Derek Jeter, Roger Clemens

 -- Back on July 9 Derek Jeter entered the exclusive 3000 hits club in style by hitting his third home run of the season. The sub story was that of one Christian Lopez. He was the 23-year-old young man who caught the home run ball. Shortly after doing so he was swept away by Yankee Stadium security where he, without hesitation, freely handed the ball over. After the fact, some people have estimated the ball's value as high as $200,000 on the open market! Lopez has received tens of thousands of dollars worth of gifts from the Yankees and other New York businesses as a pat on the back. So the raging question in sports talk became "What would you have done if you caught the ball?" Well, here's what I would have done if I had caught the ball: I would have taken a pair of tiny scissors and cut the seams of the baseball. After burning the threads I would have fed the leather casing through a shredder, unraveled the 319 yards of wool yarn, lit one end like a wick and waited for the rubber center to be exposed. Then after peeling off the two thin rubber layers, I would throw the cork center into a recycle bin. Inside a Modern Baseball

"Why the hatred, Just Joe?" Well, it doesn't have anything to do with Jeter himself. It's hard not to respect that dude. It has more to do with the over coverage of the Yankees. Yankees this and Yankees that... it is made to seem like baseball wouldn't exist without them. So why is being overcovered their fault? Mostly, it isn't. I blame the media (coughing towards "The Ship of Mothers") and its reporters. I never fully bought into the "East Coast bias"that is claimed by non-East Coasters. But if you want to talk about a Northeast bias, particularly New York and Boston, I'm with you (yes, I see the irony). So my destruction of the baseball has more to do with punishing the Yankees and the reporters who have instilled this hatred in me.

I would like to add however that Mr. Jeter should have been at the All-Star game. If he didn't want to play, fine. But you were voted by fans the starting shortstop for the American League and you didn't make it because of "mental exhaustion?" I don't even know where to begin with that. I'll just say we should all be so lucky to have the "stress" of our imminent 3000th hit. Just get on the private jet, tip your cap and fly home. On the other hand, after 16 years of seemingly perfect decision-making, he is allowed to mess up one decision.

 -- And finally for today, Roger Clemens. The perjury trial against him began and there's already a rumor/speculation that Clemens will not testify. I understand the Fifth Amendment and that Clemens does not have to testify against himself and that it is a wise strategy for being found "not guilty," but that is way different than being found "innocent." If you're trying to scream from every mountaintop to maintain your innocence, then don't defend yourself by merely poking holes in the character of the main witness against you. Get up there and take the heat. If you do that then there might actually be a chance to recover your reputation. But to say "I swear I didn't do it" with your only defense being that the accuser is of poor moral character... doesn't quite scream innocence.

Just Joe

***********************  UPDATE  *************************

Don't you love it when you comment on an ongoing trial only to find out 30 seconds after clicking "Publish Post" that the trial has been declared a "mistrial?" Thanks a lot, screwy prosecution! My guess is that Clemens skates. As much as you can't let anyone get away with lying to Congress, allegedly, I'm not sure we want to spend the money involved in starting from square one.