Public Defender

You wouldn't know him by name, probably not even by face. But from 1996-2007, you saw him warming up pitchers in the Yankees bullpen. Mike Borzello has lived a life of baseball anonymity, but it has afforded him a chance to be the confidante of one of the greatest players in the game, Alex Rodriguez. It's from that relationship that Borzello can confidently say that Jose Canseco's claims about A-Rod are absurd. Borzello, now the Dodgers bullpen catcher, recently sat down with the NY Post's Joel Sherman to defend his friend.

"Nobody in the last four years, including his wife because she wasn't on the road, spent more time with Alex than I did,'' Borzello said by phone yesterday.

Canseco's book.

"In four years I was with him 24 hours a day, and not one time did I ever hear, see or get wind of anything having to do with performance enhancing drugs, steroids, HGH, anything," said Borzello, now the Dodgers' catching instructor. "No way, with as much as this guy trusted me, would he have kept that part of his life secret from me. He trusted me with everything, and I was with him every day all day long. It would have been impossible to show me everything behind the curtain except for this. He is not that bright to be able to pull that off.

"He talked to me about everything. If he had issues with Scott Boras, issues with Joe Torre, disagreements with other guys on the team, if he did or didn't like an acquisition the Yankees made. Real topics. Not what kind of juice he had with his breakfast that morning. And he didn't mention this, no way."

"I don't question him at all,'' Borzello said. "Some guys you say, 'Wow, he got big,' and you never saw them in the weightroom. [That player] does nothing and has 30 pounds of muscle and you go, 'That's fishy.' "

A-Rod? "No way,'' Borzello said. "He is unbelievable."

"You want to rip [Rodriguez] for the way he acts or the things he says, go ahead. There are enough people dumb enough now to say, 'See, he is on that stuff.' All you have to do is be accused. So yes, it does bother me. Because I've seen what this guy has done and seen how much it matters to him. No matter how tired it makes him or how grueling or rigorous the workout is, to be the best, he will do it. It means that much to him. I believe in him. I don't think he would have been stupid enough to do [steroids] to tarnish all that work."

Borzello did not know Rodriguez then (1990), but he describes a player who, A-Rod's lifelong friends will concur, will have an occasional beer, but mostly is "afraid of drugs and alcohol."

"I'm not saying he didn't do research on [steroids]. I'm sure he wanted to know what is making all of these other guys so good," Borzello said. "But all of us in his small, small circle would be blown away [if it was proved Rodriguez used steroids]. It would shock me to no end. If in four years this guy entrusted me with his entire life and this is what he kept from me. No way. I would never believe that."

Borzello's analogy to describe Canseco is pretty perfect.

This is Sammy 'The Bull' Gravano. He gets all the benefits of playing, and then when he can't play any more, he starts ratting out everyone to make money that way."

It remains to be seen whether A-Rod will defend himself or not.

Public Defender

You wouldn't know him by name, probably not even by face. But from 1996-2007, you saw him warming up pitchers in the Yankees bullpen. Mike Borzello has lived a life of baseball anonymity, but it has afforded him a chance to be the confidante of one of the greatest players in the game, Alex Rodriguez. It's from that relationship that Borzello can confidently say that Jose Canseco's claims about A-Rod are absurd. Borzello, now the Dodgers bullpen catcher, recently sat down with the NY Post's Joel Sherman to defend his friend.

"Nobody in the last four years, including his wife because she wasn't on the road, spent more time with Alex than I did,'' Borzello said by phone yesterday.

Canseco's book.

"In four years I was with him 24 hours a day, and not one time did I ever hear, see or get wind of anything having to do with performance enhancing drugs, steroids, HGH, anything," said Borzello, now the Dodgers' catching instructor. "No way, with as much as this guy trusted me, would he have kept that part of his life secret from me. He trusted me with everything, and I was with him every day all day long. It would have been impossible to show me everything behind the curtain except for this. He is not that bright to be able to pull that off.

"He talked to me about everything. If he had issues with Scott Boras, issues with Joe Torre, disagreements with other guys on the team, if he did or didn't like an acquisition the Yankees made. Real topics. Not what kind of juice he had with his breakfast that morning. And he didn't mention this, no way."

