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Pettitte testifies uncomfortably in Clemens case
Andy Pettitte (PEHT’-iht) looked like he wanted to be anywhere but on the witness stand in the perjury trial of former baseball star Roger Clemens.
During breaks in the proceedings Tuesday, Pettitte sometimes rubbed his eyes for several seconds, looking like he couldn’t wait for this to end.
But Pettitte returns to the stand Wednesday, when Clemens’ lawyers will continue to try to sow doubts about the testimony Pettitte provided for prosecutors when he said Clemens had mentioned to him that he had taken human growth hormone.
Clemens, who told Congress in 2008 that his friend and former teammate “misremembers” the conversation, is accused of lying to Congress when he said he never took HGH or steroids.
Pettitte and Clemens pitched together for the New York Yankees and Houston Astros.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Yankees OF Swisher expected to miss a week
Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher is expected to miss a week because of a strained left hamstring.
New York manager Joe Girardi gave the update on Swisher before Monday night’s game against Baltimore. Girardi said the team hoped Swisher would be ready to play a week from Tuesday at home against Tampa Bay, and did not need to put him on the disabled list.
Swisher says he felt a “little pinch” in his hamstring when he took his first swing Sunday against Detroit. He was pulled in the third inning for a pinch runner.
Swisher says an MRI exam did not show any extensive damage. He says he had a similar injury in 2007 that sidelined him for nine or 10 days. He is hitting .284 with six home runs and 23 RBIs.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Andy Pettitte to pitch for Trenton Thunder
New York Yankees left-hander Andy Pettitte will return to New Jersey this week to make the next start of his comeback.
Pettitte is scheduled to be on the mound Wednesday night when the Trenton Thunder, New York’s Double-A team, hosts the Erie SeaWolves. It will be the second minor league game Pettitte appears in this season, as he tries to return to the majors following a one-year retirement.
Pettitte last pitched for the Thunder on an injury rehab assignment in September 2010.
Wednesday’s game, due to start at 7:05 p.m., is expected to draw a large crowd.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
MLB approves Dodgers’ finalists
Major League Baseball owners have unanimously approved the three remaining groups bidding to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers from Frank McCourt, setting up a final private auction for the bankrupt team.
A person familiar with the call, speaking on condition of anonymity because no announcement was made, said the vote took place during a teleconference Tuesday. McCourt and his advisers will conduct negotiations and select the winner in the coming days.
One group is led by former Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson; another by Stan Kroenke, whose family properties include the St. Louis Rams; and the last by Steven Cohen, a hedge fund founder who is a limited partner in the New York Mets.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
2012 spring training — Andy Pettitte returning to New York Yankees, signs minor league deal – ESPN New York
Left-hander Andy Pettitte is coming back to the New York Yankees.
Pettitte, who retired before last season, has signed a one-year minor league contract with an invitation to spring training, the team said. The deal is worth $2.5 million, baseball sources told ESPN The Magazine’s Buster Olney.
Pettitte started 21 games in 2010 for the Yankees, going 11-3 with a 3.28 ERA. He was 14-8 with a 4.16 ERA in 2009, his last full season…
Clemens trial a story of 2 friends turned enemies
The Roger Clemens trial just getting under way comes down to a tale of two men.
It’s about a baseball star and his trainer who rose together to the heights of their professions only to become bitter enemies. They’ve ultimately destroyed each other’s reputations as stand-up family men who were the best at what they did.
The mutual damage is bound to get worse over the next few weeks as Clemens is tried on charges he lied to Congress when he denied ever using performance-enhancing drugs.
Clemens’ former trainer, Brian McNamee, says he injected his star client repeatedly with steroids and human growth hormone and even saved some of the needles and gauze.
Clemens says McNamee is a liar who fabricated the evidence with designs on blackmailing him.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Reyes tells Mets he won’t negotiate during season
Jose Reyes has told the New York Mets he’s not interested in negotiating a new contract during the season.
The star shortstop can become a free agent after the World Series and could be one of the biggest prizes on the open market next winter. Reyes says he wants to stay with the Mets, but doesn’t want any off-the-field distractions right now.
Mets general manager Sandy Alderson says he reached out recently to Reyes’ agent, Peter Greenberg, and asked about the possibility of negotiating a new deal during the season.
Reyes, the NL batting leader, met with his representatives at home Monday and they informed the Mets they would rather wait until after the season to talk about a new contract.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
McCourt lawyer: Selig hasn’t acted in good faith
An attorney for Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt says baseball Commissioner Bud Selig didn’t act in good faith when he rejected a proposed television deal that would help rescue the troubled franchise.
Robert Sacks told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Selig’s decision to jettison the transaction with Fox Sports puts the Dodgers in a “cash-flow bind” and the commissioner could have alerted McCourt earlier about his decision.
Selig said Monday that the deal, reportedly worth up to $3 billion, wouldn’t serve the best interests of baseball.
Rob Manfred, an executive vice president of Major League Baseball, says McCourt has been treated fairly and the decision to reject the deal was done after a thorough investigation.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Jeter limps off with 2,994 hits, Indians win 1-0 – AP
Derek Jeter limped off the field with a sore right calf four innings after getting his 2,994th hit, and Carlos Carrasco escaped early trouble to pitch the Cleveland Indians past the New York Yankees 1-0 last night.
There was no immediate word on the severity of Jeter’s injury. He was noticeably hurt as he jogged toward first base during a flyout in the fifth and left the game, stalling his pursuit to become the 28th big leaguer to reach 3,000 career hits.
Teammates, fans and even Jeter himself had said it would be nice to achieve the milestone at Yankee Stadium. New York has three games against Texas left on this homestand, and then goes on a six-game road trip to Wrigley Field in Chicago, and Cincinnati.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Lead BALCO investigator on witness stand – AP
Jeff Novitzky, the tall, unflappable lead investigator of the government’s nine-year sports doping investigation will likely fold himself back into the witness stand for a second day as the lead witness in the Barry Bonds’ criminal trial.
Sipping from a ubiquitous bottle of water, Novitzky is scheduled to continue sparing with Bonds’ tenacious lawyer Allen Ruby on Wednesday, who failed to unnerve Novitzky during a late afternoon cross examination Tuesday of the Food and Drug Administration agent.
For the third time in as many steroids-related federal trials in San Francisco, prosecutors called Novitzky as their first witness to lay out for a jury how he came to investigate the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, known as BALCO. Novitzky worked for the IRS at the time.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
