Sports Bard

…for the sports writer inside.

In the City That Never Sleeps, at a time when baseball, football, basketball, and hockey intersect, what animates the five-borough residents most of all during these late October nights are thoughts of the New York Yankees. Whether it be A-Rod’s prodigious blasts, Derek Jeter’s guile, Mariano Rivera’s unhittable cutter, or nightmarish reminders of the collapse of 2004…….it’s the stuff that dreams are made of.

Late season heroics by the Yanks have been on hold for the past five years, but they have been on full display during the past two weeks.

During their three-game sweep of the Twins in the Divisional Playoffs A-Rod hit game-saving homers in games two and three; Jeter lured Twinkie Nick Spanos into a desperate surge ‘round third before calmly throwing him out; and Rivera, by performing to his usual excellence during a week when fellow closers Papelbon, Nathan, Franklin, and Street failed miserably, cemented his standing as the game’s greatest closer.

Against the Angels in the just-concluded ALCS, the Yanks won with pitching and defense and generally outsmarted their past tormentors in convincing 4-2 fashion. The victory was not without its trepidations, however. The Yankees capitalized on Sabathia’s pitching and Angel errors to sprint to a 2-0 lead, but when the Bomber bull pen blew game 5 after storming ahead 6-4 in the top of the seventh, Yank fans started running scared.

The main objects of the scorn were relievers Hughes and Chamberlain, who were hit hard throughout the series, and Manager Girardi, who was charged with felony over-managing.

In Game 3, he relieved David Robertson with two out, nobody on, in the top of the eleventh. Robertson’s substitute Alfredo Aceves promptly relinquished a hard single and a game-winning double. Then in game 5, Girardi pinch ran Freddy Guzman for A-Rod with the Yankees trailing by a run in the eighth. The skipper was also roasted for allowing shaky starter A.J. Burnett to start the seventh.

In the words of Mike Francesa, a “Tension Convention” set in. The Ghosts of 2004 evoked eerie fears of failure among the faithful. So scared were Yankee fans going into game 6 that the ball game drew a “forty share” tv rating to the “eight share” registered by the Giants-Arizona game being played across the river in the Meadowlands.

The fans respect for the Angels was well grounded. With their combination of pesky contact hitters, daring base stealers, tight defense, and brilliant relief pitching, the Angels had managed to defeat the Yankees in two divisional playoffs (2002 and 2005) and five consecutive season series. They were hard to grab hold of, these Angels. Just when you had them down, they’d string three or four base hits in a row to grab the lead.

This year’s Angels, however, did not bring with them their traditional set of demons. For one thing, their indomitable closer, Francisco Rodriguez, now toiled for the Mets. His successor, Brian Fuentes, served up a tying ninth inning homer to A-Rod on an 0-2 pitch which turned game 2.

The Angels never got their running game going because Yankee pitchers stifled Angel table setters Chone Figgins and Bobby Abreu into 7-48 hitting and one stolen base. To top things off, the Halos committed uncharacteristic base running mistakes and made eight errors in the field, including an unforgivable 3-pointer launched by Scott Kazmir over the first baseman’s head on a Yankee bunt in the 8th inning of game six.

The Phillies pose a more tangible set of obstacles. They’ve got power pitchers and a band of sluggers who will pose as much of a threat to the short Yankee Stadium right field porch as the Bombers themselves. They’re not particularly fast, and their manager Charlie Manuel is old school. One through six in the batting order, they’re as strong as anybody in the majors. They’re the defending World Series Champs and have won their last five post season series, going 18-4 in the process.

Position by position, the Phillies stack up reasonably well against the Yankees. Notwithstanding the Phils’ triumvirate of Rollins, Utley and Howard, consisting of two recent mvp’s and the most productive second baseman in baseball, the Yankees hold the edge in the infield. Cano and Teixeira provide far better defense than Utley and Howard; and Jeter and A-Rod destroy Philadelphia’s left side offensively. The guess here is that a Howard miscue at first will figure prominently in a Yankee rally. Posada at catcher outshines the Phils’ Ruiz.

The Phils hold the edge in the outfield. Victorino is brilliant in center field, Werth possesses a powerful throwing arm in right, and Ibanez is better in the field than either Damon or Matsui. At the plate, the Phils are also slightly better, particularly with Swisher slumping.

