanded comment that he had taken some form of performance enhancing drugs. The other active players didn't talk, and there was absolutely no incentive for them to do so. Not talking has proved to be the more prudent step. That's not to say that was the right thing to do, just what these players determined was in their own interest. What the fans best interest was never played a role. Teams and owners looked the other way as players grew larger and faster and the numbers of homers went through the roof and attendance grew to match - so everyone was happy even though things were built on the fact that a significant number of players were juicing.

The rules by which Mitchell put this report together are not the rules of evidence that one would see in a court of law. Hearsay is the name of the game here, and competent lawyers would rip these reports to shreds for those named players. There are canceled checks and claims that money was given, but those players' lawyers could ask what was actually received in return. They could claim those were gifts. Hey, all they need to do in front of a jury is to raise reasonable doubt.

Already, you're seeing Clemens' representatives coming out and blasting the report and those accusing him in the report of using drugs. Defending against the smear is a tough job, and I really don't know if they're going to muster a legal case, because that means the dreaded discovery phase, where everyone's comments are fair game and the questions get real uncomfortable.

This report names less than 100 players, which itself is curious because the league admits that more than that number tested positive in the first year of steroid testing. Why the disconnect?

Commissioner Selig said that the report was a call to action and that the league would take action against those named. Fat chance. Nothing is going to happen without the union stepping in, and they're not going to let the League do anything against the players unless it's by the collective bargaining agreement. They're not going to let those players named get smeared by the report without a fight.

However, what really bugs me is not necessarily the big names that are on the list, but the lower tier guys. The ones that we skip over because we see names like Clemens or Pettite or Tejada.

I'm looking at the guys who made the big show because they took performance enhancing drugs. They didn't only get richer for doing it, but they kept someone else from making it big.

These players might have taken slots meant for someone else - someone who used only their raw talent and abilities without performance enhancing drugs.

Those players may have seen that they'd been passed over and felt that they too had no choice but to do something to get an edge; thus beginning a cruel cycle that adds to the problems in the league.

Then, there's the issue of the media reporting on this whole thing. This morning, legalbgl posted a leaked report showing the names of those implicated. That early list was wrong. Flat out wrong.

Names that were on that list were wrong. Where did that list come from? Who put that list together? Was that an early draft of the report, or did someone have something against a player like Johnny Damon or Wally Joyner or Albert Pujols, three names that got smeared in all this? Shoddy reporting and the quest to be first on the report definitely played a role here. I don't blame legalbgl for running with the report, which quickly made its way to Drudge and multiple outlets, and he did run updates and corrections as he went. The problem is that the sourcing on the original story was bad, and NBC needs to expose their source.

NBC has some explaining to do as they're the ones who ran those early stories and named names before the report was officially released by MLB.

UPDATE 12/14/2007:
The Smoking Gun has more on the timeline as to how NBC and Jonathan Dienst came to report the bogus list. NBC and Dienst have yet to apologize or explain their actions.

The list was eventually yanked from the WNBC web site out of "an abundance of caution," the station reported in an updated story. The station has yet to retract (or apologize for) its original reporting.

It's hilarious to read that it was retracted out of an abundance of caution. If there was an abundance of caution it would have been to check those names against MLB itself, which didn't appear to have happened. Instead, they went with the information they had. Yanking the list was out of caution of being sued (which could still happen because those who were listed by NBC could sue for defamation because they were not on the official Mitchell Report list). Because so many people linked to those early reports, I've gone back and stricken through the names of the earlier story so that no one gets the wrong names involved here.

Mitchell Report Names Names

*** SCROLL DOWN TO BOTTOM FOR LATEST AND MOST ACCURATE REPORTING ***
UPDATE 12/14/2007 (lawhawk):
See here for my latest post on the Mitchell Report and the bogus names list proffered by NBC. It's my decision to strike the initial names because those mentioned on the bogus report were not in the official report.

