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Baseball fan following baseball since 1955. Have been fortunate enough to have seen Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Johnny Bench, Roberto Clemente and Dale Murphy play baseball in Kansas City and Houston. Served in Army in Hawaii and Vietnam with 25th Infantry Division.More By Niteowl049
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Baseball Notebook: Clemens-McCready Affair and Defamation Suit
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Clemens-McCready Affair Could Wreck His Defamation Suit Against McNamee
If Roger Clemens was a used car salesman, a wise potential customer would drive down the street to another dealer as soon as they spotted Clemens. That is how far his credibility has sank after the latest allegations that he had an affair with country singer Mindy McCready. Clemens would have been much smarter if he had admitted the use of steroids if he did use them. Instead, he files a defamation suit against Brian McNamee, his former trainer, and now his character is being questioned because of the alleged affair with McCready. This suit, instead of showing his character, is spotless, and has sullied his character even further. Clemens would have been wise to not have filed this suit.
This suit is proving to be counterproductive for Clemens. He was so obsessed with proving that McNamee defamed him that he forgot that this affair could be revealed to the public. Clemens has been intent on denying his steroids use but less and less people are going to believe anything he says now.
It will be a packed courtroom when McCready testifies and tells the truth about what really happened with Clemens unless she tries to pull a Mark McGwire and refuses to talk about the past.
McCready once was engaged to Dean Cain who starred in Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman television show. She later encountered the law on several occasions which are too many to list so I am supplying this link to her wikipedia page. I cannot personally vouch whether this information is valid and it does include links to news stories about her and Clemens.
One of the stories I found online from the Post Chronicle has this paragraph regarding Debbie Clemens and her knowledge that her husband Roger and McCready were traveling together:
According to reports, Clemens' wife Debbie was apparently well aware that McCready traveled with the ballplayer while he played for the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, and Houston Astros.
It would be interesting to know if she knew about them traveling together from the first or if she found out in the middle or the end of the affair. I just cannot see why Clemens would be taking a 15 year old girl to the various Major League cities when he had a wife at home that knew or didn't know what was going on. One story I read online says that McCready had never met Debbie Clemens which, if true, makes it even more certain this was not a friend of the family relationship.
Here is a link to McCready's wikipedia page, which details her problems with abuse and the law and a couple of other links. I was going to post some more links to other stories about Clemens and McCready, but there are so many that it is difficult to decide which ones would be most interesting to the readers.
Among the stories, I found out that McCready's mother was impressed with Clemens, but questioned Mindy about the appropriateness of her seeing Clemens. I think it is safe to say regardless of the denials by Rusty Hardin that they didn't see each other for ten years and just talk about the weather, country music, and baseball. And why would Roger send money to McCready if this was just a casual friendship?
Another report says that when Debbie Clemens discovered the affair, she told Roger he had to leave New York or see their marriage end and that was when he played for Houston Astros. I know a lot about this is speculation, but there is so much smoke that I think it will be proven over time that this is a raging fire that can't be put out. The real clincher to me is that McCready has never met Debbie Clemens, if reports to that effect are true, which only reinforces that she was the other woman who certainly had no intentions of ever meeting Mrs. Clemens.
When Clemens were first accused of using steroids he was so adamant about his innocence I believed him but now with these revelations of yesterday I find it harder to believe anything that Clemens says. Only time will tell how all this will end but right now I sure wouldn't want to be Roger Clemens.
Around the Bases
vs. 
Mike Mussina (3-3) won his second start in a row after losing the two previous starts, as the New York Yankees defeated the Cleveland Indians 5-2. Mussina has walked only 5 batters in 6 starts showing he still has his excellent control. With the winless Philip Hughes and Ian Kennedy as the fourth and fifth starters, it makes it even more important for the Yankees for Mussina to pitch well. Hideki Matsui had the only extra base hit in the game with a double.
Once again, Hank Steinbrenner has showed he is going to be as hands on as his dad was when it comes to micromanaging the team. Now he has criticized the way Mussina pitches, and said he needs to pitch more like Jamie Moyer. How long is Joe Girardi going to tolerate the interference of Steinbrenner. Steinbrenner needs to back off and let Girardi handle what happens on the field.
Final Score: New York Yankees 5, Cleveland Indians 2
vs. 
The Oakland A's showed that they are not intimidated by the Los Angeles Angels by drubbing them by a 14-2 score. Frank Thomas went 3 for 3 and drove in 2 runs showing he is still capable of helping the A's and his average is at .197. Thomas doubled and tripled in the game.
Chad Gaudin (3-1) took the win for the A's and Jon Garland (3-3) was the losing pitcher for the Angels. Daric Barton hit his first home run of the season, and Emil Brown drove in 3 more runs giving him 25 RBI's for the season. Brown has turned out to be a much better pickup than first thought. Brown is tied with Pat Burrell for second in RBI's behind Josh Hamilton (27).