Which brings us to pitching, where the Phillies have been in a state of flux. Neither the Phils’ rotation nor its bullpen bears much resemblance to the stellar crew which marched through the Brewers, Dodgers, and Tampa Bay a year ago. The only holdover in the rotation is Cole Hamels, last year’s NLCS and World Series mvp, but this year’s question mark. In three post-season starts, his E.R.A is 6.75.

Phils anchor, Cliff Lee, acquired in mid-season from Cleveland, has been unhittable this post-season. Through 20 innings, he’s 3-0 with an unthinkable E.R.A of .74. But the lineups he faced against the Rockies and Dodgers did not contain names like Jeter, Rodriguez, Teixeira and Matsui. Familiar with the left-handed Lee from his days in the American League, this foursome is lifetime 31-83 against him with good power numbers. Lee was a teammate in Cleveland of Yankee powerhouse CC Sabathia; and like CC, he’s a former Cy Young winner, but he does not carry the same warranty.

Pedro Martinez is scheduled to start game two at the Stadium. Martinez was acquired by the Phils in mid-August, did not pitch against Colorado, but twirled seven masterful innings of two-hit ball in game 2 against the Dodgers, who had not faced him during the regular season. The Yanks know Pedro from his seasons with the Red Sox and inter-league play with the Mets. They are unlikely to be so fooled by his off-speed medley as were the free-swinging, youthful Dodgers.

The Yankee starter in game 2 will be A.J. Burnett. Unlike his mentally-steeled teammates, Burnett has a fragile psyche. With runners on base, in a tight situation, Burnett is as likely to throw one in the dirt as on the black. Unlike Andy Pettitte, who manages to wriggle out of situations, Burnett never met an inning he could not mutilate. Game 5 against the Angels is a case in point. After surrendering four runs in the first, he pitched five scoreless, only to melt-down in the critical seventh inning. Nevertheless, he has enough pure stuff to outlast Pedro who will be hard-pressed to enter the sixth against the patient Yankees.

The Phillies have more depth in their rotation than the Yanks, but starters four and five are of little benefit in a seven game series. At the three hole, Pettitte holds the edge over Hamels. Going into the playoffs, the perception was that the Yanks’ bullpen was much better than the Phils’. Following the disappointing performances of Hughes and Chamberlain, and decent efforts by the Phils’ middle against Colorado and L.A., that conclusion is uncertain; but the Yanks hold a clear and convincing advantage with their closer, Rivera, over Brad Lidge.

The Yanks are likely to start left-handers in at least four, and maybe five, of the seven games. This is bad news for Howard, on whom the Phillies are dependent for their run production. Against lefties this season, Howard hit .207 compared to .319 against right-handers. He can be pitched to.

These historic franchises last met in the Fall Classic in 1950, when the Yankees swept the Whiz Kids. The Phils should do better this time.

Yankees in five.

Mark Teixeira applies Yanks’ finishing touch

I like football as much as the next guy. In the fall, a few weeks into the season, when the World Series is over, I’ll plant myself before the tube on an NFL Sunday, and there is no better action.

But not now, not when the temperature is in the ‘90’s, and the pennant races are in full force. Not now do I want to hear about the competition for back-up long snapper. Not now do I want to read front page stories about the turmoil of Jason Campbell;, and not now do I want to listen to thrice-hourly updates from Redskins Park.

If you listen to sportstalk and read the news coverage in any major eastern town other than D.C., then you know that this area’s fixation on its professional football team is out-sized…..and out of place.

I’m nauseated by the Redskin drivel dispensed by the local sportstalk hosts, and I’m bored by the Washington Post’s daily dose of three or more articles on Redskin training camp.

In Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and even in Baltimore, where the Orioles do not contend, the emphasis now is on baseball. There’s an appropriate nod to major developments occurring in the football camps; but the coverage is primarily about pennant races, rotations, pitch counts, wild card races, injuries, and home runs, The home team’s game is carefully scrutinized by the radio host, who has normally watched every pitch. On WFAN, in New York, Mike Francesa can spend hours analyzing Omar Minaya’s personnel moves or Joe Girardi’s handling of his pitching staff. It’s good listening, and it’s what the callers want to talk about, often intelligently.

ON ESPN 980, owned by Daniel Snyder, the mix is 80% Redskins and 20% other stuff. Vinnie Cerrato, executive director for player personnel, hosts one show. Several others originate from Redskin training camp. A recent show was centered around Fan Appreciation Day at the camp. The patter is constant. Redskin this…….. Redskin that. And this is for a team which has posted a 76-84 mark over the past ten years.