"I don't question him at all,'' Borzello said. "Some guys you say, 'Wow, he got big,' and you never saw them in the weightroom. [That player] does nothing and has 30 pounds of muscle and you go, 'That's fishy.' "

A-Rod? "No way,'' Borzello said. "He is unbelievable."

"You want to rip [Rodriguez] for the way he acts or the things he says, go ahead. There are enough people dumb enough now to say, 'See, he is on that stuff.' All you have to do is be accused. So yes, it does bother me. Because I've seen what this guy has done and seen how much it matters to him. No matter how tired it makes him or how grueling or rigorous the workout is, to be the best, he will do it. It means that much to him. I believe in him. I don't think he would have been stupid enough to do [steroids] to tarnish all that work."

Borzello did not know Rodriguez then (1990), but he describes a player who, A-Rod's lifelong friends will concur, will have an occasional beer, but mostly is "afraid of drugs and alcohol."

"I'm not saying he didn't do research on [steroids]. I'm sure he wanted to know what is making all of these other guys so good," Borzello said. "But all of us in his small, small circle would be blown away [if it was proved Rodriguez used steroids]. It would shock me to no end. If in four years this guy entrusted me with his entire life and this is what he kept from me. No way. I would never believe that."

Borzello's analogy to describe Canseco is pretty perfect.

This is Sammy 'The Bull' Gravano. He gets all the benefits of playing, and then when he can't play any more, he starts ratting out everyone to make money that way."

It remains to be seen whether A-Rod will defend himself or not.

Show Me the Money

Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated reports that Jose Canseco's ex- has nothing to do with the sleazebag's hatred of A-Rod. But rather it's all about the Benjamins. Apparently Canseco and his twin moron brother Ozzie wanted to represent A-Rod, but Rodriguez wisely declined.

However, people who were close confidants of Canseco insist the actual reason the ex-ballplayer despises A-Rod has nothing to do with Canseco's former wife but regards Canseco's true passion, which, of course, is money.

Those former confidants told SI.com the rift between the two Miami-raised superstars actually occurred when Rodriguez chose not to let Canseco and his brother, Ozzie, be his agents. Those former confidants say Canseco was bitterly disappointed in A-Rod's business rejection.

"I know Jose, and I know Jose very well. He would be madder at A-Rod for not signing with the agency than for going after Jessica,'' said Juan Iglesias, a well-respected Miami-based player agent and former business associate of Canseco's.

"At that time, Jose wanted to focus on his professional life. He and his wife were struggling throughout the '90's and into the 2000's. At that time, they were in the process of getting divorced. Jose was in a disrespectful situation and was with other women.''

Yet another former close confidant of Canseco's agreed that the rift had nothing to do with Jessica and instead came about when Canseco lost the client he thought would make a success out of his fledgling South Florida Sports Council, which instead became another of Canseco's failed business ventures. "That's where the animosity comes from,'' the former Canseco confidant said.

In Canseco's new book (should it even be allowed to be called a book), super-roid writes to A-Rod, "I hate your (bleeping) guts.''

Iglesias went on to refute Canseco's claims that A-Rod was a steroid user/abuser.

"Alex was a gentleman with the guy. If he says that about [Rodriguez], I hate to think what he says about me,'' Iglesias said. "I never heard one word about him going after Jose's wife. Never. Not one word. And I would have heard that. We were personal friends.''

Iglesias said he watched Canseco calling out A-Rod on Nightline this week and he couldn't believe what he was hearing. But having lived through it with him, he did believe it.

"The whole thing with A-Rod is absolutely false,'' said Iglesias, who recalled that the Cansecos and A-Rod doubled dated at the 1995 Super Bowl in Miami. "Jose didn't write it in his first book, and Jessica didn't write it in her book. And she talked about everybody she [had a relationship with]. If A-Rod had anything to do with her, that's [a] headline and that would have been in the book.''

It's simply amazing that anyone can write a book and say anything they want about anyone and in many cases won't be sued. A lawsuit might just sell more books and that would not be in the interest of Alex Rodriguez or anyone else. Even if it means being vindicated.

Show Me the Money

Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated reports that Jose Canseco's ex- has nothing to do with the sleazebag's hatred of A-Rod. But rather it's all about the Benjamins. Apparently Canseco and his twin moron brother Ozzie wanted to represent A-Rod, but Rodriguez wisely declined.