Rumor has it that the Mitchell Report will contain the following names:

Brady Anderson, Manny Alexander, Rick Ankiel, Jeff Bagwell, Barry Bonds, Aaron Boone, Rafael Bettancourt, Bret Boone, Milton Bradley, David Bell, Dante Bichette, Albert Belle, Paul Byrd, Wil Cordero, Ken Caminiti, Mike Cameron, Ramon Castro, Jose Canseco, Ozzie Canseco, Roger Clemens, Paxton Crawford, Wilson Delgado, Lenny Dykstra, Johnny Damon, Carl Everett, Kyle Farnsworth, Ryan Franklin, Troy Glaus, Rich Garces, Jason Grimsley, Juan Gonzalez, Eric Gagne, Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Giambi, Jeremy Giambi, Jose Guillen, Jay Gibbons, Juan Gonzalez, Clay Hensley, Jerry Hairston Felix Heredia, Jr., Darren Holmes, Wally Joyner, Darryl Kile, Matt Lawton, Raul Mondesi, Mark McGwire, Guillermo Mota, Robert Machado, Damian Moss, Abraham Nunez, Trot Nixon, Jose Offerman, Andy Pettitte, Mark Prior, Neifi Perez, Rafael Palmiero, Albert Pujols, Brian Roberts, Juan Rincon, John Rocker, Pudge Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Scott Schoenweiis, David Segui, Alex Sanchez, Gary Sheffield, Miguel Tejada, Julian Tavarez, Fernando Tatis, Maurice Vaughn, Jason Varitek, Ismael Valdez, Matt Williams, Kerry Wood

Huge shocker, Brady Anderson!!! Hit 50 home runs from the lead off spot for the Orioles one year, and had not hit 50 home runs for his career to that point. Notice his power year was the year he played with Rafael Palmiero, also on the list. Coincidence? What about Eric Gagne, Kerry Wood and Mark Prior. Any shocker that they are young and so injury prone? Steroids breaks down your body. Jeff Bagwell, huge decline in power numbers this year...did he stop using? Milton Bradley, any shock that his attitude is due to 'roid rage?

Also, as expected, Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Palmiero and Giambi (both brothers) all made the list.

Actual shockers to me are Miguel Tejada and Nomar Garciaparra. Their body types are not typical of steroid users. Just surprises me. Although, Palmiero said that he tested positive from B-12 vitamins laced with HGH that he got from Tejada.

However, the biggest names are Roger Clemens, Andy Pettite and Albert Pujols. Clemens is considered a first ballot hall of famer. Among the career leaders in strike outs, is one of the greatest power pitchers of our time. Supposedly, he and Pettite are work out buddies, and their work out regimen is one of the toughest. Well I guess that's easy when you are on the roids. Pujlos is also one of the greatest pure hitters in the game right now. His first five year stats rank him up their with Joe Dimagio ad Mickey Mantle. I have never seen a guy hit a ball as hard as he hits them. Game 1 of the 2006 National League Championship Series, Mrs. Lawhawk and I (yes, Mrs. Lawhawk is a HUGE Met fan and I took her over Mrs. Legalbgl) were sitting field level along the third base line and Pujlos hit a bomb into the stands a few rows behind us. That ball was hit so hard, that when it hit the concrete floor it sounded like a bomb. I guess that too, is easy to do when you use the juice.

So what now? What happens to these players? They have tainted the sport. They have stolen records. They should be banned. Their records should be nullified. Their corruption needs to be excommunicated from the game. The fans, the true fans, deserve no less.

--UPDATE--

From WNBC.Com, the soure of the above listed names:

NEW YORK -- WNBC.com's Jonathan Dienst has obtained names expected to be on George Mitchell's list of baseball players linked to performance-enhancing drugs. Baseball officials are refuting some names on the list.

Two separate sources provided WNBC.com with a detailed list of names of ballplayers expected to be included in the Mitchell report, which will be released at 2 p.m. Thursday.

After WNBC.com posted this list, a spokesman for Major League Baseball told WNBC.com that there were several discrepancies between the list posted and Mitchell’s list.


Jonathan Dienst went back to the two sources with access to Mitchell's findings. Both sources maintain the list given to WNBC.com is complete and accurate.

WNBC.com made a second call to the MLB official refuting the list. He would not say which names on the list provided by two separate sources are incorrect. Yet another source suggests WNBC.com was given a draft copy by our two original sources, not the final copy being released today.

The list contains multple MVP and Cy Young award winners. The list is littered with names of All-Stars past and present and included two sets of brothers.

ESPN.com has been reporting New York Yankees pitchers Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte are on the list.

WNBC.com is no longer posting the list. We are actively working the list and we will be updating the situation as soon as journalistically possible.

