Chuck Knoblauch has crawled out of whatever hole he's been living in for the past few years to answer questions about his naming in the Mitchell Report and his subsequent invitation to sit before a Congressional committee investigating steroids in baseball. Chuck, suffice it to say, seems more than a little bitter about things. From the New York Times:

"I have nothing to defend," Knoblauch said. "I have nothing to hide at the same time."

He described the Mitchell report as "crazy" and "interesting," and added that what actually bothered him about being mentioned in the report is that "I've got nothing to do with any of that, I mean, any baseball."

"And I don't want anything to do with baseball," he added.

And:

"I love baseball," [Knoblauch] said, "but I'm not trying to get a job in baseball. I don't have any friends from baseball. Baseball doesn't control my life anymore."

And:

"Mad about it? No," he said. "You know what? One of my strongest characteristics is not really caring what people think. I'm living my life. It's not going to change my life one way or the other. You know, I'm not trying to get in the Hall of Fame. I got one vote though."

Being named in the steroid report is just bitter icing on the cake of despair for Knoblauch, who went from All-Star status as a second baseman to laughing stock when, a few years after being traded from the Twins to the Yankees, he suddenly forgot how to throw to first base, and in one fabled incident, even struck Keith Olbermann's mother as she sat behind the first-base dugout. Knoblauch's troubles, made all the worse by his having to work them out in the glare of New York media and fan scrutiny, forced him prematurely from the game.

But he still loves baseball. Clearly, because he doesn't have any friends from baseball, and it doesn't "control his life" anymore.

Honestly, I wouldn't blame Knoblauch if he was bitter - guy had to put up with more crap than anyone except Bill Buckner and Steve Bartman. And now he's become associated with more pariahs like Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds. Of course, if he did do steroids, then he deserves to lose his good name. But you can't help feeling sorry for the guy a little too. He didn't even get the glory Clemens and Bonds and McGwire got before falling from grace - he had to eat crap when he was in the game, and now he has to eat more crap after he's out and just wants to be left in peace.