TAMPA – Looking at Legends Field from the outside it was impossible to believe everything in the Yankees’ universe wasn’t perfect. A cobalt blue sky housed a warming sun and the palm trees danced leisurely in a delicate breeze. And plans to rename the stadium George M. Steinbrenner Field moved forward.
Then you entered the Yankees’ clubhouse and couldn’t avoid the grey clouds stuffed with questions that Andy Pettitte’s situation has spawned.
Pettitte isn’t slated to arrive in camp until Monday, five days after the pitchers and catchers were required to report to spring training. In light of his role in the heated Roger Clemens-Brian McNamee congressional stare-down, Pettitte asked for additional reporting time and the Yankees granted it.
Yet, while Pettitte idles in Houston, his involvement with HGH and his unfavorable deposition against Clemens has thrust the veteran lefty into the middle of a controversy that has smothered the opening minutes of Yankees camp. And based on the army of self-hating Yankee fans, Pettitte’s status as a favorite son has taken a hit after originally copping to using HGH twice in 2002 on Nov. 15 and then admitting in the Feb. 8 deposition that he did it again in 2004.
Everybody has an opinion about how it will affect the sensitive Pettitte but nobody knows how the 35-year-old hurler, a key cog in the Yankees’ rotation, will come through it.
With Pettitte elsewhere Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and Mike Mussina fielded questions about what type of impact Pettitte’s situation will have on him and the team.
“I don’t know how he will handle it, it will be challenging,” said Mussina, who hasn’t spoken to Pettitte. “He is probably trying to figure out the right way to handle it and trying to figure out how he is going to deal with (the media) probably way more often than he is accustomed to or that he would be comfortable with.”
Likely, Pettitte will meet the press and talk about it once and announce he is done with HGH and what he said about Clemens.
However, Yankee fans who adore Pettitte for his competitiveness and professionalism may view Pettitte as a cheat and not forgive him for telling the truth to Congress about Clemens. And then there will be the Fenway Park denizens.
“However it happens, he has to be able to go out there and pitch,” Mussina said of Pettitte, whose career record is 201-113 and went 15-9 a year ago. “He has to find a way to deal with it. I don’t think he will be able to do his job properly if he has to answer questions all season long.”
If Pettitte starts strong, the naysayers in The Bronx will support him. However, if he struggles, Pettitte’s ears will be blistered with scalding criticism.
“It’s going to be everywhere,” Mussina said of the taunting that will roar out of the ballpark seats. “I watched (Jason) Giambi go through it a couple of years ago. It’s going to be hard and it’s going to be difficult. Hopefully, he can find a way to play through it and perform well.”
Since Pettitte has been viewed as squeaky clean throughout his career, Mussina predicts quite an adjustment, but one Mussina believes Pettitte can handle.
“This is a different animal than anything he has had to deal with before,” Mussina said. “Do I think he can deal with it? Sure, but until you are actually put into the situation and have to deal with it you really don’t know.”
Hence the ominous clouds inside the Yankees’ universe.