Derek Jeter Opens the DoorThe retiring legend offers a photographer access to his private world — the first project in a new career that is all about control.
Chris Smith: What Randolph RepresentedThe Mets hired Willie Randolph because of what he had come to represent. Four years later, that’s why they fired him, too.
Oye Johan Va!Johan Santana’s opening day debut with the Mets was solid but not mind-blowing. But that doesn’t stop the sports press from losing their heads.
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Yankee Stadium: The Long Good-byeAnd so it begins: the final season in the old Yankee stadium (built in 1923) begins today. The first regular game, against the Blue Jays, starts today at 1:05 p.m. What the press is wondering about on the big day.
the sports section
Chamberlain Takes Broken ‘Joba Rules’ in StrideAs the Yankees try to sort out their pitching lineup for the year, manager Joe Girardi announced yesterday that 22-year-old Joba Chamberlain won’t be in the starting role that Hank Steinbrenner noisily projected for him.
the sports section
Clemens Testimony Referred to DOJ for Perjury Investigation, After AllAfter hedging a bit, Congress has decided to refer Roger Clemens to the Department of Justice for a perjury investigation. They are concerned that his testimony over his alleged steroid use directly contradicts that of former trainer Brian McNamee and fellow Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte. You’d think this would be bad news for Clemens and his legal team, as a handful of U.S. leaders just basically called BS on his testimony. But we sort of suspect that his lawyers were a little bit psyched, because they got to deliver this line:
“Now we are done with the circus of public opinion, and we are moving to the courtroom,” Clemens’ lead lawyer, Rusty Hardin, said in a telephone interview with the Associated Press. “Thankfully, we are now about to enter an arena where there are rules and people can be held properly accountable for outrageous statements.”
You can just hear the crack coming through between the words, as Hardin imagines himself hitting a PR homerun. No matter how good he is with words, it’s not going to fix all the damage Roger has done to himself by being bad with them.
Congress Asks DOJ to Investigate Clemens [AP]
Earlier: As Clemens’s Story Weakens, Congress Drafts Perjury Letter
the sports section
As Clemens’s Story Weakens, Congress Drafts Perjury LetterRoger Clemens’s congressional steroid testimony appears to be unraveling word-by-word and boob-by-boob just as the Times discovers that a letter is being drafted to refer Clemens to the Department of Justice for a perjury investigation. The Daily News reports that a famous Yankee locker-room story about Debbie Clemens, Roger’s current wife, comparing her breast enhancements with Roger’s previous wife, Jessica, at a 1998 barbecue at Jose Canseco’s house may be proof that the pitcher was lying about not being there. Meanwhile, the Times pokes holes in Roger’s claim that he needed to privately meet with his nanny before she talked to investigators because her English is “not that good.” According to the paper, she speaks the language very well, with just an accent, which indicates that Clemens may have wanted to prep her for another reason. The letter to the DOJ has not been sent, but its mere existence is a blow to Clemens. So far, Congress has not drafted one to recommend a perjury investigation on Brian McNamee, his former trainer who has supplied the steroid allegations. But more importantly, if there is an investigation, Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte will probably be dragged into all this again to testify. Leave our Andy alone! He’s trying to put all this mess with Clemens behind him. Can’t you just let him enjoy his rebound bromance in peace?
Congress May Single Out Clemens [NYT]
the sports section
Derek Jeter Considers Himself Less Mickey Mantle Than Jim CarreyThe Yankees begin full-squad workouts tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean their focus has completely shifted back to baseball yet. Take Derek Jeter, who spent his off-season working on plans for a line of health clubs, the first of which will open this June near Madison Square Park. The Yankee captain says that not only will his name be on the front door, but he’ll often be inside working out. We caught up with him last week and asked whether he was afraid of this additional opportunity for fans to harass him for autographs. “Not at all,” the shortstop laughed. “The more you’re around, the more people get used to seeing you, and probably tired of seeing you.”
