FanHouse ChuckKnoblauch

As reported earlier today, former All-Star, World Series champion, and all-around somewhat competent baseball player Chuck Knoblauch has been charged with hitting his common-law wife in the face and choking her like she was a female police officer. Since his premature retirement at the age of 34, Knoblauch has steadily and consistently descended into a weird kind of personal madness usually reserved for aging soul singers and professional wrestlers.

There aren't a lot of details at this time, so tonight's Dugout heads back to the glory days of the Yankees and revisits the Knob gobbler in his prime. Warning: this Dugout contains frank discussions about domestic abuse. Reader discretion is advised.

Despite admitting to taking HGH from 2000 while with the Yankees through the end of his career in 2002 with the Royals, Chuck Knoblauch doesn't think he actually received any physical benefits. So why did he continue to take it? Because he was desperate, at first to correct his throwing problems and then to extend his career.

While talking to Congressional investigators in his deposition (PDF) earlier this month, Knoblauch was asked if he ever experienced any negative reactions to the substance. From page 40:

No. No. And hopefully, as I sit today, a father, hopefully I am not affected. I just don't think there is enough long-term information out about it. And then at the end of the day, it didn't do anything. You know. And that's the point that people need to know, this stuff is not doing anything for anybody. So that's why I appreciate what you guys are doing again.

Knoblauch isn't alone is saying that HGH doesn't really do anything to help ballplayers -- four doctors testified as much in front of Congress earlier this week. Perhaps there was a placebo effect, or perhaps it only worked in conjunction with steroids, but more and more people are confirming that HGH alone is relatively useless -- which makes it all the more ironic should anyone end up actually doing jail time for perjuring themselves by denying ever touching the stuff.

Remember when Chuck Knoblauch went from being a decent second baseman to endangering the health of fans sitting behind first base almost overnight? It turns out that it was that problem that led him to first try HGH.

In his deposition (PDF) given to Congressional investigators earlier this month, Knoblauch describes going down to the Yankees' minor league complex in Tampa a month before spring training started in a failed effort to correct his mechanical problems. From page 13:

So when spring training started, I felt myself weak, vulnerable, you know, grabbing for -- trying to get something -- you know, just weak and vulnerable. And McNamee happened to approach me in spring training. And that's the first time I ever heard the three letters HGH or human growth hormone or anything.

Knoblauch received injections from Brian McNamee through parts of 2000 and continued taking the substance off and on through the end of his career, this time getting it from Jason Grimsley. He claims he never took steroids in conjunction with HGH (nor ever in his life), which makes sense considering his offensive numbers actually declined from 2000 until he retired.

Wednesday is supposed to be the fun day for the whole Brian McNamee-Roger Clemens did-he-or-did-he-not debacle. After all, they'll be witnesses during a public hearing put on the the House Oversight Committee. They'll be in the same room; I can only hope a brawl breaks out. Also, they're set to be joined by a few other friends, including Andy Pettitte, Chuck Knoblauch and Kirk Radomski. But, it's looking like Pettitte might not join in on the fun and the others might not either.

From the NY Times:

The chairman, Democrat Henry A. Waxman of California, wants to take Pettitte off the witness list but he is consulting with Republican members of the panel first, said the person, who asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

Two other people familiar with the case said it is also possible that Clemens and his accuser, the former trainer Brian McNamee, may be the only witnesses who will ultimately testify on Wednesday.

Pettitte asked out of public testimony because he did not want to say something to hurt his friend and former teammate while in the glare of national television coverage, according to a government official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Can't say I blame Pettitte here: this is a rather awkward position to be in. But if this goes through and McNamee and Clemens are ultimately the only ones who show up, well, it's certainly going to be somewhat less entertaining. Because I think we've all had enough of McNamee and Clemens trading barbs.

It's time for an update on everyone's favorite bizarre off-season subplot. If you haven't been following, Chuck Knoblauch was named in the Mitchell Report and asked by Congress to give a deposition on the report and his inclusion in it. He failed to respond to the invitation, which resulted in a subpoena from Congress to testify. Knoblauch, however, was never served with the subpoena because the government literally couldn't find him. Today, however, Henry Waxman, the head of the House Oversight Committee in charge of the hearings, issued this statement today:

"We are pleased that Mr. Knoblauch has agreed to voluntarily participate in a transcribed interview or deposition with the committee," Henry A. Waxman, the California Democrat who chairs the committee, and Tom Davis, the Virginia Republican and ranking minority member, said in a statement.

Hilariously, the New York Times article linked above notes that Knoblauch was never served with his subpoena, which of course means that the government never found him. And so our long national nightmare is over. Chuck Knoblauch is found (sort of) and he'll be enlightening the world with his tales of how steroids dangerously affect throwing accuracy from second base. Or, you know, he'll just deny the stuff Mitchell said about him and say Roger Clemens is a great guy that would never cheat. I hope it's the first one though, that would make this whole futile exercise a little more worthwhile.