Quess we will find out in a few minutes who is really on the list, and who is not.

--UPDATE--

The Mitchell Report is available for download here.

--UPDATE--

Quickly scanning the Mitchell Report I see no reference to Pujlos, Garciapara, Wood, Prior, or Damon. In fact, many of the names listed above do not appear in the Mitchell report, and many names in the Mitchell Report are not included above.

UPDATE (lawhawk):
I've quickly scanned the report and here are the names that stuck out. If I missed anyone, or included someone by accident, let me know in the comments:

David Justice, Andy Pettite, Roger Clemens, Greg Zaun, F.P. Santangelo, Glenallen Hill, Mo Vaughn, Denny Neagle, Ron Villone, Ryan Franklin, Chris Donnels, Todd Williams, Phil Hiatt, Todd Pratt, Kevin Young, Mike Lansing, Cody McKay, Kent Mercker, Adam Piatt, Miguel Tejada, Jason Christiansen, Mike Stanton, Stephen Randolph, Jerry Hairston, Jr., Paul Lo Duca, Adam Riggs, Bart Miadich, Fernando Vina, Kevin Brown, Eric Gagné, Mike Bell, Matt Herges, Gary Bennett, Jr., Jim Parque, Brendan Donnelly, Chad Allen, Jeff Williams, Howie Clark, "Nook" Logan, Daniel Naulty, Rick Ankiel, Paul Byrd, Jay Gibbons, Troy Glaus, Jose Guillen, Jerry Hairston, Jr., Gary Matthews, Jr., and Scott Schoeneweis, and former players David Bell, Jose Canseco, Jason Grimsley, Darren Holmes, John Rocker, Ismael Valdez, Matt Williams, and Steve Woodard.

--UPDATE--
Notable non-mentions in the Mitchell Report are Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire. McGwire's use of androstenedione, a susbstance that was legal at the time of his use, is discussed in detail, but, nothing of his use of steroids or HGH. Interesting.

This could be because they received it from sources that Mitchell could not/did not interview (his report states, and he repeated in his news conference that players received substances from sources that he did not have the ability to interview.) Their non-incusion is not proof of inocence. Equally, I doubt that inclusion on the list is proof of quilt.

UPDATE (lawhawk):
Here's a link listing the players:

Chad Allen
Rick Ankiel
David Bell
Mike Bell
Marvin Benard
Gary Bennett, Jr.
Larry Bigbie
Barry Bonds
Kevin Brown
Paul Byrd
Jose Canseco
Mark Carreon
Jason Christiansen
Howie Clark
Roger Clemens
Jack Cust
Brendan Donnelly
Chris Donnels
Lenny Dykstra
Bobby Estalella
Matt Franco
Ryan Franklin
Eric Gagne
Jason Giambi
Jeremy Giambi
Jay Gibbons
Troy Glaus
Jason Grimsley
Jose Guillen
Jerry Hairston, Jr.
Matt Herges
Phil Hiatt
Glenallen Hill
Darren Holmes
Todd Hundley
David Justice
Chuck Knoblauch
Tim Laker
Mike Lansing
Paul Lo Duca
Exavier "Nook" Logan
Josias Manzanillo
Gary Matthews, Jr.
Mark McGwire
Cody McKay
Kent Mercker
Bart Miadich
Hal Morris
Daniel Naulty
Denny Neagle
Rafael Palmeiro
Jim Parque
Andy Pettitte
Adam Piatt
Todd Pratt
Adam Riggs
Brian Roberts
John Rocker
F.P. Santangelo
Benito Santiago
Scott Schoeneweis
David Segui
Gary Sheffield
Miguel Tejada
Ismael Valdez
Mo Vaughn
Randy Velarde
Ron Villone
Fernando Vina
Rondell White
Jeff Williams
Matt Williams
Todd Williams
Steve Woodard
Kevin Young
Gregg Zaun

--UPDATE--
The list Lawhawk posted above is incorrect. I noticed it included McGwire, who was not named in the report, but which only discussed about use of androstenedione. The full list of players named in the report is found here.

Also, Bud Seliq, MLB's Commissioner, has now responded to the report.

NEW YORK -- Commissioner Bud Selig announced swift plans Thursday to execute every recommendation listed in former Sen. George Mitchell's report on performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball, but made no formal decisions regarding the punishment of active players listed on the report.
"So long as there may be potential cheaters, we will always have to monitor our programs and constantly update them to catch those who think they can get away with breaking Baseball's rules," Selig said. "In the name of integrity, that's exactly what I intend to do."

