Jeff Pearlman holds a weekly Q&A on his website called “The Quaz Q&A,” and this week’s guest was Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated and the MLB Network. Verducci is one of baseball’s most respected writers and has a slew of stories from his long career covering baseball. One in particular, which he relayed to Pearlman, involves Italians and Albert Belle and the weirdest of baseball superstitions.

Author Jeff Pearlman has a new book coming out, Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton. The book is causing some controversy, largely because it alleges a heretofore un-talked-about darker side of Payton’s life. Among those unhappy with it: Payton’s old coach, Mike Ditka.

SI.com’s Jeff Pearlman used to write for ESPN. He said he enjoyed his time there…but still, he left for a reason. And the reason he wanted out was on display during the (still kind of ongoing) Bruce Feldman saga. Safe to say, Pearlman is no kinder to ESPN for having worked there.

Roger Clemens has a tough legal battle ahead after his indictment on perjury charges, and recently he took to WEEI’s The Big Show to discuss the charges. Unsurprisingly, though, he didn’t say much.