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Baseball Today: Tuesday, February 19

STAND UP AND SPEAK: If there's one man emerging from baseball's drug scandal with his reputation enhanced, it's Andy Pettitte. He quickly admitted to his involvement after the Mitchell Report was released, told Congressional investigators that what Brian McNamee said about him was true, and yesterday talked to the media for nearly an hour about the whole affair. (New York Daily News) He's become a rare, refreshing beacon of candor and openness in this squalid mess, deserving of the support he's received from both his long-time teammates and Yankee management. Not everyone thinks he did it for solely unselfish reasons -- the Daily News' Mike Lupica lays out that case -- but compared to virtually everyone else who was caught with his hands in the PED jar, Pettitte stands alone.

ESPECIALLY COMPARED TO . . . A man whom Pettitte admits may now be a former friend, Roger Clemens. (New York Post) Pettitte was careful not to say anything negative about Clemens yesterday, nor make any comment whatsoever about the wildly divergent stories the two men are telling. SI.com's Jon Heyman thinks Clemens -- a ''one-megalomaniac wrecking crew'' -- put Pettitte on the spot, rather than the other way around. That strain may get greater in the weeks ahead, since Brian McNamee may call Pettitte as a defense witness in Clemens' libel suit against him. (Daily News) The daily News' John Harper wants to know why Congress didn't bring in Pettitte as a witness last week.

THE REACTION: The Houston Chronicle's Richard Justice says Pettitte is a true role model, but Peter Abraham says no matter how nice a guy he is and how many kudos he deserves for standing up and admitting what he did, he's still a cheater (LoHud Yankees Blog). Newsday's Wallace Matthews says the same thing. ESPN.com's Jayson Stark warns that life won't be getting back to normal for him any time soon. The Daily News' Bob Reissman agrees, as does the New York Post's Joel Sherman.

I ADMIT TO NOTHING, BUT I'M SORRY: In the Milwaukee camp, fellow Mitchell Reporter Eric Gagne issued the standard apology-for-something-though-I-won't-say-what that has become the industry standard for baseball's alleged juicers. (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)

WHY JUST US? Hank Steinbrenner wants to know why the NFL is getting off scot-free in the performance-enhancing drug scandal, since he thinks the problem is probably more widespread in football. (New York Daily News)

YOO HOO, ROGER . . . FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal thinks Clemens should take a lesson from Pettitte.

THE TRUE SIGN OF DEMENTIA: Clemens says he wasn't at a party at Jose Canseco's house, as Brian McNamee claims, and that disagreement has been used as a hammer by Clemens' defense team to pound away at McNamee's credibility. If he wasn't there, either McNamee made up the greatest whopper of all time or Clemens is losing his mind to have forgotten something like this. (yahoo.com)

FORGET IT: No less a rogue that Denny McLain says Clemens is lying and that he won't get into the Hall of Fame. (Chicago Tribune)

DIFFERENT STROKES: In a story he wrote Monday, Sean McAdam compares the messiness of the Yankee situation with the tranquility of the Red Sox camp. (projo.com)

38 PITCHES: After several days of silence, Curt Schilling gathered selected members of the media -- our own Sean McAdam among them -- and talked about the shoulder injury that will sideline him for a good chunk, if not all, of the 2008 season. He acknowledged his disappointment that the Sox went against Dr. Craig Morgan's recommendation of surgery, wondered if the team's more conservative approach will allow him to pitch this year, and strongly denied that he signed his '08 contract knowing he was hurt and thus was doing it merely to collect an $8 million paycheck. Owner John Henry said the Sox are merely trying to find the best course of action, and that Schilling shouldn't be so upset. The Boston Herald's Steve Buckley thinks Schilling should stop ''playing doctor and [start] playing ball.''

QUICK HITS: Terry Francona and the Sox are talking contract, finally . . . Jon Lester is happy to be just one of the guys . . . The Red Sox are concerned how their trip to Japan will affect their roster come cutdown time . . . Francona and pitching coach John Farrell are making sure Sox pitchers take it easy. (All stories projo.com)

HE'S NUMBER ONE: SI.com's Jon Heyman says Theo Epstein is the best general manager in baseball.

NEWS FROM THE FORT: Over on Sons of Sam Horn, poster Mike F has begun his legendary spring-training posts.

PHIL IT UP: More and more, I'm starting to think that -- with all due respect to the always readable Curt Schilling -- the Yankees' Phil Hughes has the best athlete's blog around.

I KNOW WHAT I KNOW: Yankee fans react predictably to the gazillionth study that shows Derek Jeter to be one of the worst defensive shortstops in baseball. (New York Post) But even a Jeter fan like Ed Fitzgerald of the blog Bugs & Cranks wonder how much longer the Yanks can afford to keep Jeter at shortstop.

BEGINNING OF THE END: Joe Torre says his downfall with the Yankees probably started in 2004, when he committed the ''mortal sin'' of losing to the Red Sox. (Philadelphia Daily News)

SO THAT'S WHERE THEY ARE NOW! The Baseball Analysts site runs down the whereabouts of some big -- or at least familiar -- names as they attempt to make their way back to the majors via the non-roster invitee route.

RELIEF: Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune says that what's many of the Giants are feeling now that Barry Bonds is gone.

AND YOU WERE WORRIED: Miguel Cabrera showed up at Tigers camp looking nothing like the doughboy he was morphing into down in Florida. (Detroit News)

LET THE SEASON BEGIN: It didn't take long for Jay Mariotti to resume his shelling of Ozzie Guillen. (Chicago Sun-Times)

CLOSE OUTS? Joe Nathan isn't sure how much longer he'll be in Minnesota (mlb.com), and Francisco Rodriguez is fairly certain this will be his last season in Anaheim. So if you're looking for a closer, some pretty good ones may be available next winter.

OLD FRIENDS: Anabel Sanchez has suffered a setback in his rehabilitation from shoulder surgery (Miami Herald) . . . Matt Clement won't be ready to start the season with the Cardinals (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) . . . Trot Nixon, turned down by the Blue Jays (and ex-local sports writer Kimball Crossley, who now works as a Toronto scout), may hook on with the Diamondbacks (East Valley Tribune).

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 7:48 AM to Martone | Permalink

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G Mitchell | February 19, 2008 11:48 AM link