WASHINGTON — Exhibit 52C was the semi-crushed Miller Lite beer can. Exhibit 52D was the FedEx box that once contained the beer can. Then came exhibits of gauze, tissues, syringes, cotton balls and needles, some of which were once inside the beer can, using up letters of the alphabet all the way to X.
Jury sees ‘beer can’ evidence in
Clemens trial
WASHINGTON — Exhibit 52C was the semi-crushed Miller Lite beer can. Exhibit 52D was the FedEx box that once contained the beer can. Then came exhibits of gauze, tissues, syringes, cotton balls and needles, some of which were once inside the beer can, using up letters of the alphabet all the way to X.
For the first time Thursday, the jury in the Roger Clemens trial saw in person the physical evidence the government says will link the 11-time All-Star baseball pitcher to anabolic steroids, evidence that Clemens’ lawyer has called a “mixed-up hodgepodge of garbage.”
The items were presented on Day 10 of the retrial on charges that Clemens committed perjury when he told Congress in 2008 that he had never taken steroids or human growth hormone. The first trial last July ended in a mistrial.
Prosecutors presented the items methodically during the testimony of federal agent Jeff Novitzky, an imposing figure with a shaved head who has an engaging presence on the stand. Jurors who had appeared well beyond boredom earlier in the trial were sitting up and attentive, taking notes while Novitzky related how he received the items from Clemens’ former strength coach, Brian McNamee, on Jan. 10, 2008.
McNamee, who is expected to take the stand next week as the government’s key witness, has said he injected Clemens with both steroids and HGH. He said in a 2008 congressional deposition that he decided to hang on to the needle, gauze and associated material after injecting Clemens with the steroid Sustanon 250 at Clemens’ apartment in 2001 — part of a “gut feeling” he had because he didn’t fully trust Clemens.
Buckner ball up for auction in Dallas
DALLAS — The baseball that broke the hearts of Boston Red Sox fans everywhere and turned Bill Buckner into one of the most famous goats in sports history is up for sale.
The ball that rolled through Buckner’s legs in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series between Boston and the New York Mets will be part of an auction Friday in Dallas.
Heritage Auctions said the ball is expected to bring in more than $100,000 as the centerpiece of an auction featuring the baseball memorabilia collection of Los Angeles songwriter Seth Swirsky.
“That one ball kind of encapsulates the highest and lowest you can feel in sports at any given moment,” Swirsky said.
Buckner hit .289 with 2,715 hits in 22 years and had more than 100 RBIs in two of his three full seasons with the Red Sox.
All of that was overshadowed by his error at Shea Stadium that night when Mookie Wilson’s grounder rolled through Buckner’s legs, allowing the Mets to cap a two-out rally with a victory in the 10th inning.
The Mets went on to win the series, and Boston’s championship drought — dating to 1918 — continued until 2004.
Bonds files appeal to erase felony conviction
SAN FRANCISCO — Barry Bonds asked a federal appeals court Thursday to toss out his felony obstruction conviction.
Bonds’ lawyers filed a 60-page legal brief on Thursday with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals arguing his conviction was based on a rambling and irrelevant — but truthful — answer to a grand jury question about whether his trainer ever provided him with an injectable substance.
Bonds, Major League Baseball’s all-time home runs leader, replied that he was a “celebrity child” rather than answering the question directly. Bonds’ father was Bobby Bonds, a 13-year major league veteran and three-time All-Star.
A jury decided after a roughly three-week trial last year that the answer represented an obstruction of justice.
The jury deadlocked on three other charges alleging Bonds lied to a grand jury when he denied knowing taking performance-enhancing drugs.
Giants lose Sandoval to broken left hand
SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Giants are suddenly without their best hitter.
Pablo Sandoval has a broken hamate bone in his left hand that will require surgery, and the free-swinging slugger is expected to miss four to six weeks — the same injury he had last year on the other hand.
Conor Gillaspie was recalled from Triple-A Fresno to start at third base Thursday in the series finale with the Miami Marlins in place of Sandoval, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list.
The 25-year-old Sandoval is batting .316 with five home runs and 15 RBIs, and he opened the season with a 20-game hitting streak — longest in franchise history to open a year.
Yankees sign Nix,
put Chavez on concussion DL
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Yankees third baseman Eric Chavez was released from the hospital and put on the seven-day concussion disabled list Thursday. Jayson Nix was signed to a major league contract and put into the starting lineup.
Chavez hurt himself when he dove for J.J. Hardy’s double down the line in the fifth inning of Wednesday night’s game against Baltimore.
Chavez went to the plate in the bottom of the inning but felt dizzy, at which point he was removed from the game.
He spent the night at New York Presbyterian Hospital after undergoing head and spine tests. Nix started in left field and batted ninth against the Royals.
By wire sources