It doesn't take a Rocket scientist to figure out that Roger Clemens needs to make major repairs to his reputation. As of New Year's Day, a prominent sports medicine institute in his hometown of Houston has removed Clemens' name from its stationery. "The move reflects a desire to promote the broad range of sports medicine services and programs offered by Memorial Hermann across the greater Houston area," a statement from the institute said.

"This change only affects the name of the Institute. Roger Clemens remains committed to working with us to champion youth sports and develop aspiring baseball players."

Despite that last assertion, it's our belief that if the Rocket no longer is welcome there, then fallout from Mitchell Report allegations covers more ground than Clemens might have feared.

So what else might Clemens lose in the wake of baseball's steroids scandal? More commercial endorsements? Other friendships? Future induction to Cooperstown?

Below is a list of additional

Twenty-three times in 2008, Christmas came early to Big League Stew in the form of Answer Man, a unique Q&A in which the reader cannot reasonably expect what will be asked or answered. No topic is taboo. No question is too silly. No answer is too unresponsive. Hopefully, it all adds up to funny. Here are my favorite interviews from the past year, complete with a key back-and-forth from said session:

1. Andy Van Slyke (May 1) Perhaps the closest that Answer Man could ever come to "Frost/Nixon," this interview made some laugh, others cry and even broke some news, or at least regurgitated it from a Jeff Pearlman book. Van Slyke performed at an All-Star level with hard-nosed panache and he's always interviewed the same way, even now, as a Tigers coach.

The highest of the highlights: we rediscovered Van Slyke's take on the Sid Bream Slide in the 1992 NLCS, and also what it felt like to bop teammate Barry Bonds in the face. Not to overstate its importance, but Van Slyke's Answer Man

The holidays are upon us — Happy Hanukkah! — which means Big League Stew is on the lookout for the neatest baseball-themed gifts for enthusiasts of what is still our national pastime.

No matter what you think of Curt Schilling (Hall-of-Fame right-hander; Boston's favorite athlete-blogger; charming media gadfly; semi-annoying Yankees historical authority; hypocritically bombastic blowhard; blouse-wearing poodle walker) seeing his barrel-chested likeness pop up from a Jack-in-a-box after it plays "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" will make you take notice of him on Christmas Day.

Probably hoping to take advantage of the bobblehead craze, Upper Deck has created the "Jox Box" and offers a number of athletes for sale, including Schilling, who goes for $18.95 at SportsGifts.com.

It's a pretty good likeness, too: Chiseled Nordic facial features, big ears, XXL torso, in-your-face opinions. You can probably even modify it to include his famous bloody sock as we've taken the liberty of showing

Adios, Tex.

The Red Sox, thought to be the leaders in the horse race for Mark Teixeira, apparently will not sign the free agent at any cost.

Or, at least the cost Scott Boras wants.

After hearing in a Dallas meeting with Boras about offers other teams apparently have made for Teixeira, Red Sox owner John Henry says in an e-mail: "It seems clear that we are not going to be a factor."

In other words, neigh!

Yahoo! Sports' Gordon Edes has the story, which adds that the Angels, Orioles and Nationals also made offers to Teixeira, who is 28 and regarded as the top dog on the free-agent market.

Update: Scott Boras has e-mail, too! He wrote Y! Sports' Tim Brown, who then forwarded the message (along with a hilarious quiz about "getting to know your friends at Christmas") to Gordon.

Oh, and below, Boras says this about Teixeira:

"The Boston ownership was kind enough to request and travel to meet with Mark Teixeira. While it was a very positive meeting, Mark was candid and advised he is in the

Before he allegedly pulled a fast one on the Atlanta Braves, free-agent shortstop Rafael Furcal talked with the Athletics about playing in Oakland. He didn't sign, of course, and FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal says the A's have problems attracting free agents because of "working conditions and security concerns" regarding their home stadium, McAfee Coliseum.

That leads to a big question: What's wrong with McAfee, other than a few isolated incidents, most of which are associated with Raiders games? In an attempt to provide an answer, here are 10 concerns might be in the minds of free agents:

10. Billy Beane’s wish for all players to have a .230 batting average but a .430 on-base percentage just too awkward of a split to realistically achieve.

9. Closer Brad Ziegler's inability to stay absolutely perfect for entire season shook confidence of free agent market.

8. Cell phone thrown from stands that beaned Carl Everett in '03 started another annoying trend that still includes wise guys

The outlook for Rocco Baldelli, as a person and as a free agent, improved a lot recently.

Baldelli told Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times that doctors at the Cleveland Clinic have diagnosed him with channelopathy (a kind of neuromuscular disease), which is much more treatable and much less severe than the career- and life-threatening mitochondrial disorder other docs had diagnosed earlier this year.

A seemingly nice, classy and patient guy, Baldelli said he was not "misdiagnosed" as some reported — including this post at ABC6.com. Rather, docs in Cleveland simply had testing equipment more sophisticated than any Baldelli had experienced.

From TampaBay.com:

"It's definitely an encouraging development," Baldelli said. "Knowing this is a treatable condition, I feel this is a very positive thing for me and my baseball career. With this less-severe diagnosis, I hope to be on the field on a much more regular basis.''

Baldelli finished third in AL Rookie of the Year voting in

The holidays are approaching which means Big League Stew is on the lookout for the neatest baseball-themed gifts for enthusiasts of what's still our national pastime. Welcome to another installment of Big League Stew's Holiday Gift Guide '08.

The image of a choo-choo train riding atop tracks that are laid around the tree remains an indelible image of Christmas. This holiday season, Hawthorne Village marries that icon with another from U.S. society, baseball. Yes, the Baseball Fever Village Collection ($349, collectiblestoday.com) comes in four different team themes — White Sox, Cubs, Yankees and Red Sox — and is sure to put a little baseball hop in your holiday step.

However, you must hurry if you want to buy either of the Chicago villages beccause they say so much of thie Windy City has been sold already. Allegedly.

Of course, it's the details (listed below) that make this gift essential:

• It contains accurate-looking miniature stadiums! We know that anything with a miniature

The Rays won the AL pennant last year and they would have done it even without Jonny Gomes.

However, there's not a chance they would have won it as colorfully if he weren't around.

Gomes batted a dismal .182/.282/.383 in '08, easily the worst of his four seasons in St. Petersburg. He had only 11 plate appearances after Aug. 4 and was inactive for the entire playoff run. Therefore it came as no surprise that Tampa Bay non-tendered him on Friday, sending Gomes to free agency.

Non-tender is an excellent way of putting it because it's very un-tender to cut someone who's been with your organization since turning pro in 2001. And Gomes, despite a paucity of good statistics this past season, was important (yes, we're stretching the word's definition here) to the Rays rise to power in the AL East.

Gomes had a strong rookie season in '05, and owned the club's record for home runs by a first-year player until some guy named Longoria came along. Gomes has struggled at the plate since, but he