For years, I’ve maintained that the sportstalk in this town is the worst in the country. Snyder’s acquisition of ESPN 980 only made it worse. The real problem lies with the on-air talent, which is dull and unimaginative. At ESPN 980, where the local programming runs from noon to seven, the featured talent is Steve Czaban, a short, bald, fat guy who loves to hear his own voice. The pompous Czaban will often interrupt his co-host on the Sports Reporters, the sensible Andy Pollin, to relate a dull anecdote about his personal life.

Close behind on the “they must go” list is Kevin Sheehan who fills the noon to two slot with 120 minutes of sludge. Sheehan is incapable of making a declarative statement without issuing some type of qualifier, as in “He’s not the best tight end in the league, but he’s not the worst, either.” Doc Walker and John Thompson sling hash from 2-4, being careful not to disagree with each other. Then the Sports Reporters (Pollin and Czaban) take over. The station’s talent level was bolstered recently by the firing of Brian Mitchell and Al Kolken. It was called a layoff; but Mitchell was fired for poor grammar, and Kolken’s run-on sentences finally ran out of steam.

Every few months, ESPN 980 alters its lineup, matching and mixing its existing pieces, but rarely bringing in a new face. Just two weeks ago, the midday “Inside the Locker Room” was re-named the “Sports Fix” with Washington Times reporter Thom Loverro joining Sheehan. What exactly is being fixed is unclear since together they talk the same nonsense that Sheehan used to do himself. Loverro is bright and has a nuanced view of sports, but he’s overpowered by the blustery Sheehan and his (Loverro’s) voice sounds like Squiggy in Laverne and Shirley.

When I heard that 106.7 FM was going to a sportstalk format, I was initially enthused. But then I learned that one of their afternoon hosts was LaVarr Arrington. I tuned in anyway; and sure enough, it was more Redskin overload, but with a soft rock melody in the background. I turned that off soon enough, and went to scan.

My relief lies in the DirecTV baseball package, where I can watch eight games at once, or in the case of the Yankees-Red Sox series this weekend, one game with riveted attention. With the Yanks leading the Red Sox by 2.5 games in the AL east, but having lost all eight games this season to the Bosox, this four-game session was the first crucial series of the season.

The Yanks came into the series on a hot streak and with their rotation set up perfectly - Chamberlain, Burnett, Sabathia and Pettitte. Boston was in disarray. Injuries to Dice K and Wakefield have left the Bosox with only two sure pieces in their rotation - Beckett and Lester. 42-year old John Smoltz and young Clay Buchholz were entrusted to start games one and three.

In what would be his last appearance with Boston, and perhaps as a major league pitcher, the venerable Smoltzie offered little against the Yanks on Thursday. His fastball peaked at 86 and his slider had little bite. Chamberlain was only slightly less shaky - walking eight batters in five innings - but he got the big outs with strikeouts. Yanks win 13-6.

Game one would be the last noise made by Red Sox bats for 31 innings, or until Victor Martinez homered in the eighth inning of game four to give Boston a short-lived 2-1
lead. In between, Burnett, Sabathia, and Pettitte made Red Sox loyalists realize what they were missing with Manny Ramirez encamped 3000 miles away in Los Angeles. In losing 2-0 in fifteen innings Friday, and 5-0 Saturday, the Sox went 8 for 76 and 0-12 with runners in scoring position. The drought continued through seven innings Sunday.

What made Boston so formidable from 2003 to 2007 was their 3-4 combo of Ramirez and Ortiz. Ramirez’ antics made him hard to stomach; and many Sawx fans cheered his departure last July for Jason Bay. But with Bay slumping, and Ortiz on his last legs as a feared slugger, the hole in the middle of the Red Sox lineup is glaring.

Desperate for more punch, the Sox traded just before the 7/31 trading deadline for Indians all-star Martinez, who hits for power and can catch, play first base, and DH. They also acquired 1B Casey Kotchman from Atlanta. With Youkilis, Varitek, Lowell, Martinez, Ortiz, and Kotchman, the Sox have six quality players to fill third, catcher, first and dh.

Content with their regular lineup and with their pitching, the Yanks saw fit to add only utility player Jerry Hairston at the trade deadline. Hairston is the fifth player in his immediate family to play in the major leagues, and play he does. He can fill in at third base, shortstop and second, and at all three outfield positions. And he’s got some pop in his bat. Confident, with the hot Andy Pettitte on the hill, the Yanks sought to deliver the knockout blow to Boston in game 4 Sunday. A victory would stretch their lead to 6.5 games.

