Major League Baseball

Daily Buzz: Rocket has A-Rod's back

Published Jul. 31, 2013 1:00 a.m. ET

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Sam Gardner

There are few people in the baseball world defending Alex Rodriguez these days. As we await word of Major League Baseball’s suspensions in the wake of the Biogenesis scandal, at least one former big leaguer linked to performance enhancing drugs has the Yankees third baseman’s back. Well, sort of.

Roger Clemens was at Fenway Park Tuesday night to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Red Sox team that won the AL East in 1988, and while speaking with the media, he discussed his former teammate Rodriguez. And at the very least, Clemens didn’t slam A-Rod when asked if he could empathize with the embattled star.

"When A-Rod was my teammate in New York, I was glad he was my teammate," Clemens told the Associated Press. "I did everything to make him feel comfortable when he was our teammate, but I did that for all my teammates. Ask anybody I played for here or any of the four clubs I played for, I think I was a pretty solid teammate."

So, basically, Clemens was glad to have Rodriguez as a teammate, because Clemens, himself was such an awesome teammate — which exonerates Rodriguez in his eyes? Maybe? I don’t really know. And Clemens was just as coy when talking about the Biogenesis suspensions in general, too.

"I've got my own feelings on particular people in MLB, you know, how they approached my situation," Clemens said. "I don't know about it, and I don't care about it, to tell you the truth."

Frankly, Roger Clemens is not the guy Rodriguez or anyone else involved in the Biogenesis debacle wants coming to his side. So maybe it was best that Clemens ducked the question and gave the type of self-congratulatory non-answer we would expect out of the seven-time Cy Young Award winner.

But in this age of widespread anti-A-Rod sentiment, it sort of seems that anyone who isn’t against him must be with him. And since Clemens certainly didn’t admonish his former fellow Yankee for his apparent role in a PED cover-up, we’re left to assume he’s probably cool with whatever Rodriguez is hiding — which doesn’t really do A-Rod any favors.

Now for some links:

• Rutgers is going to retire the No. 52 for Eric LeGrand, but unretire it when LeGrand walks again.

• The Toronto Blue Jays play better when they wear blue instead of gray.

• This Bengals fan’s beard is... wow:

• This guy can do things with a soccer ball you’d never even dream of doing:

• Take a few minutes to read this SB Nation profile of the late Dick Trickle.

• The former Knick who scored the first basket in NBA history died Tuesday at 94.

• I’m going to go ahead and declare this one fake, but go ahead and watch it anyway:

• He’s no longer a Celtic, but Paul Pierce will still help you learn how to talk Boston:

• Jrue Holiday says it took five minutes to get over being traded to New Orleans.

• The Milwaukee Brewers' owner wrote a letter to frustrated, disappointed fans.

• Russians have a very low opinion of Chris Bosh:

• Here is a Swedish goalkeeper forgetting the rules of soccer, handling the ball outside the penalty area and earning a requisite red card 44 seconds into a game:

• Al Harrington wishes he had a better idea what the Orlando Magic's plans are for him.

• The St. Louis Rams will wear their 1999 throwback uniforms twice this season.

• The Twins unveiled the logo for next year’s MLB All-Star Game:

• Syracuse has some pretty sweet new ‘44’ gloves honoring the most hallowed number in program history:

• Pau Gasol just returned from a visit to Iraq, where he visited with Syrian refugee children.

• One Arizona Cardinals cheerleader is an Iraq war veteran.

• Astros rookie Jonathan Villar stole home:

• Steelers nose tackle Steve McLendon weighs 320 pounds and is also a ballet dancer.

• Colts outside linebacker Josh McNary: From the Army to the NFL.

• A speedboat crashed into a crowd

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