Earlier this week we reported that Chuck Knoblauch was served a subpoena to testify in front of Congress about allegations made about him in the Mitchell Report. As it turns out, that wasn't entirely accurate: as of last night, Knoblauch still hasn't been served ... because he can't be found!

Apparently the former big leaguer has managed to live off the grid since retiring from the game a few years back. Even so, this doesn't exactly inspire much confidence in the U.S. Government, not when you consider that the New York Times was able to track him down for an interview just last month. (Although, the last line of that interview was telling: "Don't tell anybody where I live," he said.)

Peter Abraham of the LoHud Yankees Blog has the best take I've seen:

A man matching Knoblauch's description was just spotted at the Grover Cleveland rest area in New Jersey in line at the Roy Rogers. He seems to be headed to Canada.

U.S. Marshall Samuel Gerard is now on the case and has promised "a hard-target search of every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse in that area."

If U.S. Marshall Tommy Lee can't find him, I think Dog the Bounty Hunter is still looking for work.

Chuck Knoblauch gets to join his former teammates Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens this weekend in testifying before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and they're not just asking nicely anymore. Apparently, Knoblauch was asked nicely to give a deposition this Thursday and failed to respond. You know what happens next: he got served (with a subpoena). From MLB.com:

"The committee has taken this step because Mr. Knoblauch failed to respond to the invitation to participate voluntarily in a deposition or transcribed interview and the Feb. 13 hearing," committee chairman Henry Waxman and ranking Republican Tom Davis said in a statement Tuesday.

Knoblauch's best years came in Minnesota, well before he was alleged to have linked up with McNamee and started 'roiding up. I am looking forward to this deposition. Still, the Waxman isn't screwing around with this one if they're breaking out the subpoenas. I'm sure he's dying to know what happened when Knoblauch exploded from 24 total errors at second base in '97 and '98 to a whopping 26 in 1999 and 15 more in 2000. That's an awfully suspicious leap right there. Keith Olbermann's mom will finally be vindicated!!!

Chuck Knoblauch was one of three former Yankees that that Brian McNamee claimed to have injected with PEDs during his tenure as the team's trainer. So far, Andy Pettitte has remorsefully admitted to trying HGH while Roger Clemens has vociferously denied it. As for Knoblauch? He just doesn't care. From Thayer Evans of the New York Times:

"I have nothing to defend," Knoblauch said. "I have nothing to hide at the same time."

He described the Mitchell report as "crazy" and "interesting," and added that what actually bothered him about being mentioned in the report is that "I've got nothing to do with any of that, I mean, any baseball."

"And I don't want anything to do with baseball," he added.

He wants so little to do with baseball, in fact, that he's fallen completely out of the public eye. Despite hearing reports that he's been invited to appear before Congress, he claims to be completely out of the loop regarding the details.

So, if you were under the impression the Jason Grimsley affidavit was officially on blast for all to see, you were only half right. It was released back in the summer of '06, but let us not forget, there were still some names blacked out. And, darn it, if we've learned anything about this whole PED baseball mess, it's that we want names and lots of them.

Today, the document was unsealed with no blacked out names to speak of, and here's what we got:

Jose Canseco, Lenny Dykstra, Glenallen Hill and Geronimo Berroa were accused of using steroids by former major league pitcher Jason Grimsley in a federal agent's affidavit unsealed Thursday.

Grimsley also accused Chuck Knoblauch of using human growth hormone; David Segui and Allen Watson of using performance-enhancing drugs; and Rafael Palmeiro and Pete Incaviglia of taking amphetamines, according to IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky's sworn statement.

All but Incaviglia, Berroa and Watson were mentioned last week in the Mitchell Report on doping in baseball.

Whoa, no way ... Jose Canseco? I guess no one is safe from the terrors of steroids. At any rate, nothing overly shocking or astounding here. What is of interest, though, is how Roger Clemens' name was allegedly in this thing according to the L.A. Times, but his name never surfaced. I suppose that has to do with Brian McNamee being mentioned by Grimsley as referer for PEDs.

So yes: it looks as if the Grimsley chapter is all read and closed. Don't worry though, there's plenty more to come.

Not sure if Steve Sax was in Vero Beach giving pep-talks to Dodger youngsters recently, but his ghost certainly rubbed off on third baseman Wilson Betemit. So far Spring Training has been almost as tough on Betemit as it has been on Tommy Lasorda

Third baseman Wilson Betemit took spring rustiness to an extreme Thursday, misplaying three ground balls in four innings of the Dodgers' 7-2 loss to the Atlanta . [Betemit said] "I'm not too worried about it." Manager Grady Little said, "We like Wilson, he just had a tough game."

Booting three grounders in four innings? A-Rod in Toronto last year thinks that's bad. Betemit better watch his back because Andy LaRoche is there waiting.