Final Score: Oakland Athletics 14, Los Angeles Angels 2
vs. 
The Cincinnati Reds took an early 4-0 lead and held on to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3. Bronson Arroyo (1-3) won his first game of the season in his sixth start. Arroyo was close to being in the situation of Barry Zito, since he has not pitched well this season and the Reds couldn't keep sending him out to the mound knowing that he would probably lose. So he may have bought a little time with his win yesterday.
Adam Dunn was 2 for 4, but is still not hitting the long ball much with only 3 home runs and 2 doubles in 77 at bats. He is 7 home runs behind the league leader Chase Utley (10) and 17 RBI's behind the NL RBI leader, Pat Burrell (25).
Final Score: Cincinnati Reds 4, St. Louis Cardinals 3
vs. 
Dan Haren (4-1) pitched the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 5-3 win over the Houston Astros. Haren, Brandon Webb, and Micah Owings are a combined 14-1 this season. The other three pitchers who have started games are a combined 3-3.
On a side note, Micah Owings has to be the best hitting pitcher in the NL with his .389 batting average. He is in his second season and is hitting .346 during his short career.
Final Score: Arizona Diamondbacks 5, Houston Astros 3
vs. 
Matt Cain (1-2) pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings, as the San Francisco Giants coasted to a 4-0 victory over the slumping Colorado Rockies, who lost their 8th game of their last ten. The win moved the Giants to within a game of the second place Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West. Barry Zito has been sent to the bullpen to work out his problems. If I was a starter for the Giants with a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning and saw Zito coming into the game from the bullpen, I would be afraid... very afraid.
Final Score: San Francisco Giants 4, Colorado Rockies 0
Minor League News
International League
Dewayne Wise, who played for Toronto Blue Jays, Atlanta Braves, and Cinicinnati Reds, is leading the International League in hitting with a .385 average. He is playing for the Chicago White Sox organization now.
Mike Hessman leads the IL in home runs with 8. Hessman has formerly played for the Atlanta Braves and the Detroit Tigers, and is still with the Tigers' organization.
Hessman, Jeff Larish, and Matthew Joyce are in a three way tie for lead in RBI's with 20 each. All three play for Toledo in the Tigers organization.
Darrell Rasner is among five pitchers leading the IL in wins with 4-0 records. Rasner could be an option for the Yankees if Philip Hughes and Ian Kennedy continue to struggle. Rasner has an ERA of 0.87. Jo-Jo Reyes may surface in Atlanta again soon, especially if John Smoltz returns to the disabled list. Reyes is leading the IL in ERA with a 0.43 ERA, and has allowed only one run to score in 21 innings.
Kei Igawa, who is still in the New York Yankees' organization, is tied with J.A. Happ for the lead in strikeouts in the IL (32), and is sharing the lead.
Pacific Coast League
Terry Tiffee of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization is leading the PCL in hitting with a .468 batting average.
Brandon Wood (Los Angeles Angels), Dallas McPherson (Florida Marlins), Nelson Cruz (Texas Rangers), Brett Carroll (Florida Marlins; born here in Knoxville), and Fernando Tatis are in a five way tie for lead in home runs in the PCL. Cruz last played in Majors in 2003 the Colrado Rockies. Tatis last played for the Baltimore Orioles in 2006. Cruz also leads in RBI's with 25.
Nick Adenhart of the Los Angeles Angels is among five pitchers leading the PCL in wins with 4 and also leads the PCL in ERA with a 0.87 mark. Max Scherzer, who was called up this week by the Arizona Diamondbacks, still leads in strikeouts with 38.
Southern League
Jeff Samardzija should be paying my wife and me to watch him pitch. The two times we watched him pitch he won, and the two times we didn't see him pitch he lost. The second time we saw him pitch, he was losing command of his pitches, but he still pitched well enough to win. In his last start, he gave up 6 walks in 3 innings and lost his second game of the season.
Yunesky Sanchez of the Arizona Diamondbacks is leading the SL in hitting with an even .400 average.
Matt LaPorta, a Milwaukee Brewers prospect, is leading the SL in home runs (6) and RBI's (22).
Wladimir Balentien Hits Three Homers
Wladimir Balentien, who was sent down by the Seattle Mariners after playing very well in Spring Training, hit three homers yesterday with the third homer being an inside the park homer.
Gamel Southern League Player of the Week
Mat Gamel, another Brewers prospect, was named "Player of the Week" in the Southern League. Gamel hit 2 home runs and drove in 9 runs during the week while hitting .529. Gamel needs a lot of work at third base after making 53 errors last season but is showing signs of improvement this season.
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