However, people who were close confidants of Canseco insist the actual reason the ex-ballplayer despises A-Rod has nothing to do with Canseco's former wife but regards Canseco's true passion, which, of course, is money.

Those former confidants told SI.com the rift between the two Miami-raised superstars actually occurred when Rodriguez chose not to let Canseco and his brother, Ozzie, be his agents. Those former confidants say Canseco was bitterly disappointed in A-Rod's business rejection.

"I know Jose, and I know Jose very well. He would be madder at A-Rod for not signing with the agency than for going after Jessica,'' said Juan Iglesias, a well-respected Miami-based player agent and former business associate of Canseco's.

"At that time, Jose wanted to focus on his professional life. He and his wife were struggling throughout the '90's and into the 2000's. At that time, they were in the process of getting divorced. Jose was in a disrespectful situation and was with other women.''

Yet another former close confidant of Canseco's agreed that the rift had nothing to do with Jessica and instead came about when Canseco lost the client he thought would make a success out of his fledgling South Florida Sports Council, which instead became another of Canseco's failed business ventures. "That's where the animosity comes from,'' the former Canseco confidant said.

In Canseco's new book (should it even be allowed to be called a book), super-roid writes to A-Rod, "I hate your (bleeping) guts.''

Iglesias went on to refute Canseco's claims that A-Rod was a steroid user/abuser.

"Alex was a gentleman with the guy. If he says that about [Rodriguez], I hate to think what he says about me,'' Iglesias said. "I never heard one word about him going after Jose's wife. Never. Not one word. And I would have heard that. We were personal friends.''

Iglesias said he watched Canseco calling out A-Rod on Nightline this week and he couldn't believe what he was hearing. But having lived through it with him, he did believe it.

"The whole thing with A-Rod is absolutely false,'' said Iglesias, who recalled that the Cansecos and A-Rod doubled dated at the 1995 Super Bowl in Miami. "Jose didn't write it in his first book, and Jessica didn't write it in her book. And she talked about everybody she [had a relationship with]. If A-Rod had anything to do with her, that's [a] headline and that would have been in the book.''

It's simply amazing that anyone can write a book and say anything they want about anyone and in many cases won't be sued. A lawsuit might just sell more books and that would not be in the interest of Alex Rodriguez or anyone else. Even if it means being vindicated.

4000

Time to forget about the fun of baseball and get serious for a minute. Since the coverage is not what it once was, you may have not heard the other day that Iraq casualty list is now at 4,000 Americans. Let's look at that another way.

4,000

We don't care if you're a Democrat, Republican, Independent, or Venutian. Start typing some email or get out some stationary if you prefer and write your Senators and House Reps. Demand that this war of lies be stopped. Threaten to vote against them in their next election (it drives them crazy).

We don't endorse candidates on this site, but you know which presidential candidates would be glad to stay in Iraq for 100 years and which wouldn't.

This war must be stopped now. Mission accomplished, our ass.

Now back to your fun day.

4000

Time to forget about the fun of baseball and get serious for a minute. Since the coverage is not what it once was, you may have not heard the other day that Iraq casualty list is now at 4,000 Americans. Let's look at that another way.

4,000

We don't care if you're a Democrat, Republican, Independent, or Venutian. Start typing some email or get out some stationary if you prefer and write your Senators and House Reps. Demand that this war of lies be stopped. Threaten to vote against them in their next election (it drives them crazy).

We don't endorse candidates on this site, but you know which presidential candidates would be glad to stay in Iraq for 100 years and which wouldn't.

This war must be stopped now. Mission accomplished, our ass.

Now back to your fun day.

A-Rod Silent, but Hank Bashes Josebag

Alex Rodriguez has refused to answer Jose Canseco's rants, but Hank Steinbrenner, to no surprise, let the king of sleeze have it in the Bergen Record.

"if [Sandy] Koufax, [Mickey] Mantle, [Babe] Ruth, [Willie] Mays or [Hank] Aaron were playing today, they all would be suspected of doing something — and of course, they didn't do it. There was no such thing in their day.

"This is the age of paranoia."

"Consider the source, that's No. 1," Steinbrenner said of Canseco. "He wouldn't have been able to hit the ball out of the infield without steroids.

