Touch 'Em All: Gossage goes up and in on Clemens

After his acquittal Monday on charges of lying to Congress about HGH and steroid use, Roger Clemens complained that his reputation was still damaged.

Hall of Famer Rich "Goose" Gossage agreed Thursday during a radio interview on ESPN New York. Gossage called the seven-time Cy Young Award winner a cheater unworthy of the Hall. And he didn't stop there.

"Are we going to reward these guys for cheating?" the former closer asked.

"I saw bat speeds of Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire. Mark was a great teammate. I couldn't have asked for a better teammate when I played out in Oakland.

"Jose Canseco, I lockered next to him. Canseco is the only guy who has come clean. Like him or not, he is telling the truth. These guys lie, lie, lie, and lie. Roger, I think, is in the same boat. I think there is validity to him using and absolutely not do they belong in the Hall of Fame."

Ouch.

This just in: Major League Baseball suspended Tampa Bay reliever Joel Peralta for eight games for having pine tar on his glove in a game against Washington on Tuesday - an incident that led to a spat between managers Joe Maddon of the Rays and Washington's Davey Johnson. (Something about an unwritten rule of not outing former players: Peralta last season played for the Nationals.)

Maddon said the suspension was excessive. "Of course it's too much," Maddon said.

Johnson declined to comment.

We quote this item, which we're pretty sure is a first of its kind in this space, from the Camden Riversharks' website: "We regret to inform our fans that the game scheduled for [Thursday night] is postponed. The City of Camden's water supply has run out and we are unable to operate without water due to fire and health codes."

Well, duh. As Alvy Singer once told Annie Hall: "What we got on our hands is a dead shark."

Braves righthander Brandon Beachy underwent Tommy John surgery Thursday and will be out at least the rest of the season.

The operation to reconstruct the partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in Beachy's elbow was performed by James Andrews in Florida, the team said.

The loss will hurt. In 13 starts this season, 25-year-old Beachy was 5-5 with a 2.00 ERA, tied for lowest in the the major leagues.