In his report, Sen. Mitchell outlined a long list of recommendations for the Commissioner to consider. Some of them can -- and according to Selig, will -- be implemented immediately. But others, most notably the recommendation for further improvement of the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment program, will require cooperation from the MLB Players Association.

***

"Sen. Mitchell acknowledges in his report that the ultimate decisions on discipline rest with the Commissioner and he is correct," Selig said. "Discipline of players and others identified in the report will be determined on a case-by-case basis. If warranted, those decisions will be made swiftly and I, of course, will give thorough consideration to Sen. Mitchell's views on the subject."

Much of the problem stems from the fact that most of the alleged violations in Mitchell's report occurred in a period ending two years ago. A large group of implicated players are no longer active, and are thus beyond Selig's jurisdiction. And many of those who are still playing were linked to the substances at a time when punishments for users were quite different.

So in otherwords, look for more slaps on the wrists.

MLB To Receive the Mitchell Report

NEW YORK (AP) -- Major League Baseball has gotten its advance look at a draft of George Mitchell's report on drug use in the sport.

Baseball reviewed a draft Tuesday at the Manhattan office of DLA Piper, the law firm that Mitchell chairs, a baseball official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because Mitchell hasn't authorized any statements.

The report likely will be released Thursday, and commissioner Bud Selig does not plan to attend Mitchell's news conference, the official said. Selig could have his own news conference or hold a conference call, he added.

Baseball officials have said for several weeks that management would be able to examine the report on performance-enhancing drugs a few days before it is made public to make sure it does not contain any confidential information that if released would violate the collective bargaining agreement between players and owners.

The joint drug agreement, which has been part of the labor contract since September 2002, prohibits the commissioner's office, teams and consultants from disclosing player test results, treatment and other information except in very limited, specified circumstances.

The start of baseball's review first was reported by the Daily News on its Web site.

Mitchell, a former Senate Majority Leader, is a director of the Boston Red Sox and served on one of Selig's economic study committees. Selig hired him in March 2006 to investigate drug use in the sport.

He's expected by many in baseball to be critical of the sport for being slow to react to its drug problem in 1990s and beyond. What they will be looking to see in his report is how he parcels blame among commissioner Bud Selig, club owners, general managers, other team employees, the players' association and players themselves.

The revelation of players who have not yet been publicly linked to drug use figures to be the most sensational part of the report. Media reports have linked an array of All-Stars and MVPs to performance enhancers in recent years, among them Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, Ken Caminiti, Juan Gonzalez and Mark McGwire.

Bonds, indicted last month for perjury and obstruction of justice over his 2003 testimony in the BALCO drug case, has denied knowingly using performance enhancers, as have Gonzalez and McGwire.

Representatives of players have said in recent weeks that they believe much of Mitchell's evidence will be based on former New York Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski, who was required to cooperate with the investigation as a condition of his federal plea agreement last April. Radomski pleaded guilty to illegally distributing steroids, human growth hormone, amphetamines and other drugs to players and is awaiting sentencing.

The player representatives also said they expect Mitchell will be critical of active players for largely refusing to cooperate.

Rumors have the Mitchell report being made publicly available tomorrow. It will be interesting to see who made the list. Many names have already surfaced. We have all long suspected Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds. Barry Bonds has been indicted for lying about his steroid use. Jose Conseco has admited it. Rafael Palmiero was suspended for HGH use. Jay Gibbons, Troy Glaus, Rick Ankiel, Mike Cammeron, Jose Guillen and a host of others have all been linked to either HGH or some other performance enhancing drug. David Ortiz has claimed to not know if he has or has not used steroids.

Steroids and performance enhancing drugs are ruining the game. Great players, like Barry Bonds, is now a laughing stock. How can anyone take his home run record seriously, when it is so tainted by the stench of steroids. Designer Mark Ecco, who purchased Bond's record breaking ball at auction created a website for people to vote on what to do with the ball. No surprise, brand it with an asterisk and send it to Cooperstown was the overwhelming fan favorite.

