Pettitte’s opening statement
-
- February
- 18
I just wanted to say, well, I’m happy to be back here and again looking forward to giving the Yankees every ounce of energy I have this season. I want to thank the New York Yankees for giving me a few extra days with my family. I think they realize this has taken a toll on my family, and other than my relationship with God, my family is the No. 1 priority in my life.
I want to apologize to the New York Yankees’ and to the Houston Astros’ organizations and to their fans and to all my teammates and to all of baseball fans for the embarrassment I have caused them. I also want to tell anyone that is an Andy Pettitte fan I am sorry, especially any kids that might look up to me. Since graduating from high school, I have spent my life working with young kids at my church and in my community. I never want a young person to do what I did.
Anyone that has followed my career knows that I have battled elbow problems the entire time. Again, like I said before, I never took this to get an edge on anyone. I did this to try to get off the DL and to do my job. And again, for that, I am sorry for the mistakes I’ve made.
I have been put in a situation that I think no one should ever be put. Being put in the middle of a situation between two men I have known for a long time has been a very difficult time for me over the last couple of months. I have never tried to take sides in Roger (Clemens) and Mac’s (Brian McNamee) situation, but I’ve only been honest.
Roger has been one my closest friends in baseball over the last nine years. He has taught me more about pitching than I ever could have imagined. Mac has pushed me in my workouts harder than anyone I’ve ever worked with. I have been friends with Roger and Mac for a long time and, hopefully, will continue to be friends after this.
As far as the situation with my dad, I am sorry for not telling the whole truth in my original statement after the Mitchell Report was released. I am human, just like anyone else, and people make mistakes. I never wanted to bring my dad into a situation like this. This was between me and him, and no one else. I testified about my dad in part because I felt in my heart I had to, but mainly because he urged me to tell the truth, even if it hurt him. Most of you know that my dad has had numerous health problems, especially with his heart, and he was just trying to do anything to help himself feel better. He is a private individual, not a professional athlete like myself, and his privacy should be respected.
I hope with the help from y’all, that I can put all this behind me and continue to do what I’ve always tried to do - that is to help bring the New York Yankees another world championship.
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on Monday, February 18th, 2008 at 5:58 pm by Peter Abraham.
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Peter Abraham
I like what his last sentence says the most.
How many of you think that pettitte is a little bit a rat for not coming out and saying that it could be that he mis heard roger clemens ?
Andy, you’re forgiven. Now go out and win me 18 games and a “World Serious”!
I don’t think Andy misheard or misremembered anything at all. He isn’t the rat here.
As for the other two…
I understand Andy being a religious man, try to atone for his ’sins” He wants redemption, fine. Why did he have to mention his father? He could have what Giambi did. Jason confessed but he refused to name names. Andy might be religious bit IMO he is not much of a man.
This is pitiful that this guy needs to apologize and publicly prostrate himself. This was not a thorough study - let’s go back and look at the mid 90’s Rangers playoff teams with Palmeiro, Gozalez and Pudge Rodriguez - give me a break! Or how about the Indians teams of the same era. That the Yanks, Mets and bay area teams are the only ones implicated is unfair to the point of prejudice. So Pudge, Thome, Juan Gonzalez etc. Can all keep mum and wait to be HOF eligible. Obviously the above players are named based on my opinions only.
LOL. He’s not a rat al.
Anything he says now that compromises his earlier testimony — or even qualifies it — is going to cause him to face more questions and more grief. He said what he remembered on the record and under oath. Clemens says he heard wrong. As MacNamee would tell us, it is what it is.
If there is further criminal or civil litigation, he is going to have to revisit this topic at that time. To do it now, at a press conference, would be stupid. Andy handled himself well and the news conference went well (despite the special privileges given to Pete).
Pete — that paranthetical was a joke — if others didn’t hear, Pete was given the opportunity to ask a second question and it was implied that he was the only one given the opportunity. Pete protested that it wasn’t true.
APPARENTLY SPORTS DO NOT EXIST OUTSIDE OF NEW YORK AND BOSTON…JUST WATCH SPORTS CENTER
I have always been a fan of Pettittes even though he does the religion thing in public which is not my way but in my opinion he is a good guy and I will always root for Andy.