Through the first six innings, Lester and Pettitte were brilliant. Then Alex Rodriguez broke the ice with his second clutch homer in two days (his blast in the 15th inning ended Friday’s affair) to give the Yanks a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the seventh. Lester’s pitch was 95 and down in the zone, but there are reasons why A-Rod is the most prolific right-handed home run hitter in the history of the American League. He can hit the other guy’s best pitch.

Surprisingly, Girardi chose to protect the lead with lefty Phil Coke rather than Phil Hughes, who has been the bridge to Mariano Rivera for two months. Girardi claimed later that he was committed to avoiding using Hughes on three straight days. But Hughes faced only two batters and made nine pitches on Friday and Saturday combined. Was Girardi over-managing? When Pedroia laced a hard single to left and Martinez smashed Coke’s weak offering deep into the left field seats, Girardi looked like a fool, and the Red Sox looked like they might escape the Bronx with their pride intact and the deficit just 4.5 games.

100 mph r-h reliever Dan Bard opened the eighth by blowing out Melky Cabrera and Derek Jeter. Perhaps impressed by Bard’s velocity, manager Terry Francona left him in to face the lefty Johnny Damon. He had lefty Okajima available. Damon met Bard’s low heat with a perfectly-timed easy swing which sent the ball soaring on a line over the fence in right center field. Mark Teixeira followed with a high arching homer into the proximate right field seats. Yankees win, Yankees sweep.

Everything’s going right for the Yankees now. For once, their plunges into the free agent market have been fruitful. Sabbathia, Burnett, Teixeira, and Swisher are all having splendid years. Their core -Jeter, Rivera, Posada, and Pettitte - is healthy and performing at a high level. Cano, Damon, Cabrera and Matsui are all contributing. There are no soft spots in the lineup. Hairston fills out the bench. The bullpen has been stellar.

Can the Bombers be stopped? Never in their long history have they relinqusihed a pennant or division championship when leading by six or more games in August. They look like a lock to win the AL East, but Boston, with stoppers in Beckett and Lester, can still create problems in a short series. In the National League, Philadelphia looks like a juggernaut, and LA has a great regular lineup.

But these and other issues will not be resolved before the dog days of August and the pennant drives of September. This is when baseball is at its best, except for the Divisional Series’, the League Championships, and the Fall Classic.

Yeah, I like football as much as the next guy. Just not now.

A-Rod certifies that he’s back.

For the first five weeks of the new season, Yankee manager Joe Girardi has been reaching for the Rolaids but getting no relief. His bullpen has pitched to a collective era over six; bridge men Damaso Marte and Brian Bruney are on the disabled list; and closer Mariano Rivera has already relinquished a season’s worth of home runs, including two in a row for the first time in his career.

To make matters worse, in the early going, Yank starting pitching was averaging slightly more than five innings per start. This means that the bullpen was taking over in the sixth inning, rather than the seventh or eighth. That’s a bridge too far to closer Rivera.

In the championship seasons, the Yanks’ formula for success was not to outslug the opponent but to take a tight lead into the seventh inning and rely on the bullpen to shut the door. In most cases, the lead was built by adequate to good starting pitching from the likes of Pettite, Clemens, El Duque, and Jimmy Key. In 1996, the young Rivera provided the bridge to closer John Wetteland. When Rivera became the closer in 1997, Mike Stanton, Jeff Nelson, and Ramiro Mendoza provided a seamless link to the impeccable Mariano.

But it hasn’t been that way for years. The Yanks have brought in lefty specialists who couldn’t get lefthanders out (Alan Embree, Ron Villone, Mike Meyer). They’ve signed free agent relievers to big contracts who failed (Steve Karsay, Tom Gordon). They made a big splash when they signed hard-throwing Ryan Farnsworth for the purpose of pitching the seventh and eighth inning of close games; but they, and the rest of the league, came to realize that Farnsworth’s 98 mph heater had no movement.

This year, the Yank bullpen has been downright incendiary. Already, opponents have scored ten or more runs against them eight times, including Cleveland’s 22-4 romp April 18th. No less than 13 hurlers have been employed in relief roles already this season. Rivera has been solid, but the bridge to him has been in need of structural repair.

But after this weekend’s two of three series victory over the Orioles at Camden Yards, which included the heroic return of A-Rod and a four-hit masterpiece Friday night by C.C. Sabbathia, the bullpen is showing signs that it is no longer leaking fluid.

