MLB briefs
Clemens makes rounds WASHINGTON (AP) – While Roger Clemens wrapped up his day of door-to-door lobbying Congress, Brian McNamee’s attorneys presented two color photographs of needles, vials of testosterone and other evidence turned over to the government that they said Thursday will prove the former personal trainer injected the star pitcher with performance enhancers.
McNamee headed straight for the exit, not speaking a word to reporters, when he emerged from a seven-hour deposition with lawyers from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. His attorneys wouldn’t discuss the deposition, but they did talk at length about the pictures they showed the committee for the first time.
“Roger Clemens has put himself in a position where his legacy as the greatest pitcher in baseball will depend less on his ERA and more on his DNA,” said one of McNamee’s lawyers, Earl Ward.
The seven-time Cy Young Award winner’s denials of McNamee’s allegations in the Mitchell Report about drug use drew Congress’ attention.
Martinez in video
A video of New York Mets pitcher Pedro Martinez and Hall of Famer Juan Marichal at a cockfight was posted this week on YouTube.
Martinez and Marichal laugh before releasing the roosters. The two took part as honorary “soltadores,” the word used to describe the person who puts the animal to fight.
The animal released by Martinez appears to be killed on the video, which was posted Tuesday. The fight takes place in the Coliseo Gallistico de Santo Domingo (Santo Domingo Cockfighting Coliseum) in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic’s biggest cockfighting venue. Cockfighting is legal and popular in the Dominican Republic.
By early Thursday, the video was removed “due to terms of use violation.”
Burnett sent to minors
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Left-hander Sean Burnett cleared waivers and was sent outright Thursday to the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Triple-A Indianapolis farm club.
The move removes Burnett from the club’s 40-man roster, but he will attend spring training next week as a nonroster player.
Burnett was the Pirates’ first-round draft pick in 2000. He won five consecutive starts shortly after being recalled in 2004, but he needed reconstructive left elbow surgery later that year. He also had an operation to repair his left shoulder, a problem related to his elbow injury.
Burnett has not pitched in the majors since, and Pirates scouts said his velocity was down when he recently made six winter-ball starts in Venezuela.
Schilling still hurting
BOSTON (AP) – Curt Schilling has a “significant” shoulder injury that could require career-ending surgery, according to a report that also said the Red Sox looked into whether they can void the $8 million, 1-year-contract he agreed to three months ago.
The Boston Herald reported on its Web site on Thursday that Schilling could have an injury to his rotator cuff or labrum, one serious enough to require surgery that could end Schilling’s career. The 41-year-old right-hander has said 2008 will be his last year.
Schilling did not respond to a telephone call or e-mail seeking comment, and his publicist, Katie Leighton, said Schilling would not have any comment Thursday. Red Sox officials did not respond to multiple e-mails and calls seeking comment; spokesman John Blake said the team had no comment.
Schilling, who spent seven weeks on the disabled list with right shoulder tendinitis last year, went 9-8 with a 3.87 ERA during the regular season last year. In the playoffs, he went 3-0 with a 3.00 ERA to help the Red Sox win their second World Series in four seasons.
He agreed in November to a contract that allows him to earn an addition $5 million in performance and weight bonuses.
Copyright Associated Press 2008