MLB needs to see the Mitchell Report. They need to act on the Mitchell report. The players who have been proved cheaters need to be removed from the game. I don't care if they are superstars. They need to be banished from the game, a la Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson. MLB needs to get tougher and take a zero tolerance policy to performance enhancing drugs. Only then can the true fan really enjoy the sport again.

Sign of Things To Come In Baseball?

Joel from LGF forwards a link to Steroid Era in Baseball, which lists a whole bunch of names of people fingered or who have admitted to using steroids or other performance enhancing drugs in baseball.

Will this list mirror the Mitchell Report, which will be released next month?

Only time will tell.

Hot Stove Blotter

Hot off the press, Barry Bonds has been indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice in the ongoing federal probe into use of illegal steroids. This has nothing to do with steroids in baseball, and everything to do with lying to federal investigators or misleading them in a way that prolonged the investigation.

Having nailed Marion Jones, Bonds was next up in their sights.

The indictment definitely is a major story, but baseball fans have to really worry about the looming Mitchell Report, which will name names - and quite likely many who you never saw coming.

Meanwhile, fresh off its failed attempt to make New Yorkers pay for online purchases via Amazon.com and other online entities, New York State is going after Derek Jeter for claiming that he was not liable for personal income tax to New York. Derek had claimed he was a Florida resident.

This is a battle fought regularly by athletes who can't stand paying taxes (who doesn't), and who seek tax havens like Florida or Nevada. New York would have a case if they can show that Jeter was present in the state for more than 183 days. I hope Derek has a good tax lawyer, because he might need one.

Finally, in another Yankee related item, I can't stand the coverage relating to the Alex Rodriguez soap opera. ARod is going to be crawling back to the Yankees to the tune of $275-$290 million dollars. That's a whole lot of cash. It's more than he was making under his prior contract. And if you think that Scott Boras didn't plan things out to include this contingency, you've got another thing coming.

Boras is one of the most calculating sports agents in the game, and he created a market for ARod and set figures. This creates the win-win scenario for ARod. He gets to look like the good guy for "crawling back" to the Yankees because no one else was accepting his pie in the sky offers, and he can blame Boras for looking bad. There's one problem with all that.

ARod is the one who makes the final decision on strategy and has to sign off on what happens. He knew that this was a possibility, and he's still ending up with more money than I'll ever see in my lifetime. ARod gets the money and stays with the team while possibly getting fans to warm up to him in a way that they haven't until now.

More power to him.

I just don't buy his shtick.

UPDATE:
Here's the Bonds indictment.

Steroid Investigation Ready to Roil Baseball

If you thought that the Barry Bonds kerfuffle and BALCO were bad, things may be about to take a turn for the worse. The Mitchell Committee is calling as many as three dozen current and former players to talk about steroids and performance enhancing drugs in the sport.

The former Senator George J. Mitchell of Maine, who is overseeing a team of lawyers and investigators working on the case, declined to say how many players had been sent letters requesting their appearance.

But others familiar with elements of the investigation said they believed at least three dozen current and former players were being sought by the panel. The prospect of any number of elite players’ being linked to the steroid issue would throw Major League Baseball into considerable turmoil only a month into the season, as players turn to hiring lawyers rather than focusing on hitting and pitching.

Mr. Mitchell, responding by e-mail to a series of written questions from The New York Times, described his investigation as entering its final phases.

“We expect to meet soon with the players whose interviews we have requested,” Mr. Mitchell said. Mr. Mitchell has no subpoena power, and said that if players refused to talk to his panel, which reports to Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, “we will deal with the issue at that time.” Mr. Mitchell also said that Mr. Selig had agreed that the panel’s final report would be made public.

This would certainly cast a pall over the sport, but what would actually happen if it turns out that many of these players - including the high profile players - actually used steroids or other performance enhancing drugs? Would fans turn their back on the sport or would they shrug and carry on? I frankly don't know.

The situation is further complicated by the plea deal arranged by Kirk Radomski, a former New York Mets clubhouse assistant who "...admitted to distributing steroids, human growth hormone, amphetamines and other drugs to dozens of current and former players in Major League Baseball from 1995 to 2005." Mitchell may be using names provided by Radomski, but Mitchell was being coy about that.

Either way, players who were taking steroids and other performance enhancing drugs need to be concerned about not only who may have been named, but what those other named players might say. Those players who didn't use those drugs must be secretly cheering for this as it helps level the playing field.