In Monument Park of the new Yankee Stadium, there exist stone tributes to the careers of many Yankee greats. Most expect that the next admittee will be Derek Jeter when his glorious career ends in the next several years or Rivera if he retires first. But a strong candidate for admission is lefty Phil Coke, who yesterday became the first Yank reliever all season to pitch a scoreless seventh and eighth inning of a close game.

It may be too soon to anoint Coke as the next Rivera. Consider that the bottom of the Orioles line-up consists of Ty Wigginton (.198), Geoff Zahn (.210), Felix Pie (.183) and Robert Andino (.261 in 23 at-bats). But Coke didn’t walk anybody, he didn’t hit anybody, and he didn’t give up any runs.

Even more thrilling than Coke’s performance Sunday was the Friday night spectacle provided by A-Rod. who was returning to play for the first time this season after hip surgery and the disclosure that he took steroids. On a beautiful night before a packed stadium, the teams led with their aces - Sabbathia for the Yanks and Jeremy Guthrie for the Orioles. There was a buzz in the air and most of it was coming from A-Rod.

Just before the national anthem, he was the only player warming up, engaged in long toss from varying distances with Yank sub Ramiro Pena. When he finally entered the dugout, he was met with fist bumps by several players. Oriole fans were not so generous. In addition to the numerous “A-Roid” fingerpointers, one prominent sign displayed a needle and syringe aimed at a butt labeled “A-Roid.”

In the top of the first, Guthrie put himself in an early hole with walks to Damon and Teixeira. The first pitch to A-Rod was 97 mph right down the middle, and A-Rod met it with a ferocity that belied that he had not played in a major league game in eight months. Bernard Malamud couldn’t have scripted it better. This wasn’t just A-Rod’s first game back, or his first at-bat. It was the first pitch.

The ball arched on a high, mighty, trajectory toward the State Farm Insurance sign in dead left-center field. Any doubt that it was going was eliminated by A-Rod himself, who flipped his bat discourteously a couple of steps out of the batter’s box. His trot around the bases was measured, almost stylistic, and when he crossed homeplate to a cheering dugout, Yankee fans felt goose bumps. The only thing missing was a bolt of lightning destroying the light system.

A-Rod was quiet the rest of the night, and the Orioles were lifeless, as if the electricity generated by the A-bomb had sapped them of strength. They succumbled quietly to Sabbathia’s mixed offerings. The Big Fella, who looks every gram of his three-bills-plus tonnage, utilizes four pitches at speeds varying from 98 to 78. He seems to be rounding into the form the Yanks anticipated when they signed him to a 161M, 7-year contract during the off-season. In fact, when Sabbathia huddled at the mound briefly with A-Rod, Jeter, and Teixeira, it was the first official gathering for the most expensive infield in baseball history. Between them, these four stars earn just under one hundred million per season.

Whether they are enough to launch the Yankees to the playoffs is problematic. As good as they are, A-Rod, Jeter, and Teixeira can’t pitch the seventh and eighth innings. And Sabbathia, as good as he is, pitches only every fifth day.

Does anybody know a good bridge repairman?

Bud Selig is upset because he might be tarnished by the steroid scandals. He told Newsday that he doesn’t “want to hear” any suggestion that he turned a blind eye to the developing influence of steroids in baseball. But in fact, Bud, that’s exactly what you did. For years, you thrived on the home run outburst which rescued the game after the 1994 strike and professed not to notice the bulging necks, heads, and biceps of Bonds, Sosa, McGuire and the other newly-anointed home run hitters. Brady Anderson hit 50 homers in 1996. Luis Gonzalez hit 57 in 2001.

You didn’t hear Bud complain then. And you probably never would have seen the owners do a damn thing about steroid testing had it not been foisted upon them by Congress. Bud likes to blame baseball’s intransigence on the player’s union, which vociferously opposed testing ; but a testing policy could have been negotiated at a much earlier stage had the owners been ahead of the curve in insisting upon it.

The steroid problem did not just arise with McGwire and Sosa in 1998. Jose Canseco, Lenny Dykstra, Ken Caminiti, and others brought the issue to the forefront in the late 1980’s and early nineties. It must be noted, as well, that Bud did not act upon the suggestion of outgoing commissioner Fay Vincent to compel team owners to discipline steroid users.

