Comments on: Andy Pettitte should NOT get the blame if Clemens walks

By: bos30

bos30 — Mon, 07 May 2012 02:22:23 +0000

Thanks, Craig. You are 100% correct. The prosecutors had to know that Pettitte had already said he might have misunderstood Clemens back in 2008 because an attorney would review a potential witness’ prior deposition. Why they did not try to defuse it by bringing it up on direct I will never understand. By letting the defense do it first they made it look like some big bombshell revelation. Just a incredibly stupid move by the prosecution. Personally with what Pettitte said in 2008 about misunderstanding Clemens I don’t even know why they bothered having him testify about that 1999/2000 conversation. They should have just limited Pettitte to talking about who gave B12 shots within the Yankees organization. That’s not much value to their case but it adds a little something.

By: anxovies

anxovies — Thu, 03 May 2012 18:26:15 +0000

Now they can’t even pull the old “were you lying then or are you lying noy?” trick.

By: anxovies

anxovies — Thu, 03 May 2012 18:17:07 +0000

Agreed. What compelling federal interest is being served by this prosecution? Protecting the integrity of congressional investigations, I guess. But asking Clemens a question about doing steroids in front of the cameras is like asking somebody if he has a mistress when his wife is in the room. You know he’s going to lie.

By: anxovies

anxovies — Thu, 03 May 2012 18:11:15 +0000

From the Deadspin article I guess my info is out of date and Mike Attanasio is the trial lawyer in the Clemens case. You can use it too, Mike.

By: anxovies

anxovies — Thu, 03 May 2012 18:04:47 +0000

I totally understand. I too flexed those muscles after 5 years of retirement and concluded that the prosecution’s case is smoke and mirrors mixed in with a lot of hope. And Rusty, if you see this feel free to use it in closing.

By: tuftsb

tuftsb — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:59:27 +0000

Two points:

Misremembered is a word, and its use is not evidence of some hick Texans destroying the English language. http://www.memidex.com/misremembered

Second, I just saw AG Eric Holder on TV talking about the Clemens trial. His quote “(t)he charges there are serious ones. It’s about testifying falsely before Congress”, had me rolling on the floor.

“Fast and Furious” refers to Clemens’ style of pitching and Holder’s obfuscation in his own Congressional appearances regarding a failed and deadly sting operation.

By: ezthinking

ezthinking — Thu, 03 May 2012 01:34:39 +0000

Move out of the US and you can find your kind of justice.

Lockem’ up throw away the key. No need for a trial.

You would likely get some time in the stoney lonesome for many of your posts in, oh, about most countries in the world. This system is as good as it gets.

By: dlf9

dlf9 — Thu, 03 May 2012 00:54:34 +0000

Dear Craig, Aaron and the rest of the NBC crew, Please add an edit function so I can avoid my usual typos. Sincerely yours, dlf9.

By: dlf9

dlf9 — Thu, 03 May 2012 00:45:03 +0000

“Andy Pettitte[,] the only man in this whole case who has been honest and consistent all along.” – C. Calcaterra.

Not quite. When the LA Times story came out, Pettitte denied ever using PEDs. Then when he was named in the Mitchell report, he admitted using hGH but emphasize that it was only once. Then when he was deposed as part of Congress’ investigation, he said he had used in two different years. He has been consistent while under oath, but far from it before then. That makes me question the honesty of all of his statements. To again quote Calcaterra Esquite, “quit erecting statutes of living people.”

By: Craig Calcaterra

Craig Calcaterra — Thu, 03 May 2012 00:05:20 +0000

Actually, the entire point of this post is to show that what the prosecutors — and you, I surmise — believe to be evidence is anything but.

But never mind the fact that a man just testified in open court in the exact opposite way you believed he should have. Go ahead and still claim that all of the evidence is on your side.

By: metalhead65

metalhead65 — Thu, 03 May 2012 00:03:18 +0000

way to go craig keep sticking up for the cheaters and the ones who orotect them. they are innocent no matter what evidence they have on them right?

By: okwhitefalcon

okwhitefalcon — Wed, 02 May 2012 21:52:43 +0000

Damn you Deadspin, you’re poaching my material.

http://deadspin.com/5907123/andy-pettitte-does-a-frankie-five-angels-at-the-roger-clemens-trial?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

By: AlohaMrHand

AlohaMrHand — Wed, 02 May 2012 21:23:22 +0000

I stopped caring about this long ago.The Feds badly want to “nail”Clemons over something that most MLB players were doing during that period that baseball KNEW what was happening and looked the other way for the sake of revenue.Why isn’t Selig or Fehr in trial is the real question.And I’m thrilled to see my tax money going to fund this dog and pony show.

