Fan News

Roger Clemens was indicted on federal perjury charges yesterday.  Since, and even before his retirement, rumors swirled that one of the best right handed pitchers of all-time had been a user of performance enhancing drugs.  The numbers are there for induction to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, but should the rumors of steroid use axe his chance at baseball immortality?  Let's look at the numbers.

The big news that broke yesterday was the indictment of former Major League Baseball All-Star pitcher Roger Clemens.

Clemens, currently embroiled in the biggest of all scandals left over from the Steroid Era, was indicted on six different counts, including 15 allegations of "different statements," all tied to obstruction of Congress.

These indictments will one way or another be the end of the road for Clemens. He will either, somehow, vindicate himself and overcome the charges or be found guilty of the charges and face a lengthy prison sentence.

Bobby Thomson didn’t hit his famous home run off a tee, in case you were wondering.

Nor did he flip the ball into the air, fungo-style, and swat it over the left field wall at the Polo Grounds on October 3, 1951.

Most of the great history makers had sidekicks.

Charles Lindbergh had the Atlantic—and his plane. Dr. Jonas Salk had mold. Elvis Presley had his hips.

And Bobby Thomson had Ralph Branca.

As a Pittsburgh Pirates fan myself, the last thing I want to do is throw a wet towel on a great week.

With the signings of Jameson Taillon, Stetson Allie, and Luis Heredia, the Pirates have added three power arms.

They signed the best American high school arm, arguably the second best American arm, and the top international arm of 2010.

For a team like the Pirates, this is a major step in the right direction. Every year they get slammed for not spending money at any level.

Uh, one problem, Geovany—you forgot the ball...

When things are going well, this is the kind of stuff that happens.

Obviously things are going really well for the Phillies right now: good defense, timely hitting, and absolutely incredible pitching.

But that’s not all. Anyone who’s followed this team for the last four weeks knows the Phillies have repeatedly capitalized on their opponents’ tendencies to commit numerous fielding or throwing errors that have directly led to big innings by the Phils’ offense.

Since the dreadful series against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Reds have reeled off six-straight wins, sweeping both the Florida Marlins and now the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In doing this, they have become the hottest team in the major leagues.

They are currently 19 games over .500 and have their biggest lead of the season in the National League's Central Division.

2:20 pm ET, Friday, Aug. 20 TV: CSN, SPSO

Probable pitchers: Ryan Dempster (11-8, 3.62) vs. Jair Jurrjens (5-4, 3.92)

4:10 pm ET, Saturday, Aug. 21 TV: FOX

Probable pitchers: Tom Gorzelanny (6-7, 3.85) vs. Tommy Hanson (8-8, 3.41)

After months of speculation, Roger Clemens has been officially indicted on 15 separate counts of lying to Congress and interfering with a congressional investigation.

This new legal story has now officially provided everyone a new reason to dislike Clemens.

Clemens' trial, which won't begin for at least a year, is sure to cost thousands of dollars in taxpayer money to fund the federal prosecution's exhibition in lesson teaching.

On Wednesday, the Atlanta Braves completed a four-player deal with the Chicago Cubs to bring first baseman Derrek Lee to Atlanta.

Atlanta gave up three pitchers in the deal to a pitching-deficient club; two were righties, and one was a lefty.

The trade beckoned a question within the minds of the Atlanta faithful: What about Troy Glaus?

Over the next week or two I will be taking a division-by-division look at every team’s closer situation.  Who is closing now?  Who is next in line?  Who could get a look down the line?  Let’s kick things off with the NL East: