AND JUSTICE FOR ALL...

Andy Pettitte has had long couple days. No he wasn't in Tampa or Trenton getting ready for his major league comeback. He was testifying against his former teammate, Roger Clemens. Andy was a witness for the prosecution in the government's case against Roger for perjury and obstruction. Andy had testifyied to Congress during the Mitchell Report investigation that Roger admitted to taking HGH, which then Andy said Roger later denied. Sometimes being friends with a person can complicate your life. So such is the case for Andy.

Andy, sworn under oath, answered a slew of questions ranging from his knowledge of Roger's HGH use (which was based on one conversation they had in 2000) to why he himself used HGH to explaining what the DL was or why pitchers don't pitch everyday (the last two were for the jurors who knew nothing about baseball). He recalled how in 2006, when stories were coming out about players who were using HGH, asking Roger how he would answer if he were ever asked. To which Roger replied "I never said I did that stuff. I told you Debbie (Roger's wife) did" The Prosecutor asked Andy why, if he knew that was not what Roger said in 2000, he didn't persue the topic. Andy's answer was "At that point, I knew I was on my own". That one sentence, for me, speaks volumes about Roger Clemens.

This whole saga started to play out publically in 2008 with the release of the Mitchell Report to Andy admitting to taking HGH to now testifying against Clemens. For Andy this personal drama started that first time he took HGH, knowing he was probably not doing the right thing, to sitting his four kids down and telling them what he had done, to testifying against Clemens. I really hope this whole thing has come full circle for Andy both personally and publically.

I still have the highest respect and admiration for Andy Pettitte. He is a fierce competitor, a great pitcher and above all a fine man.

Hurry home to the Bronx, Andy!