MLB


Clemens Not Welcome on Olympic Team

By RONALD BLUM,
AP
Posted: 2008-05-08 00:53:22
NEW YORK (May 8) - Roger Clemens isn't welcome on the U.S. Olympic baseball team. U.S. general manager Bob Watson said Wednesday that he isn't considering the 45-year-old right-hander for his roster for the Beijing Games.

"From my standpoint, we don't need that type of distraction," Watson said.

In addition to his duties as vice president of on-field operations for Major League Baseball, Watson is general manager of professional baseball operations for USA Baseball and works to select manager Davey Johnson's roster.

A former GM of the Houston Astros and New York Yankees, Watson said he didn't anticipate being overruled by higher-ups.

"I have not talked to the commissioner. I have not talked to (MLB chief operating officer) Bob DuPuy, nor have I talked to his agent, but I just think the distraction that he's carrying right now, from my standpoint, we don't need that," Watson said.


A seven-time Cy Young Award winner, Clemens was accused by his former trainer, Brian McNamee, of using performance-enhancing drugs in 1998, 2000 and 2001, before players and owners agreed to ban them. Clemens repeatedly denied the accusations and filed a defamation suit against McNamee.

In November, a month before the Mitchell Report was released, Clemens' agent, Randy Hendricks, said pitching in the Olympics was "something to consider." Hendricks said he had discussed it in general terms with Clemens.

Clemens played for the U.S. team in the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006. He went 6-6 with a 4.18 ERA for the Yankees last season, and the 354-game winner hasn't said whether he wants to play in 2008.

"The other thing, too you've got to remember his last three or four outings, he had to take injections in his elbow. He had to take injections in his groin area. He wasn't the healthiest guy on the team," Watson said. "So there's some young guys who are throwing the ball well, and I think we could put together 12 pitchers, sadly to say, that would be throwing better than he was at the end of the year last year."

At the U.S. Olympic team media summit last month, Watson was quoted as saying Clemens wasn't "on my radar screen" because of his performance at the end of last season. On Wednesday, however, Watson said "distraction" was an issue, too.

Last week, the Daily News reported Clemens had a decade-long relationship with country star Mindy McCready that began when she was 15 and an aspiring singer. The newspaper also linked the seven-time Cy Young Award winner to former Manhattan bartender Angela Moyer and Paulette Dean Daly, a former wife of champion golfer John Daly.

Clemens apologized Monday for unspecified mistakes in his personal life and denied having an affair with a 15-year-old.

Players not on 25-man major league rosters are eligible for consideration for Olympic baseball teams. Baseball was dropped for the 2012 London Games but is attempting to gain reinstatement for 2016.

Hendricks did not return an e-mail seeking comment Wednesday.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2008-05-08 00:53:22


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jinkieb 10:36:43 AM May 08 2008

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Enough of people acting like lemmings. It's sickening.

Roger is being painted black by that sad sack of sh_t Brian McNamee. It is disgusting and his friends and former teammates should rally to Roger's defense. Baseball players aren't much, kind of "company men" - like Derek Jeter - they are a crummy, disloyal bunch. I guess most of them have done far worse than Roger ever did and are afraid to draw attention to themselves.......

tdogwiz 08:43:50 AM May 08 2008

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He's such an ********, your going down punk!
-T

boobie827 07:38:11 AM May 08 2008

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GOOD BYE ROGER GOOD BYE ROGER IM GLAD TO SEE YOU GO , NO MORE HEAD HUNTING AND BAT THROWING AND YOUR NOT THE GREATEST PITCHER OF OUR TIMES. YOUR THE GREATEST CHEATER OF OUR TIME AND YOUR POOR WIFE IS HUMILIATED. YOU DOGGGGGGGGGG

mman93225 02:29:20 AM May 08 2008

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who really gives a **** about steroids and baseball, and Iam sick of there witch hunt and I think that our money could be better spent on anything but this stupid crap

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