By: nategearhart

nategearhart — Wed, 02 May 2012 21:07:37 +0000

That’s not important at all, and it’s none of our damn business.

By: jwbiii

jwbiii — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:48:38 +0000

News of a good outing at “Scranton” in a few days would be ok.

By: somekat

somekat — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:32:09 +0000

comparing and equating are not the same thing. Please don’t use words you don’t understand

By: randygnyc

randygnyc — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:30:30 +0000

Craig, you are 100% correct here. The prosecution was either foolish or incompetent to think Pettitte would contradict his own testimony today. Pettitte doesn’t misremember.

By: paperlions

paperlions — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:23:50 +0000

Agreed. It is screwed up….but there is this…..NO ONE SHOULD HAVE EVER KNOWN ABOUT THE TEST RESULT OR THE APPEAL UNTIL AND IF THE SUSPENSION BECAME OFFICIAL.

MLB really needs to get it’s shit together and stop leaking private information before I start to believe anything they say publicly…otherwise, it all feels like calculated information leaks for PR purposes.

By: jdvalk

jdvalk — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:19:59 +0000

Thank you for going after the truth rather than a ‘gotcha’ headline that others have gone after regardless of the facts.

By: baseballisboring

baseballisboring — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:16:02 +0000

You should slap yourself in the cheek bone for equating those two things.

By: krbtx

krbtx — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:12:29 +0000

Clemens counsel stepped their game up and the prosecution overreached…clearly the prosecution didnt prep Andy or appreciate the fact that Andy is a feeble minded east Texan…well, that and Clemens used a Jedi mind trick on Pettitte…

Clemens: “Andy, you misremembered, I did not take HGH”

Pettitte: “Ok, I misunderstood”

Clemens: “NO!, YOU MISREMEMBERED!”

Pettitte: “Yes, I misremembered”

By: krbtx

krbtx — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:12:15 +0000

Clemens counsel stepped their game up and the prosecution overreached…clearly the prosecution didnt realize prep Andy or appreciate the fact that Andy is a feeble minded east Texan…well, that and Clemens used a Jedi mind trick on Pettitte…

Clemens: “Andy, you misremembered, I did not take HGH”

Pettitte: “Ok, I misunderstood”

Clemens: “NO!, YOU MISREMEMBERED!”

Pettitte: “Yes, I misremembered”

By: kevinbnyc

kevinbnyc — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:12:11 +0000

More importantly, why was Roger’s wife using HGH??

By: kevinbnyc

kevinbnyc — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:10:22 +0000

More importantly, why was Roger’s wife using HGH?

By: evanhartford

evanhartford — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:07:54 +0000

I’m surprised that others would accuse Pettite of flip-flopping when his previous testimony is pretty black and white. And remembering conversations that occurred a decade ago would be difficult even for someone with an exception memory.

Interesting but irrelevant. I doubt it will change anyone’s opinion of Clemens…

By: okwhitefalcon

okwhitefalcon — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:06:04 +0000

And with the news last week we may never see the abitrators written explanation and Braun playing “the real story” card then subsequently not telling “the real story” his case will go down much like the Clemens case with the Feds.

Screwed up.

By: seeinred87

seeinred87 — Wed, 02 May 2012 19:56:11 +0000

Agreed. I love me some legal analysis mixed in with my baseball coverage. Good stuff.

By: paperlions

paperlions — Wed, 02 May 2012 19:54:20 +0000

Actually, we don’t know why because an official written decision has yet to be published….and most of the rumors likely are wrong (as they usually are).

In any case, a loophole is not the same as MLB not following its own protocol for the handing of samples.

By: mcsnide

mcsnide — Wed, 02 May 2012 19:47:13 +0000

Why would they have put him on the stand in the first place? Did they think Roger’s legal team was too stupid to look at the previous depositions and testimony? I don’t understand what’s going on here.

By: stlouis1baseball

stlouis1baseball — Wed, 02 May 2012 19:42:47 +0000

Well done Craig. I guess I sorta’ forgot that Jon Heyman blocks you.
You should take that as a freaking compliment/blessing. The dude grates on my nerves like no other.