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Monday, December 17, 2007

Walking Tall or Lying Through His Teeth

*Picture courtesy of Kelly*

"If what I did was an error in judgment on my part, I apologize."
Andy Pettitte

"I did something absolutely wrong. I shouldn't be made a hero."
F.P. Santangelo

"Roger has been repeatedly tested for these substances and he has never tested positive. There has never been one shred of tangible evidence that he ever used these substances and yet he is being slandered today."
Roger Clemens ATTORNEY Rusty Hardin

"Once I learned Anavar was classified as a steroid I realized that was not an option. That was the end of it. Yes I called him. But I did not purchase or receive anything from him and have never taken Deca or Anavar."
Brendan Donnelly

Just a small sample of reactions from players mentioned in the Mitchell report: anything stand out? The biggest fish caught in Mitchell's net has his LAWYER issue a statement ( by the way, if it's slander, WHERE is the lawsuit?) and his running buddy uses the same excuse I do when I've ticked the wife off: "If I did it, I'm sorry".

Meanwhile F.P. Santangelo (Who? Exactly.) flat out admits it and Donnelly flat out denies it, which means he's either an idiot or is in fact telling the truth.

Donnelly was one of two players named who played for the Red Sox in 2007: the other is Eric Gagne. Since Red from Surviving Grady already wrote the best thing I've seen regarding Gagne, I picked Donnelly to focus on.

This is a guy who spent 10 years in the minor leagues before making it to The Show, except for a brief period in 1995 when he was a replacement player in Spring Training: trust me, this didn't earn him any brownie points with the big leaguers. I'm guessing "Scab" was the nicest thing he heard. Because he crossed the picket line, he's ineligible for Union benefits, has no say in anything union related, and if Jimmy Hoffa were still with us, Donnelly most likely wouldn't be.

He's also at various times been suspended for having pine tar on his glove, been the Hulk Hogan to Jose Guillen's Andre the Giant, and upon arriving in Boston, immediately let Dan Shaughnessy know he wasn't going to be a part of the CHB's pot stirring.

Last, but not least, is this: After being accused of "vigorously" adjusting his cup toward an opposing player, seemingly in an aggressive manner, he responded with this. I'm paraphrasing, but " Of course I wouldn't do anything that crass: there were F%$#&^g kids in the stands" essentially covers it.

Does THAT sound like a guy who gives two rips about what the public, the writers, or MLB thinks? So why would a guy like that lie about using PED's? A man who has been caught cheating (the pine tar), has a running feud with a certifiable maniac (Guillen) and incurred the wrath of the most powerful union in sports going to lie about whether he used an illegal substance? When all the guys that ARE admitting it are being nominated for sainthood because they are "coming clean"?

I actually believe we may have one guy who is denying he did it that is telling the truth. No "it was from a tainted supplement", no "I thought it was a B12 shot" and no "If I did it" nonsense. Just a flat out denial of any wrong doing.

I believe Brendan Donnelly.

Of course, I may just be subliminally wishing for a joint Josh Beckett/Brendan Donnelly press conference where they commit at LEAST 8 FCC violations while talking about that nights game when in fact, he's guilty as sin.

You just never know.

27 comments:

Tex said...

ok i gotta listen to the news, read the news, radio and on SG...and now YOU. i know this has got you totally bugged....its apparent.

I am just not gonna get all freaked out. We all know many are doing it. there's a good chance they've ALL done it at least once. But I love baseball and I'm not gonna let some cheaters and moneygrubbing lawyers and budclod make me lose my giddiness over the game.

Agreed on one thing: I'd love to see a Josh/Brendan fcc fest

Ted D said...

Tex, I'm not going to let this take away my joy for the game: I'm just fascinated with the different reactions by the players named.

Some come clean (sort of), Roger has his lawyer issue a statement, and Donnelly flat out denies it. I'm sort of surprised he didn't use every curse word in his arsenal when he did it, but he denied it.

And then there is Bonds, who almost acts like all this is beneath him. It's a pretty captivating picture of big time sports under the microscope.

I promise: the one and only time I blog about it, K? Just for my friend Tex. :)

Tex said...

im sorry. I just get tired of the day in and day out blahblahblahblahblah about it. I mean ya know the Mitchell report wasn't absolutely from the users mouths...some of it was pretty damaging which made some come clean...but I'm really more angry with Bud and MLB for not being more stringent with drugtesting. I mean there are those who think Pete is just dispicable cos he bet...and now is banned. It's like having some rule in your house and then never enforcing it...then all of a sudden one day...grounding and punishing everyone with no warning.

they'd call foul. I'm not saying the players aren't to blame but we humans learn what's given to us.

SO I put it back on BASEBALL. The players should come clean...but why should they? look at what they have to lose.

Ted D said...

Exactly, Tex. Selig and the owners saw what was happening, yet chose to line their pockets instead of doing something about it. Now that Congress got involved, they turn into the Steroid police.