Selig’s sole lasting contribution to baseball is the wild card format. At all times, on all issues, he has been the last person to act out of principle. Prior to taking a position on a matter, he will gauge every wind current and consider each pro and con on his way to taking a noncommittal stance. When asked about amending the record book to exclude or single out known PED (performance-enhancing drugs) users, he replied, “I’m not going to comment on changing the records except to say that I never flatly deny anything.” Hmmm.

Washingtonians will remember how Bud thwarted the city’s efforts to land a team until it became the last place standing for the Expos to move. And even then MLB held us up, insisting on a purchase price for the team which was above market. During the many years when Washington was desperate to obtain a team, we never got a straight answer from the ex-car salesman turned commissioner turned politician. Now, when he asks us. “How can I be held responsible for the steroid problem?,” our resounding answer is “Yes, you can.”

It would have been more sensible for Bud to admit some responsibility for the current state of affairs, as in “Major League baseball could have done more to anticipate the problem.” But Bud doesn’t have it in him to admit weakness. He now strikes the delicate balance of blaming A-Rod publicly (“He’s shamed baseball.”) but doing little or nothing to sanction him, which the Commissioner has the power to do for conduct detrimental to the game. Reportedly, he will force A-Rod to submit to questioning by Major League investigators; but does Bud really want A-Rod to overturn any manhole covers? The guess here is that Bud leaked the report, and will do little or nothing to compel A-Rod to name names.

A-Rod, of course, lied through his teeth, often. In his interview with Peter Gammons, he denied knowing what drugs he took (“To be quite honest, I don’t know exactly what substance I was guilty of using”), and stated flatly that he stopped taking steroids in the spring of 2003 when he felt discomfort in his neck. Eight days later in his press conference he identified the drug he took, and said that he stopped taking it later in 2003 when the league announced a testing program.

His news conference opened up new cans of worms. He identified only one drug, “Boli,” which is street parlance for Primobolan, an anabolic steroid. But he also tested positive for high levels of testosterone which could have not been generated by Primobolan only. He blamed his indiscretion on being young and stupid, but in 2003, he was twenty eight and a ten-year major league veteran. And he was very careful to peg his last use at not later than 2003, which is just outside the five-year statute of limitations for prosecuting the federal offense of illegal possession of a prohibited substance.

On the surface, it is hard to understand A-Rod’s facility for arousing the enmity of so many people, including Yankee fans, who have always rallied around their heroes. He is handsome, he is likable, and he hits home runs with great frequency. But if there’s one quality New Yorkers can’t stand, it’s fakery, and A-Rod gives off plenty of that. Had he admitted that he took steroids to gain an edge, to keep up with the other players he suspected of steroid use, with full consciousness of their illegality, he might have kept the fans on his side, as did Andy Pettitte a year ago and Jason Giambi in 2005.

A-Rod is now accused of being stupid, and disingenuous, and a phony; but at least, he hasn’t been charged with perjury. As Barry Bonds faces perjury charges in a San Francisco courtroom March 2nd, arising from his denial that he knew what he was taking was a steroid, and Roger Clemens inches closer to indictment for his false testimony about steroid use before a House committee, do these superstars of baseball history regret the display of hubris which caused them to think they could power their way through a grand jury and Congress?

When the Mitchell Report came out in December, 2007, naming Clemens as a steroid user, he reacted with full force. He called a press conference, broadcast live on ESPN, at which he played a tape of his phone conversation with accuser Brian McNamee. The tape was conclusively inconclusive but Clemens remonstrated that it proved his innocence. He then filed an unwinnable civil lawsuit against McNamee for defamation. He all but baited the House Committee on Oversight and Operations to call him to testify, which it did.
In advance of the hearing, Clemens lobbied friendly Congressmen at their offices on the Hill. He was combative during his testimony.

Perhaps Clemens placed his bet that his Republican backers on the Hill could keep matters at hand. He was such pals with “W” that he erected a horseshoe pit at his Texas ranch for the President’s use on his visits. But led by publicity-seeking Chairman Henry Waxman, the Committee made a spectacle of Roger and referred the case to the Justice Department, which reportedly is ready to indict him for lying under oath.

And don’t you think Lawyer Rusty Hardin is re-thinking his decision to permit Clemens to testify? It would have been nonsensical for Clemens to posture as he did and then refuse to testify. But had he taken a more demure approach in advance of the hearing, he might have been in a position to maintain his denial, and then invoke the Fifth Amendment as to matters which might implicate him in the commission of a crime. “Taking the nickel” would have damaged him in the short run, but he wouldn’t have exposed himself to perjury, which is the ultimate trap.

