Oh, Andy.
Andy Pettitte admitted on Saturday to
using human growth hormone during the 2002 season. The Yankee lefty stated that he used HGH on two occasions to help him come back from an elbow injury and not to gain a competitive edge.
"I felt an obligation to get back to my team as soon as possible. For this
reason, and only this reason, for two days I tried human growth hormone. Though
it was not against baseball rules, I was not comfortable with what I was doing,
so I stopped.
"This is it -- two days out of my life; two days out of my entire career,
when I was injured and on the disabled list. I wasn't looking for an
edge. I was looking to heal."
I still have a soft spot for a select number of Yankees from the glory years and Pettitte is one of them so I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt. But his statement seems very calculated and may become a familiar refrain for players implicated in the Mitchell report to use in the days and months to come. I will be shocked if any ballplayer comes out and says:
"Yeah, I took such-and-such for most of my career and it helped me put up big numbers, play in the big leagues for 'X' amount of years and made me a boatload of money. And if you were me, you would have done the same thing."
Still, Pettitte didn't wait two weeks before responding to the allegations and could have simply denied it so I have to give him credit there. But what really bothers me is this passage:
"If what I did was an error in judgment on my part, I apologize."
If you're going to apologize for something, just apologize. Don't preface it by adding "if" -- just say you messed up and then wait and see if people accept it. If they do, then everybody hugs and kisses and moves on. If they don't, at least you can go to sleep knowing you made a sincere attempt at a reconciliation.
HGH wasn't banned by Major League Baseball until the 2005 season so I doubt that Bud Selig will be able to dish out a punishment or a suspension. I'm sure he'll be critical of Pettitte and will admonish him in the press, but I don't think Pettitte will have to worry about the wrath of Bud. Then again, Selig recently suspended Baltimore Orioles outfielder Jay Gibbons and newly inked Kansas City Royal Jose Guillen for the first 15 games of the 2008 season for violating baseball's drug policy even though neither failed a drug test. Both players were linked to receiving steroids and HGH between 2003 and 2005. Guillen will appeal the suspension. Gibbons will not.
Pettitte's image has taken a bit of a beating, but he should bounce back. He's never been in trouble before and he's a likable enough fella. Plus, his story is believable. The real loser in this is Roger Clemens. The Mitchell report stated that Pettitte received HGH from Brian McNamee, the trainer he shared with this good buddy Rocket. It will be interesting to see what Clemens does now that Pettitte has admitted to HGH.
As for me, I'll accept Pettitte's story. But that doesn't mean I totally believe it.
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