We cannot comprehend how much pressure guys like Andy are under. He makes a ton of dough and because of his nature he wants to put his best effort forward to show that the money and trust is deserved and he tried a shortcut to stay off the DL.
imagine the difference between him and oavano, night and day.. andy would do anything as he showed to help his team and not let his teammates down, people like myself who were not good enough to be part of a tem at a high level will never understand how important that is to people like pettitte. they say it is how people in the military feel towards there fellow troops, they might not like each other or look at things differently but never want to let there teammate or fellow soldier down.
I do believe there are degrees of wrongdoing and so do the courts of america and in my book andy’s degree of cheating(someone else’e term) his was quite minor…
he sat there and answered all the questions, no legalise, etc… you may not like his answers but he answered them all.
the 1 amazing thing people should realize is how a guy like andy trusted mcnamee so much with his conditioning and really mcnamee is not overly qualified, many ballplayers are not exactly Ivy league material..
*He could have done what iambi did*
What did “iambi” do, Ed? He could not have avoided naming named, Ed. This wasn’t a grand jury searching for facts. He was either going to tell the truth, lie or refuse to answer.
Your suggestion only shows that you fail to recognize the very different situation Pettitte was in when called before Congress.
Dude, let’s just play some baseball.
Sorry, Rebecca. This thing doesn’t just go away because you want it to. It is best to air it out now — in the first few days of spring training — than in April or August or October. There will be plenty of baseball over the next eight months.
Speaking of honesty and ethics… Hmmmmm I’ll take Andy any day of the week…
Curt Schilling, who said he held off on addressing his situation because he didn’t want to be a distraction but became even more of a story this past week because of his silence, met with a few handpicked reporters in the parking lot this morning after he furtively whispered instructions that they meet him there. The Globe was not among those invited to his private party, but Don Orsillo was, with a NESN camera, and in an interview that will be aired on NESN’s Sportsdesk tonight at 10 and is embedded at the top of this blog entry, Schilling left little doubt that he feels the Red Sox have him embarked on the wrong course of medical treatment.
He also disputed any questions about the appropriateness of him collecting on the $8 million contract he signed with the Sox last November, noting that he had passed a physical and MRI.
“Something happened,” said Schilling, who said he began throwing in mid-December, felt some discomfort, shut down for a couple of weeks, then felt “intense” pain when he resumed throwing in January, far worse than anything he experienced last season, when he was on the disabled list for seven weeks with what was described as biceps tendinitis.
“If some people want to believe this was me taking advantage of the situation financially, I wouldn’t be doing it here. I would have done it for $14 million in at least two other places, if I was going to sit on my ass on the DL and collect a paycheck.
“So I know that for a fact. People are going to believe what they want to believe. I was healthy at the time.”
Schilling likened the situation to the first time he had shoulder surgery in 1995, when he said he was misdiagnosed by the Phillies and that a team trainer recommended him to shoulder specialist Dr. Craig Morgan, who performed surgery on Schilling at that time.
“Here I am, 14 years later, and he (Morgan) was right every time,” Schilling said. “This guy has been cutting edge forever. He’s always been way ahead of the bell curve. He’s an orthopedic surgeon, but that’s like saying he’s a major league player. He’s Papelbon, a specialist, a shoulder specialist, that’s what he does.
“But they (the Red Sox) disagreed. And at the end of the day, I hear one doctor say one thing, another doctor say something different, and a third doctor say something completely different. I’m probably as lost as anybody.”
Schilling’s doctor, Morgan, says Schilling needs surgery to repair what he described as the disintegrating biceps tendon in his shoulder. Thomas Gill, the Sox medical director, advised a course of rest and rehabilitation, which began with a cortisone injection and will continue through a regimen of shoulder strengthening exercises before Schilling is even allowed to resume throwing. That could take up to six to eight weeks.
Morgan predicts that Schilling’s shoulder will not respond to the injection, that the Sox program has “zero” chance of succeeding and that the only way Schilling gets back on the mound by the All-Star break is if he has the operation.
It became a point of contractual contention when the Sox advised Schilling that he risked voiding his contract if he elected to go ahead and have surgery. Eventually a third doctor was called in, Mets medical director David Altchek, and according to sources Altchek warned that Schilling had a rotator cuff tear that might also require surgery.
“I’m obviously going to fall back on the guy (Morgan) who’s already been down this path and who’s always been right,” Schilling said.
“….I immediately jumped on that when no one else was really offering me a difference, a change.”