Other athletes named in the Mitchell report refused to comment or admitted to steroid use, with little ramification. Pettitte, Giambi, and Brian Roberts resumed their careers with limited impact. Roberts just signed a big contract. Clemens, had his ego permitted, might have denied McNamee’s allegations without trying to bury him. Had he done so, his reputation would have been stained, but not trashed; and in all likelihood, he would not have been summoned to testify before Congress under oath. He might have eased into retirement gracefully.

Bonds, as well, took an unnecessarily challenging position before the BALCO grand jury. He admitted to taking prohibited drugs, but denied knowing they were steroids. He denied receiving injections from anyone other than a physician when there were witnesses to him being so administered by his trainer Greg Anderson. He was dismissive of the grand jury process and with the press. His defense team has been successful in excluding certain records from the case, but the Government is planning to parade a host of live witnesses who will testify against the slugger.

For Bonds and Clemens, their high-stakes rebuttal to the suggestion they used steroids has cost them a dignified end to their careers and most of their reputation. It now threatens to restrain their freedom. A-Rod, after his clumsy admission, will still have plenty of opportunity to redeem himself. If he leads the Yankees to a pennant, all will be forgiven. Regarding the Hall of Fame, he’ll have a body of work before and after his admitted steroid years to demonstrate that the PED’s had little impact on his performance.

As for Bud, he would like to be known as the Commissioner Who Saved Baseball. The League has set new records for revenues and team profits during his tenure. But it’s just as likely he’ll be primarily remembered as the commissioner who presided over the steroid years, and allowed them to happen. More than Bud would like to admit, his legacy may be forever linked with A-Rod’s. If the day comes when A-Rod is admitted to the Hall of Fame, chances are that Bud will be viewed in a more favorable light.

But until then, Bud, you’ll just be Bud lite.

After DeJuan Blair had manhandled him at both ends of the court, Greg Monroe, Georgetown’s shining star at center, could only remark “He’s real strong. He definitely knows how to use his strength and width.” At 6′7″ and 265, Blair put his strength and width to work all day against the rebounding-challenged Hoyas. His 20 points and 17 rebounds were the decisive factor in a Pitt victory which was even more convincing than the 70-54 final tally, ending Georgetown’s 29-game home winning streak.

Incredibly, Pitt came into this game as the underrated no. 3 team in the country. Off the strength of their trouncing of no. 2 UConn at Storrs last Monday, the Hoyas were favored by three and a half points over the Panthers. Georgetown was improved at all five starting positions and boasted convincing wins over Maryland, Memphis, and the Huskies. Pitt had beaten nobody of note, and featured no star recruits to enliven last year’s squad, which often struggled to score.

The Panthers appeared to be the better team in the first half, but led by only 33-30. A Hoya fan remarked, “We’re lucky to be this close.” He was right, and the Hoyas’ luck did not hold. With the second-half tip, Blair went right to work.

He scored the first seven points of the second half, four on post-ups in which he out-positioned the inexperienced Monroe. Then, he started a 3-point play with a muscle-up against a triple team. Monroe had keyed the Hoya offense against Connecticut, when he drew the 7′3″ Hakeem Thabeet outside and either drove or passed behind him to cutters. But Blair pushed Monroe around like a rag doll. When Blair dunked home a feed from Levance Fields to make it 55-44 with seven minutes remaining, the cold-shooting Hoyas were, as a practical matter, toast.

Blair is a happy-go-lucky block of granite who hails from Pittsburgh. He plays with a big smile and pounds his chest after a good play. “I’ve got good teeth,” said the celebrating Blair afterwards. “Why not show them off?”. He’s known as Big Fella to the Pitt faithful, but as the Panthers’ undersized center, he’s often called upon to guard players several inches taller. But none of them are wider, and none of them are stronger.

Like Georgetown, Pitt favors the half-court set, with Fields monopolizing the dribble. If Fields penetrates, which is often, he’ll usually dish off to Blair or Sam Young for the jam. Alternatively, Young is allowed to work one on one. Early in the possession, Blair bides his time on the left elbow; but if plans A and B are closed, he’ll make a hard cut into the block and call for the ball when the angle is right. Invariably, Fields will find him with a deft pass, and Blair will bull for the basket.

