Days after Yankees honcho Hank Steinbrenner went on record saying he thought that Red Sox Nation was “a bunch of bullsh*t,” the BOSTON HERALD reports that Sox principal owner John Henry has decided to make Steinbrenner an official member.

“I’m a big Hank fan,” wrote Henry in an e-mail. “Just to ensure he knows how cool Red Sox Nation is, (Saturday) we officially inducted him as a member of Red Sox Nation and we are sending him his membership card giving him access to an array of options including our newsletter, bumper stickers, pins, Green Monster seats and a hat personally autographed by David Ortiz.”

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Forget the disgrace of being outed as a steroid user, or the prospect of being barred from the Hall of Fame. Here’s the ultimate indignity Roger Clemens has faced since the Mitchell Report:

Being mentioned in the same headline as Larry Craig in the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS.

The story is about Fox’s new reality show called “The Moment Of Truth”, in which “contestants” getting strapped to a polygraph machine on-camera. The participants “must truthfully answer 21 questions about themselves to win the grand prize of $500,000. One lie and they’re done.”

Clemens of course has no chance, since there’s no denying this past grooming mishap. But we would see the two go at it on the show, especially considering that Mr. Craig isn’t afraid to dig in with a wide stance.

We’re not sure how sad a day it is in Cleveland just yet, as the CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER reports that Jacobs Field has been renamed to “Progressive Field”.

Excerpt: “The Indians have reached an agreement with Progressive Insurance for the naming rights of the 40,000-seat facility on the corner of Ontario Street and Carnegie Avenue, a source close to the Indians said Thursday. Progressive Insurance, a Cleveland-based company, is owned by millionaire/philanthropist Peter Lewis.”

We say we’re unsure how upset Clevelanders really are because the ballpark was previously named after the Jacobs family, who owned the team during the Tribe’s glory years in the ’90s when the ballpark first opened. We were working in Ohio at the time, but never really got the feeling the Jacobs were beloved. You would think so, but we don’t know what the reaction will be. More than anything, the name was tradition, so there has to be some sadness settling over Lake Erie today. Especially since the ballpark is now monikered after one of those low-rate car insurance outfits (even if the owner is from Cleveland).

We’ll have to tune into Mike Trivisonno today, the unofficial mayor of Cleveland, to find out. And also get the scoop on that photo.

We really wish Goose Gossage was still around. We remember watching him at then-Royals Stadium, he was a giant, and threw harder than anyone we ever saw in person (and that’s coming from an eventual 10-year professional baseball announcer).

We’re not saying he was the fastest on a radar gun, but because of his hulking stature and violent gyrations before releasing the pill, he looked like the fastest, and that’s all that counts if you aren’t holding a bat.

In a sign of these sad times for baseball, the media focused on steroids during Gossage’s first major press conference since being elected to the Hall of Fame. Instead of recounting his battles with Jim Rice and the Red Sox, Gossage was asked to weigh in on performance enhancers.

While saying his drugs of choice during his playing days were “donuts and coffee,” Gossage made an admission about steroids that probably caught the Cooperstown brass aghast.

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Roger Clemens won’t have to head off for Capitol Hill just yet.

NEW YORK NEWSDAY reports that a congressional hearing scheduled for January 16th has been postponed until next month.

Those scheduled to testify - Clemens, Brian McNamee, Andy Pettitte, Chuck Knoblauch and Kirk Radomski - are now asked to show up on February 13th. The Oversight & Government Reform Committee says the date was moved to occur after Radomski’s sentencing for steroid dealing.

That leaves the Rocket’s legal team a whole extra month to dig up more dirt on his ex-trainer.

PAGE SIX’s spiffy new(?) website shows off photos today of Jason Giambi’s birthday party at the Las Vegas club Body English.

Rappers Chuck D, Flava Flav and Run’s former other half, DMC, were all in attendance. The trio, in town for the ginormous Consumer Electronics Show, also performed together for the first time on stage.

But taking the cake was the … uh … Giambi’s birthday cake, which featured a naked torso of a woman. You might be wondering who the woman is in the photo with Giambi. No, it isn’t his pharmacist. Read more…

In the on-going war of words between Roger Clemens & Brian McNamee, the Rocket’s legal team fired another salvo at his ex-trainer, this time saying McNamee lied about a Florida rape case.

In his defamation suit, Clemens attorney brings up the 2001 incident as an example of how “dishonest” McNamee is. While still a trainer with the Yankees, McNamee reportedly was seen having sex in a Tampa hotel pool, and witnesses said the woman he was with appeared drugged. But McNamee denied he did anything to the woman, and no charges were ever filed.

McNamee attorney Earl Ward argues that the incident “has no relevance” in Clemens’ current suit, and bringing it up is “just an attempt to further damage his character.”

But Clemens & his legal team think otherwise. Laywer Rusty Hardin asks, “The significant thing is, when this guy’s rear end is in trouble, does he lie?”

And now one of Roger’s hometown columnists is also questioning McNamee’s believability.

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Scott Boras, apparently with some time off after not having to sweat ARod’s negotiations with the Yankees, is now loading up for salary arbitration cases. One of his clients is Rick Ankiel, who finished last season with an astonishing flourish but has since been tainted by his admission of taking HGH and being named in the Mitchell Report.

Nevertheless, the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH reports that Boras, who “has a bunker of computers loaded with nearly 130 years of statistical history and 35 staffers dedicated to prepping arbitration cases,” is ready to haul out the hyperbole for the real-life Roy Hobbs.

Boras gives the P-D a taste of his dress rehearsal, if Ankiel does indeed go to arbitration: “You have a player whose contributions came first as a pitcher, then as a position player. The last player you’re really talking about is Babe Ruth.”

Ridiculous. Everyone knows Ruth spent a lot more time at the plate than Ankiel has (we know, lame).

We know the MLB rookie hazing photos have made the rounds the last few months, and they’ve gotten a little tired. But BUGS & CRANKS uncovers a cache of photos deserving of our attention.

They are from the Phillies this past season, and we must say that we’re in awe of the time, effort and detail that went into the costuming.

Now if we can only get a space cadet suit to be broken out by Darren Daulton at the Phils’ next old-timers game.

The NEW YORK DAILY NEWS reports today that private investigators hired by Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte interviewed Brian McNamee, on tape, the day before the Mitchell Report came out. Of course, we want to hear what’s on that tape, but what about Clemens telling Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes that he didn’t know that he was going to be implicated in the Mitchell Report?:

Mike Wallace (5:40): “Did you know ahead of time what was going to be in George Mitchell’s report?”
Clemens (5:44): “I did not.”

From that, it looks like we’ve uncovered the first crack in Clemens’ denials about steroids.

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