Knobby Speaks Up

For the first time since being named in the Mitchell Report, former Yankee Chuck Knoblauch has publicly commented on his inclusion in the "festivities". While he doesn't deny any wrong doing, he doesn't admit either. He does sound a little bitter though towards the game that brought him fame, and in some cases, infamy.

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

Oddly, what bothered him most about being in the report is that he no longer has anything to do with baseball, and he wants to keep it that way.

“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.

Knoblauch plans to be at the congressional hearing on February 13, but has not been told any specifics.

“I read my name in the paper and see it on the news, but I haven’t heard a word,” Knoblauch said. “I’m supposed to be somewhere, but I haven’t been told where to be.”

Asked if he will talk to the committee, Knoblauch said: “Yeah, if I have to do that, then what are you going to do?”

Philip M. Schiliro, the chief of staff for the committee holding the hearing, said he left several messages for Knoblauch, but has not heard back from him.

Perhaps this was the saddest statement of all from the once beloved 2nd Baseman. “I love baseball,” he said, “but I’m not trying to get a job in baseball. I don’t have any friends from baseball. Baseball doesn’t control my life anymore.”

Knoblauch, for now, is content to fill his time playing with his 3-yr old son. And he asked reporters not to tell anyone where he lives.