If it seems like Pitt has fielded the same team for years, it’s because they have. Point guard Fields, superstar Young, and Tyrell Biggs are in their fourth year of varsity play. Gilbert Brown is a rising star coming off the bench, and Juan Dixon’s brother, Jermaine, is a freshman shooting guard with a feathery touch. They are physical, they play with purpose, and unlike Connecticut, they defend. The same backdoor plays which worked for lay ups against the Huskies turned into steals for the tenacious Panthers. Fields controls the pace and flow of the game without peer. Watching Pitt outmuscle and outhustle the Hoyas, it’s not hard to imagine them stacking up favorably against North Carolina.

In the event of such an encounter, it’ll be Big Fella versus Tyler Hansbrough, irresistible force versus immovable object. If Blair is able to play Hansbrough to a standstill, do the Tarheels then become mortal, leaving Sam Young to play the difference-maker? That possibility is not as remote as it appeared just 48 hours ago.

As apparent as Pittsburgh’s strengths were Georgetown’s limitations. To be effective, the Hoyas must connect on their 3-pointers. Their post-up game is still developmental. Aside from DaJuan Summers, who was hot early, the Hoyas shot 2-15 from beyond the stripe, often missing wide-open shots at critical junctures. Their bench provided only two points compared to fourteen for Pittsburgh. Even in the winning effort against UConn, the bench contributed little.

Last year’s team got vital contributions off the bench from Patrick Ewing, Jr, now toiling in the NBA development league. Vernon Macklin, who has since transferred, provided valuable reserve minutes. Considering Georgetown’s brutal schedule, with upcoming games against Notre Dame, Syracuse, Duke and West Virginia, the development of a bench is a matter of the highest priority. .

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Major League baseball was taking no chances. When it launched the new MLB Network (Channel 213 on DirecTV) on January first, it wasted no time planting its hooks deep. Its first national rebroadcasting of Don Larsen’s 1956 World Series perfect game set the nostalgia factory in motion.

What was notable in the grainy black and white broadcast of game 5 was the simplicity of the presentation. There was only one man in the booth, the great Mel Allen for the first four and a half innings, followed by Vin Scully. Except for one Papermate Pen commercial featuring the wide-mouthed Joe E. Brown, the entire broadcast was sponsored by Gillette, which offered razors, dispenser, travel case, and a vest-pocket baseball encyclopedia for $1.00. Commercials often featured smiling ballplayers smothered in shaving leather. Oddly, this group did not include opposing pitcher Sal Maglie whose nickname was “The Barber.”

Commercial breaks lasted about a minute. There were no graphics other than the name of the batter at the plate. Batting averages were provided by the announcers. The center field camera did not exist. Nor did replay. The play by play was tight and informative, with none of the idle chatter which punctuates modern broadcasts. When Mantle tracked down a scorching Hodges line drive to left center, Allen offered, “Mantle doesn’t get as good a jump as some center fielders, but he has such sheer speed that he outruns the ball.” When Reese stretched high to snare Maglie’s high throw to second for a force-out, Scully noted, “Pee Wee does a toe dance to stay on the bag.” In the top of the ninth inning, the pressure unbearable, Scully said. “Yankee Stadium is shivering in its concrete foundation.” Allen’s home run call of Mantle’s fourth inning shot down the right field line was laconic but stirring: “There’s one, if it stays fair. Going, going, gone!”

When the camera spanned along the third base line, I looked hard for my ten year old self, my dad, and my first cousin; but we did not stand out in the throng of 64,517. The big plays were as I remembered them, but I did not recall Snider’s shoe-top grab of a line drive by Berra, which immediately followed Mantle’s homer, nor the near-miss shots of Snider and Amoros down the right field line.

Here are the starting line-ups:

Brooklyn : Gilliam, Reese, Snider, Robinson, Hodges, Amoros, Furillo, Campanella, Maglie

Yankees: Bauer, Collins, Mantle, Berra, Slaughter, Martin, McDougald, Carey, Larsen.

There were six Hall of Famers starting, and six more on the benches, including managers Stengel and Alston. During the last three games of the Series, Yankee pitchers relinquished seven base hits and one run, that coming when the Dodgers scored in the top of the tenth inning of game six to eke out a 1-0 victory. The Yankees did not go to their bull pen once during games five through seven.

Watching Mantle at the plate for the first time in many years, my fascination for him as a youth was understandable. Even during his warm-up swings, which I imitated so many times in my backyard, he conveyed an image of pent-up strength waiting to explode. It was perfectly fitting that in his Triple Crown year, The Mick would be the best supporting actor in Larsen’s perfectly thrown game.