It was at that point, he said, that the contract became an issue. “I think there was some belief on their end that I was going to go off and do my own thing and have surgery on my own,” Schilling said, “or something like that. I immediately assured everybody that I was talking to I would never do that, No. 1, and No. 2, I couldn’t do it legally, anyway.”
Schilling said he is following the Sox prescribed regimen “because I don’t have any choice. If their course of action doesn’t work I don’t pitch this year, I might not ever pitch again.”
Schilling did not come right out and say the Sox doctors were wrong, but he called their judgment into question this way. “I think there’s unspoken here that doctors have egos every bit as much as professional athletes. These are some of the top people in the world at what they do. I had three different doctors tell me three completely different things with three completely different courses of action. I’m obviously going to fall back on the guy who’s already been down this path before.”
Speaking of Steroids use…
Nationals Sign Bret Boone
I don’t have enough for an odds and ends post at the moment, so it’s Bret Boone’s lucky day. The Nationals have signed the 38 year-old second baseman to a minor league deal. The organization is already home to Bob and Aaron Boone.
Bret comes out of retirement in an attempt to crack Washington’s roster as a utility guy. They’ve already got Ron Belliard and Felipe Lopez competing for time at second base. The Nationals hope Boone can reprise his 2001 line: .331 average, 37 home runs, 141 RBIs.
Can we talk about Nick Johnson?
Hey Pete…….what you need to do…since you are SO sure that you are right…is go right up to Andy P. and say….” We all know that you are a cheater,,,,you cheated,,so you are a cheater….how does a cheater like you live with yourself and allow yourself to play ball next to all these other players, who mostly are NOT cheaters,,,being that YOU are REALLY a Cheater ???…..huh, Cheater ?…I can’t hear you, Cheater ??? “….why don’t you try that one on for size, then send us the address of the hospital you are at, so that we can send you blended food to drink from your straw ????
I think it’s fair to scrutinize all these guys with neck, back and patella injuries. Look at the forearms on Bonds, McGuire etc. They used to be skinny guys. How does that happen?
I’ve seen guys who do 1000 push ups a day and have a tricep that sticks out of the back of a NORMAL LOOKING ARM like a tennis ball. The whole arm does not look like a tree stump. It’s not naturally possible and they’re all doing it and I don’t necessarily care. I just don’t like this selective humiliation of players from the clubs that the commission or the feds happened to infiltrate,
Pete – nice touch with the y’all:-)
I’m surprised Andy went as far as saying nice things about Clemens and McNamee and proclaiming to want to stay friends with them. Obviously none of my business who Andy Pettitte wants to be friends with, but just surprised he included that in his public statement when he is asking for public forgiveness, trying to downplay what he did, all while those two guys are generally perceived as liars and creeps in the court of public opinions.
Andy you are a true Yankee and loved!I personally hope you have a phenomenal year.
Dee - Maybe Andy doesn’t feel it is his job to make moral judgements about other people. Maybe we could all learn something from him.
HGH; Advil; Steriods; Bayer; Ben-Gay: Greenies.
Are all of these ‘PED’s’ or do they have other purposes ?
Where is the outrage that fans have been cheated out of their hard earned money?
This wasn’t just a little bit of lying or cheating. This was a whole system that broke down from the players to management to the league office.
They all looked the other way so they could keep lining their pockets with the fans money!
MLB not only owes fans the promise that they will get their house in order by putting integrity back into the game. They should roll back ticket prices to give back some of the money they took under false pretenses.
That’s called putting your money where your mouth is!
Andy offering up his straddle the line apologies and then continuing to collect his 16M salary doesn’t get it done!!
Pete -
I just want to thank you for making the audio available. I was not able to see or hear any of the press conference today, so it was a great service to me, and others as well, I’m sure. I like to be able to hear things for myself to come to my own conclusions.
The old saying is “keep your friends close and your enemies closer” with a friend like Roger expecting you to jepardize your freedom to protect him and his ego shows He’s not a TRUE friend either.
Old Yanks Fan – don’t get me wrong, I’m not calling Roger or McNamee liars or creeps. I haven’t read the full disposition so wouldn’t draw conclusions based on hearsays. I’m really just genuinely surprised that Andy made a point to continue to associate himself with two people who obviously are not judged favorably by the public at the moment.
