When it rains it pours

I know everyone wants to talk about real baseball right now, but this blog has always followed the news, and the news just seems to be going this way lately:

Former Baltimore Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada was charged today with lying to congressional investigators about the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball.

Federal prosecutors accused Tejada of making misrepresentations to congressional staffers during an interview in a Baltimore hotel room focusing on the prevalence of steroids in the game.

The charge came in “a criminal information,” a document that can be filed only with the defendant’s consent and usually signals a plea deal is near. Tejada, who now plays for the Houston Astros, is scheduled to appear at 11 a.m. tomorrow in U.S. District Court in Washington, court officials said.

Prosecutors did not charge Tejada with lying about allegations concerning his own steroids use.

Instead, they accuse Tejada of giving false statements to congressional staffers about his conversations with another player about steroids and human growth hormone.

He will later be charged by the ESPN Outside the Lines police force for not responding to inquiries about his age last year.

Ya think it’s a coincidence that both this and the A-Rod leak are happening all a couple of weeks before the Bonds trial? I sure don’t. In fact, I can almost see this as an orchestrated operation in order to bolster the opening and closing statements of the Bonds prosecutors. Rather than refer to lies about a raid five years ago, the prosecutor can stand up and say “this was no innocent lie! The headlines in just the past month show that the scourge of steroids is as rampant as ever! Like A-Rod and Tejada, Bonds is a ballplayer who thinks he’s above the law and worked to thwart an important government investigation!”

Now excuse me, I’m off to adjust my tinfoil.

(thanks to Shane S. for the link)