When Roger Clemens was with the Houston Astros, he was one of my favorite players. How could you not like a dominant, power right hander. He came to the mound withy fury and determination. He had the anger and will to come straight at guys and strike them out. Well, according to the Mitchell Report released yesterday, we now know why Clemens was so furious on the mound. There is now reasoning behind him throwing a shattered baseball bat at Piazza. Roger Clemens was named in the Mitchell Report and allegedly took performance enhancing steroid in his ass. Way to be a role model to all the millions of fans, including your own sons.

Roger Clemens wasn’t alone though. His best friend Andy Petitte was also named, along with Tejada, Lo Duca, Gibbons, Roberts, Sheffield, Giambi, and of course Barry Bonds. These players are just a handful of the ones named. Odds are there were dozens more who took the drugs, but just didn’t get caught.

It’s said that Barry Bonds gave baseball a black eye. It’s most hallowed mark, the all-time homerun record, is tainted by steroid allegations. Now it’s safe to say that Clemens and the rest of the Mitchell crew have given baseball it’s second black eye.

Not much is known about what will happen to these players. Many of the named guys aren’t even active. The active players will get a slight suspension, while the retired players will have to worry about their name being tarnish and their possible Hall of Fame careers being nothing more then good career embelished with drugs and lies.

Barry Bonds arrived in court today and entered a not guilty plea. Bonds has maintained his innocence since day 1 and will testify and prove in court that he is not guilty of four counts of perjury and one of obstruction of justice. Those are very hard charges to prove for a defendent.

According to ESPN.com, “U.S. District Judge Susan Illston ordered Bonds released on $500,000 personal recognizance, meaning he won’t have to put up any money unless he violates the conditions of his release. He was ordered to return to court on Feb. 7.”

That’s a long time for Bonds to sit around and wait, but hey, at least he gets to spend the holidays with his wife and kids. The 2 months until his next meeting should give his lawyers plenty of time to scheme and figure out their loop holes.

Baseball fans from around the world can finally rest now. The government finally got him. While Barry Bonds is supposed to be ‘innocent until proven guilty’, the federal government doesn’t just indict people unless they know they have the evidence to send them away. 3 or 4 years ago Bonds was given the chance to speak the truth in front of a Grand Jury… he chose to lie and now must pay the consequences.

“There was an opportunity for him to help the investigation, but he chose a path that let him to this point … I’m not surprised by this indictment,” said Kevin Ryan, the former lead prosecutor for the BALCO case.

Bonds, like Vick, had a chance to come clean and tell the whole truth. Bonds could have walked away a free man if he just talked. He decided to deny everything and said he knows nothing. Now we’ll see what happens next. Bonds could accept a plea agreement like Vick or he could take it to trial and attempt to prove his innocence.

If convicted, do we really put an asterisk by his records? It’s an interesting question. Either way, Bonds has played his last game of baseball. Even if he gets off, what team would want him?

So Joe Torre rejected a 1 year, $5 million contract to coach the New York Yankees. Good for him. Anyone with half a brain could tell that the Yankees offered him a contract they knew he wouldn’t accept. Why would someone with a history like Torre accept only a 1 year contract? No thanks! They Yanks knew what they were doing, and they wronged him in the process.

So with Torre out of the Bronx, where will he end up now? “If I have some options,” he said, moments after the Indians eliminated the Yankees in the American League Division Series, “I’ll look at it, because I’m not ready to move somewhere and not do anything, I can tell you that.” I can think of one team that would love to have him. How about the Houston Astros, who have never even won 1 World Series? Too bad they offered a 2 year contract to Cecil Cooper just 1 month ago. Damn, why didn’t they wait?

It’s hard to predict if Torre would go to a job soley for money, or if he would want to coach in the best situation. Would he coach the Royals for $5 mil a year? Or would he rather go to somewhere like St. Louis for only $3 mil?

So what if the Red Sox don’t make it to the World Series. There’s always next year, right?

According the Manny Ramirez, that’s how it is. I’m glad I’m not a Red Sox fan, because I might be pushing for them to try and trade Manny once again this off-season. Do you really want someone on your team who just says “so what?” when asked about why the Red Sox are trailing the Tribe 3-1? Manny is a masher, and sure the Red Sox wouldn’t be in the ALCS without him, but having that attidue mixed in a locker room with guys like Shilling can’t be a good thing.

Some people get their panties all in a bunch over these comments, but really it’s just Manny being Manny. He rarely ever talks to the media, but when he does you know it’s going to be something good. The Red Sox will play the Indians tonight in game 5. Should they lose, we could have the most boring, least watched World Series on our hands.

The Colorado Rockies completed the sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks last night to advance to the World Series for the first time in franchise history. “This has been a great ride. We’re not done yet,” said Rockies first baseman Todd Helton, just 4-for-26 in his long-awaited first postseason but utterly enjoying the ride of a lifetime. “We’re gonna keep it going.”

I hope so Helton. The Rockies will have a tough, tough matchup whoever they play in the World Series. The Rockies are dominant at home, but thanks to the National League team loss at this year’s All-Star game, the AL team will have home field advantage.

What’s best about the Rockies though is that they have a bunch of unselfish, team players. They don’t have a team full of prima donnas like the Yankees or Red Sox. “These guys know what they’re doing. They’re professionals,” he said. “They respect each other, they’re unselfish, they know how to play the game.”

The Rockies will have to wait 10 days until they play again. Giving them plenty of time to rest. I hope it’s not too much time though that they get rusty.

With Jake Peavy of the San Diego Padres taking the mound in a winner take all playoff game, who would have thought the Colorado Rockies would come out victorious? Peavy is a gamer. I never would have though that Padres could lose this game. Sure the game was played in Colorado, a hostile environment, but San Diego had the better team in my opinion.

With the Rockies win last night, in 13 innings I might add, Colorado advances to the MLB playoffs and the NL Wild Card team. It’s been almost 15 years since the Rockies were last in the playoffs.

What I like about this Rockies team is they are an upstart team of go getters. Their pitching staff isn’t filled with studs. Outside of Helton, they don’t really have any superstars. But they play hard and play to win the game. “Anybody who has been around this team knows that what makes it special is we just keep playing and play hard,” Holliday said.

I like the Rockies to advance to the NL Championship series against the Cubs, with the Cubs advancing to the World Series. But ultimately, I don’t see any NL team being able to compete with the AL.

For the 13th year in a row the Yankees will make the playoffs. And we know one fan out there isn’t too happy about it.

It was only a few months ago when everyone was writing the Yankees off. A-Rod was mashing the ball, but the rest of the team was in shambles. What happened after the break that caused this team to click? How did they all of a sudden start to gel?

“This is what it was about. It was a lot of unselfishness,” Torre said. “There were a lot of guys who played through some injuries, played through some fatigue. And, of course, Alex — we sort of rallied around him.”

The Yankees are now only one shy of the record set by the Atlanta Braves from 1991-2005 for most consecutive playoff appearances. That feat is truly phenomenal. In what other sport do you have a single team make a 13 or 14 year playoff streak. It just doesn’t happen anymore in the age of free agency. And this may be the last year the Yankees make the playoffs for awhile if the rumors of them duping Torre are true.