the sports section
Andy Pettitte Is Delightful, DoomedBreaking news: Andy Pettitte is adorable. He’s likable, he’s sweet, he’s honest, and he may just be the victim in all of this MLB performance-enhancing drug mess. Sure, he may have received injections of human growth hormone and been forced to throw his friend and mentor Roger Clemens under the bus, but isn’t he a peach? That’s the takeaway that many viewers and fans were left with after the Yankee pitcher’s hour-long press conference yesterday, during which he answered questions about his own drug experiences but avoided directly contradicting Clemens’s assertion that he “misremembered” a conversation about steroids with the older pitcher. (He did, however, pointedly say that trainer Brian McNamee, who claims to have injected Clemens and Pettitte, “told the truth about me.”) New York’s sports columnists, on the whole, were wildly impressed with Pettitte’s humble, endearing performance — if not entirely sold on his emotional honesty.
• George Vecsey was impressed by Pettitte’s reference to biblical lessons on conscience. “[It’s] a word one does not hear on a daily basis, particularly in the big-time sports mill.” [Times]
• Will Leitch thought the performance was similar to many other vaguely apologetic sports press conferences after past scandals. But he also thought Pettitte was being honest. “He’s completely full of bullshit,” Leitch wrote. “But we nevertheless agree with him, across the board.” [Deadspin]
the sports section
Digesting the McNamee-Clemens Testimony Before CongressIf you haven’t been watching today’s drawn-out congressional hearing with former Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens and his ex-trainer, Brian McNamee, then you’ve been missing a whole lot of awkwardness, lies, and frustration. As expected, Clemens began his testimony by insisting that he had never been injected with human growth hormone or steroids. Shortly afterward, McNamee (sitting two seats away) maintained that Clemens did. What has followed has been an incredibly tense grilling from cranky congressmen, in which one of the two men must be lying and both seem to be constantly contradicting small elements of their previous stories. One, if not both, will most likely be charged with perjury, according to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform chairman Henry Waxman. Below, we’ve summarized what we’ve learned so far during each of the grillings by various members of the committee.
the sports section
What You Need to Know Before Roger Clemens Testifies Before Congress TomorrowRoger Clemens’s bullpen got a little emptier today after his former Yankee compatriot Andy Pettitte effectively came in for relief on the opposing team. In the morning, Newsday broke word that Pettitte has already backed up a crucial piece evidence linking Clemens to steroid use. According to Representative Tom Davis, Pettitte’s account of a particular 2002 workout session with the two athletes and Clemens’s trainer Brian McNamee corroborates the version that McNamee tells — that while the three were training six years ago, McNamee told Pettitte that he was giving Clemens illegal drugs. McNamee, of course, is the source of much of the Mitchell Report’s evidence on steroid and HGH use in the MLB. He’s insisted that he repeatedly injected Clemens with steroids and HGH, and Pettitte with HGH (which Pettitte has admitted to). If Pettitte’s deposition validates the conversation, as Representative Davis said it did, then Clemens is going to have a much harder time convincing the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that McNamee was merely injecting him with a healthy dose of legal vitamins. Now, instead of just disputing the testimony of McNamee — a somewhat shady character to begin with — Clemens is also contradicting Andy Pettitte, who is (a) Clemens’s best friend, (b) a relatively honest guy since he came clean about the HGH, and (c) a two-time twenty-game winner. More important, Pettitte has no reason to lie. (Clemens’s claim that his fellow pitcher is simply “misremembering” sounds pretty weak.) Add to this McNamee’s recent delivery of allegedly tainted old syringes and gauze pads to authorities, and Clemens isn’t going on the mound tomorrow looking too good.
the sports section
MLB Steroid Report Fingers 29 New York PlayersGeorge Mitchell’s report on steroids was released today, and there are plenty of local names named. The document is a whopping 409 pages long, but we count no fewer than 29 onetime Mets and Yankees. The report lacks the out-of-nowhere bombshell name — did anyone really expect someone like A-Rod or David Wright to turn up? — but does confirm the rumors that Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte had juiced up. In fact, eight members of the Yanks’ last World Series championship team — Clemens, Pettitte, David Justice, Chuck Knoblauch, Mike Stanton, Glenallen Hill, Denny Neagle, and Jose Canseco — are named. Pettitte, Jason Giambi, and Scott Schoeneweis are the only active New York players on the list. —Joe DeLessio
