TAMPA – Andy Pettitte doesn’t have to move his lips for you to understand how tortured the pitcher is about his role in a possible prison sentence for Roger Clemens. His eyes tell you this is hell.
“I hate it, there is nothing else to say. You all know how I feel about it,” Pettitte said yesterday at Legends Field. “It doesn’t take a whole lot to figure what’s going on.”
When Congress asked the Justice Department to investigate whether Clemens committed perjury on Feb. 5 and Feb. 13 when he adamantly denied he used steroids and human growth hormone, one of the reasons was Pettitte’s prior deposition. When Pettitte was deposed by the congressional committee, he said Clemens had discussed with him using HGH in 1999 or 2000. Pettitte admitted using HGH after being named in the Mitchell Report and in a Feb. 4 deposition.
“It’s extremely disappointing,” Pettitte said of his words possibly playing a role in Clemens being indicted. “Whenever you testify against two guys who are your friends (Brian McNamee was the other) it’s extremely difficult.”
When Pettitte arrived in camp on Feb. 18 – later than any other Yankees pitcher – he hoped a press conference would put an end to what has been a very stressful period for him and his family. However, if the Justice Department finds enough evidence to charge Clemens with perjury, Pettitte’s ordeal will be just beginning. He surely will be subpoenaed, which will mean countless hours spent with lawyers and possible trips to Washington. How much that will affect his performance with the Yankees can’t be measured, but Pettitte was behind the other pitchers because his offseason workout routine was fractured by the situation.
“Until somebody tells me to go somewhere, I can’t do anything,” said Pettitte, who returned to the Yankees on a one-year deal worth $16 million and is expected to fall in behind ace Chien-Ming Wang in the rotation. “I have one concern and that is to try and help the New York Yankees. We have all been through so much already; I have to get ready for the season.”
Pettitte, who believed his deposition wouldn’t be made public, was asked if he thought Clemens, who is throwing batting practice to Astros minor leaguers in Kissimmee, Fla., 90 minutes from Legends, would try to pitch again.
“I don’t want to answer questions all day. I don’t have a whole lot to say about the whole situation,” Pettitte said. “I don’t like any of this going on. I can’t stand it. I told you how I feel about him. It’s like part of my family. It’s a bad deal.”
Pettitte’s lawyers have advised him that should Clemens be charged with perjury, his involvement wouldn’t be needed for a while. That may keep him away from missing time, but will do nothing to settle his mind.
Yet Pettitte insisted his frame of mind is good until the difficult situation is brought up by reporters.
“To tell you the truth, I am doing great until you guys start asking questions about it,” Pettitte said.
Pettitte, who will make his spring training debut Sunday against the Phillies at Legends Field, has been received well by Yankees fans who have witnessed his workouts. That will certainly change when he pitches away from Legends Field or Yankee Stadium, where not every customer will be in his corner.
“I don’t feel like I am some kind of hero in this thing at all,” Pettitte said. “I made the mistakes and I admitted to them. How people want to handle that, as far as the fans, I will have to deal with it. I feel better I told the truth.”