"And No. 2, if Mantle or Ruth were playing today, with the 550-foot home runs they hit, everybody'd be saying they were on something. They didn't even lift weights in those days. They played on alcohol and hot dogs.

"There are certain naturals. There are guys who can just do it, and Alex is one of those guys," Steinbrenner said. "He's just friggin' great."

"He got a couple of things right with the first one, and now he's just trying to make money," said Steinbrenner, who suggested that Canseco needed this attention, "or else he'd be on some reality show on TV.

"It's a shame, because he's preying on a player that everyone's attention is on," said Steinbrenner, who emphasized A-Rod's comparison to a modern-day Mantle regarding natural ability.

"Without injuries," Steinbrenner said, "[Mantle] would've broken every record in the book.

"[Rodriguez] is not only one of the greatest hitters ever, he's one of the best shortstops ever, and one of the best third basemen," Steinbrenner said. "He is just a natural. People have to come to grips with that."

Canseco's claims are disturbing, but not as disturbing as Canseco himself. Deadspin.com has excerpts of a piece by Pat Jordan on the overmuscled creep. Be warned that after reading this you may want to shower or vomit.

All those needles and vials of performance enhancing drugs around the house which his woman of the moment must learn to differentiate, winstrol from deca-durabolin from HGH, and then draw the proper amount of fluid into each syringe and inject that needle and its fluid into Jose's buttocks.

That's just a minor example. One wonders why any woman would even hang with him. They must be under the false impression that he has money.

A-Rod Silent, but Hank Bashes Josebag

Alex Rodriguez has refused to answer Jose Canseco's rants, but Hank Steinbrenner, to no surprise, let the king of sleeze have it in the Bergen Record.

"if [Sandy] Koufax, [Mickey] Mantle, [Babe] Ruth, [Willie] Mays or [Hank] Aaron were playing today, they all would be suspected of doing something — and of course, they didn't do it. There was no such thing in their day.

"This is the age of paranoia."

"Consider the source, that's No. 1," Steinbrenner said of Canseco. "He wouldn't have been able to hit the ball out of the infield without steroids.

"And No. 2, if Mantle or Ruth were playing today, with the 550-foot home runs they hit, everybody'd be saying they were on something. They didn't even lift weights in those days. They played on alcohol and hot dogs.

"There are certain naturals. There are guys who can just do it, and Alex is one of those guys," Steinbrenner said. "He's just friggin' great."

"He got a couple of things right with the first one, and now he's just trying to make money," said Steinbrenner, who suggested that Canseco needed this attention, "or else he'd be on some reality show on TV.

"It's a shame, because he's preying on a player that everyone's attention is on," said Steinbrenner, who emphasized A-Rod's comparison to a modern-day Mantle regarding natural ability.

"Without injuries," Steinbrenner said, "[Mantle] would've broken every record in the book.

"[Rodriguez] is not only one of the greatest hitters ever, he's one of the best shortstops ever, and one of the best third basemen," Steinbrenner said. "He is just a natural. People have to come to grips with that."

Canseco's claims are disturbing, but not as disturbing as Canseco himself. Deadspin.com has excerpts of a piece by Pat Jordan on the overmuscled creep. Be warned that after reading this you may want to shower or vomit.

All those needles and vials of performance enhancing drugs around the house which his woman of the moment must learn to differentiate, winstrol from deca-durabolin from HGH, and then draw the proper amount of fluid into each syringe and inject that needle and its fluid into Jose's buttocks.

That's just a minor example. One wonders why any woman would even hang with him. They must be under the false impression that he has money.

Breaking News: Barroid Indicted on Perjury Charges

This story is just starting to unfold, but according to ESPN, Barry Bonds has been indicted by a grand jury of perjury and obstruction of justice. The charges relate to testimony Bonds delivered before a grand jury in the Balco investigation in 2003.

Update: Here are specifics of the indictment and what has transpired. Click it.

Breaking News: Barroid Indicted on Perjury Charges

This story is just starting to unfold, but according to ESPN, Barry Bonds has been indicted by a grand jury of perjury and obstruction of justice. The charges relate to testimony Bonds delivered before a grand jury in the Balco investigation in 2003.

Update: Here are specifics of the indictment and what has transpired. Click it.