Torre Says Clemens Hall-worthy
All-star Home Run Derby Sides Chosen
NEW YORK — Joe Torre believes pitcher Roger Clemens belongs in the Hall of Fame even though the seven-time Cy Young Award winner has been connected to performanceenhancing drugs.
Torre said Clemens was like a son to him.
“I can’t make other people look at him. I can just tell you the way I feel,” the former Yankees manager said. “I was proud to have him play for me. He always gave you everything he had and I always respected that.”
Clemens played six seasons in New York for Torre, helping the Yankees win two World Series championships in 1999 and 2000. But the 354-game winner was linked to performance-enhancing drugs in 2007, when he was mentioned in the Mitchell Report.
Torre, now MLB’s executive vice president for baseball operations, acknowledged that when evaluating Clemens’ career there will always be questions about his ties to performance-enhancing drugs.
“It’s sad for me,” Torre said, “because Roger Clemens in the way he went about his business — and I disliked him like everybody else until I got a chance to know him — he was a great teammate for these guys and he was very devoted to the team he was playing on and I always respected that.”
HR DERBY: Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano has asked Jose Bautista, Prince Fielder and Mark Trumbo to join him on the AL side for the All-Star home run derby.
Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp invited Carlos Beltran, Carlos Gonzalez and Giancarlo Stanton to join him on the NL side. Kemp is on the disabled list because of a strained left hamstring. He is unlikely to play in the game, but is the NL captain for the derby and wants to take part.
“To me, Stanton is a guy that has incredible power,” Beltran said. “I’m not going to go there really to compete 100 percent, I’m just going to enjoy it.”
PADRES: Commissioner Bud Selig says the possible purchase of the Padres by the O’Malley family is “an excellent development for baseball.”
The group negotiating with Padres controlling owner John Moores includes four grandchildren of former Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley — Kevin and Brian O’Malley, and their cousins Peter and Tom Seidler.
ROCKIES: Colorado is giving Jeremy Guthrie another shot in the rotation. The left-hander, demoted to the bullpen in mid-June, will start Wednesday night against the Cardinals.
INDIANS: Shin-Soo Choo is batting .328 with seven homers and 17 RBIs in 44 games since moving into the leadoff spot on May 14. He has raised his average from .235 to .290.
RANGERS: Television announcer Dave Barnett says he doesn’t expect to return this season after an on-air incident in which he gave a rambling, incoherent description that confused viewers.
YANKEES: Joba Chamberlain could soon pitch in a minor league game for the first time since injuring an ankle during spring training.