Jesse -
I’m sorry, but I don’t see how the fans got cheated, exactly. They got exactly the entertainment they paid for, tainted as it may or may not have been. The more homeruns were hit, the more people paid for tickets. The more strikeouts, the better. I sure wish it wasn’t so, but the fans have played their part, as well as the union, ownership, management, the media and the players themselves. We were all complicit here.
Wow what a joke this guy is. YOu want to do what you want to do, I don’t care. But I hope the team fines him for the shirt.
Scenes from Yankees camp
Dave Buscema
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=SPORTS
On a T-shirt of a man you don’t want to hear about: As incredible as it gets with Carl Pavano, you might not even believe this one. The pitcher who has succeeded in wasting more money and time than,possibly, anyone in team history, is here because he’s on the 40-man roster. He cannot pitch, of course, because he’s set for Tommy John surgery. But the man ridiculed by teammates and fans alike for his indifference apparently couldn’t resist making himself recipient of another joke as well as more scorn. “Bongs, not bombs,” read the shirt Pavano wore, with the picture of a device used for smoking pot.
End of story!!!!!!!!!! Let’s get back to baseball. I can’t wait till the young guns start to pitch this year.
BTW I really liked that Mo, Jorge and Jeter were by Andy’s side at the news conference.
Contrary to some people who think this ordeal may drive Andy to wish he had retired, I actually think the support of his teammates who understand the pressure to succeed in the league could help him get over this. At least he could be focusing his energy this year to prove himself and get redemption by trying to win one last championship, instead of hiding at home in Houston and subjecting himself to the neighbors’ whispers.
I think the most difficult thing that Andy Pettitte is going to have to deal with is something he mentioned himself, and that is what his children are going to have to deal with. I am sure that Andy Pettitte, a grown man, with sympathetic teammates by his side, is going to be able to handle all of the epithets thrown at him at venues around the country. However, his children are a lot less equipped to handle the playground cruelty that they are going to have to endure for something they did not do. I’m sure that at various times Pettitte is going to have to become involved with things at home. That is the “distraction” that is going to problematic for him.
Pete, thanks for transcribing this part. Hopefully this means that you’ll be doing the same for other audio that you post.
Is Andy bringing his family with him to NY?
No, Laura and the kids are staying in Texas until the school year is through.
I don’t see how this problem is solvable at all. This is not just an indulgence of the pantheon of great players who want to be immortals. There are plenty of players who have been ensnared who are gambling with their health just to make a living - and I think its unrealistic to think that there will not always be a core of borderline players willing to take that risk. Here is a list of Major Leaguers suspended for performance enhancing drugs.
Alex Sánchez, Jorge Piedra, Agustín Montero, Jamal Strong, Juan Rincón, Rafael Betancourt, Rafael Palmeiro, Ryan Franklin, Mike Morse, Carlos Almanzar, Félix Heredia, Matt Lawton, Yusaku Iriki, Jason Grimsley, Guillermo Mota, Juan Salas, Neifi Pérez, Neifi Pérez, Mike Cameron, Jose Guillen, Jay Gibbons
Here is the list of Minor Leaguers with some Major League experience who have tested positive for performance enhancing drugs:
Damian Moss, Robert Machado, Clay Hensley, Brian Mallette, Jon Nunnally, Tom Evans, Grant Roberts, Darnell McDonald, Steven Smyth, Christian Parker, Luis Ugueto, Wilson Delgado, Ramón A. Castro, Matt Whiteside, Wilson Delgado, Luis Ugueto, Nerio Rodríguez, Abraham Núñez, Yamid Haad
It’s time to let this whole damned thing go away and get on with what happens between the lines. There’s nothing to be gained by nitpicking it apart any more than it has already.
Put the chisels away ….
regarding the earlier posters’ discussion about what Pettitte should have said about Clemens, he did tell congress’ investigators that he could have misunderstood Roger’s HGH remark - see pp. 27 & 91 of petitte’s deposition:
http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20080213144942.pdf
really, you need to read the depositions if you want to make informed judgements on the people involved. The media , including this paper/blog, has editorialized more than it has reported.
Now you correlate and parse Clemens’ & Pettitte’s conversations out and come to various conclusions. But it’s just speculation
I think it’s kind of like the Poe story “Murders in the Rue Morgue”, where various people think they understand the language the murderer screams in. turns out they were all wrong. point being that perhaps it’s not good to jump to conclusions with such limited info.