los angeles times apologize to roger

The Los Angeles Times Apologize to Roger Clemens; Jason Grimsley's Documents

Unveiled...

The other big news from the week in terms of the world of steroids and

the Mitchell Report is that former MLB player Jason Grimsley's

documents were unveiled, and there was a surprise -- Roger Clemens'

name not mentioned in the affidavit despite being reported by the Los

Angeles Times it was.

The Los Angeles Times issued a full page apology on Friday, and

perhaps this shred of news helps to bolster Clemens' case that he did

not use drugs.

From the New York Times: The judge who unsealed the Grimsley

affidavit had harsh words for The Los Angeles Times, which printed

a report in October 2006 headlined "Clemens Is Named in Drug

Affidavit." Clemens was not named in the affidavit, although he was

named last week by Mitchell.

The newspaper had been challenged on the accuracy of its story by

the United States attorney in 2006. It had said its report was

based on two sources and that its reporter, Lance Pugmire, had seen

the affidavit, and the newspaper stood by the report. In fact, the

Los Angeles Times got four of the five people it named wrong.

Edward C. Voss, a United States magistrate judge, wrote in the

unsealing order signed Thursday: "A review of the disclosed

affidavit proves that the Times never saw the unredacted affidavit.

Roger Clemens is not named in the affidavit and Grimsley makes no

reference to Roger Clemens in any context. At best, the article is

an example of irresponsible reporting. At worst, the 'facts'

reported were simply manufactured."

Voss wrote he was "compelled to point out what appears to be an

example of abusive reporting."

The Los Angeles Times ran a correction on Friday that said the

newspaper, "incorrectly reported that in a search warrant affidavit

filed in May 2006 in federal court in Phoenix, an investigator

alleged that pitcher Jason Grimsley named former teammates Roger

Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Brian Roberts and Jay Gibbons as players

linked to performance-enhancing drugs." The correction said that,

"Grimsley did not name those players," and the 2006 article

incorrectly stated that Grimsley said Tejada used steroids. "The

only mention of Tejada in the affidavit was as part of a

conversation with teammates about baseball's ban of amphetamines,"

the times said. A front page story clarifying the affidavit ran in

Friday's edition.

"We acknowledge the inaccuracies of the report and deeply regret

the mistake," Stephan Pechdimaldji, a spokesman for The Times,

wrote in an e-mail message.

Clemens's lawyer, Rusty Hardin, seized on the error as an

indication of Clemens's veracity, since he has denied accusations

in the Mitchell report.

"When this grossly inaccurate story broke in 2006, Roger said it

was untrue and the Los Angeles Times chose not to believe him,"

Hardin wrote in a statement. "As the record now proves, Roger was

telling the truth then just as he continues to tell the truth

today."

The Los Angeles Times report listed five names it said a reporter

had seen when shown the unredacted affidavit by "a source with

authorized access" to the affidavit. Of those five, it got four

wrong: Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Brian Roberts and Jay Gibbons were

not named in the affidavit.

It's just absolutely asinine, and not to mention highly irresponsible

for a media outlet to just come up with names without double, triple

checking, etc., their sources before it goes to print.

Although this does not get the onus off of Clemens, the Los Angeles

Times ought to be ashamed of themselves for dragging various names

through the dirt without proof, or just to get more on eyes on their

papers.