Don't apologize: I get tired of it too. But it's happening and I thought Donnelly's flat out denial was pretty telling.

Tex said...

hence my christmas posts and poetry...im trying to diversion away from it.

Ted D said...

I getcha, Tex. And I'm enjoying the poetry, as is Rakes. He's sort of confused, though.

"I thought Santa lived at the North Pole and his reindeer had different names".

I was tapdancing like mad, Tex. Tell your Texas and Cajun Santa to at least use the same reindeer names!

Tex said...

tell him the cajun names are in the french language. jeeeeeez :)

next is italian :)

Ted D said...

//next is italian :)//

Good grief: He's gonna be the first 4 year old to know Santa is Dad and Mrs. Claus is Mom.

I'm sending you the bill from the shrink, Tex. ;)

Tex said...

i pay in candy. i hope he likes chocolate kisses :)

Ted D said...

NO CHOCOLATE.

I thought we hashed this out earlier.

You. Are. Evil.

Tex said...

heh heh heh

Ted D said...

I'm going to bed, sister of evil.

I've gotta get some sleep: seems like my adopted sister wants to send me to an early grave. :)

Night, Tex.

HorshamScouse said...

I've been locked out of my blog for day for some reason. When I get back in, I wanted to have my two cent's on this issue. I might just post a Read Ted's Blog ditto post instead.

Ted D said...

Horsham,

Just like Bartyle and James, I thank you for your support.

Anonymous said...

I've yet to read/hear about a repentant and remorseful heart amongst those players. Have you?

gojohn said...

Who know what and who you can believer....it's all disappointing

Ted D said...

Edge, couple of guys like FP Santangelo and Fernando Vina have been remorseful, but for the most part it's been statements issued, etc... I really didn't expect anyone to do much apologizing.

John, thats the biggest thing: we'll just never really know how many did and didn't do anything.

Stacy said...

1. "IF I did anything wrong, I'm sorry..." is NOT an apology.

2. I'm confused about whether you think Brendan actually took steroids.

3. Go back to amusing stories about my nephews...I can follow those. :)

Sonya@Beyond the Screen Door said...

What say ye.

Two schools of thought are coming out. one, I didn't do them never have never will. Your source must be a liar show me your proof.

Or, two I tried it, one time.

I personally am have a hard time with both BUT I tried it once is not going over well with me.Any body with half a brain did a little research before sampling the goods. One time will not PUMP YOU UP. or put you in the 30-30 club. Maybe one out of ten guys would get cold feet and stop but I am not buying that for the vast majority of those who decided to give it a whirl.


PS Rakes call'd me on my cell phone today. Wants to know if you can wear a hat to school in Oklahome?

Ted D said...

Stacy, sorry I confused you: I don't think he did them. The guy has been almost brutally honest his whole career, and I guess I'm saying why would he lie now? He crossed the picket line, admitted he had pine tar in his glove, and basically could give a flip what people think of him.

Bub, I have to agree: the "I only did it one time" doesn't wash with me either. I'm not sure how HGH works: do you cycle it like steroids, or is it just a straight injection? Also, I don't think the busts of these online pharmacies were counted, so this thing could get a whole lot bigger real quick.

And he LIKES his haircut: Quote Rakes:

"I look like an army dude, Dad. My dirlfriends will think it's beally cool, Dad."

Ted D said...

Oh yeah:

Bub, where is Oklahome?

Sonya@Beyond the Screen Door said...

North of Tex as

Ted D said...

Gotcha.

You still a member of the working class?

Sonya@Beyond the Screen Door said...

Yes, In fact today I ran the crew.

Tomorrow I get my own brush

Ted D said...

How many is in the crew? One?

Congratulations on your promotion: How long do you have to work until you get a roller?

~**Dawn**~ said...

What makes me sad is that the guys who really *did* use it to recover from an injury prior to HGH being banned are going to get eyes rolled at them now, along with all the others who are using that as their excuse. Like Dan Le Betard (OMG, I can't believe I am about to agree with that little troll -- although no one is as troll-ish as Jay Mariotti, but I digress) said on PTI yesterday: I would like just one guy to stand up & say "Yeah, I used it. I did it to compete with these guys like Bonds and Clemens. It was wrong, but it's what I did." It wouldn't make it any better, but I think I would have more respect for that guy for at least manning up. I do believe that Paul Byrd & probably Pettitte too used it to rehab, but everybody saying that makes it completely impossible to give that statement any credibility at this point.

Ted D said...

Dawn, I have to agree with you on LeBetard, though he may well be Marriotti's equal in that regard.

I have a problem with Pettitte and Roberts pulling the "only once or twice" argument. Right.

I'm almost with Buster Olney on this; you can't pick and choose who you want to single out. I think you have to take the whole era for what it was, try and clean it up the best you can, and move on.