Pettitte remains regretful

TAMPA, Fla. – Andy Pettitte repeated his apologies over and over again, saying he had embarrassed himself and set a terrible example.

Whether he upset Roger Clemens is anyone’s guess. They haven’t spoken in more than a month, since Pettitte corroborated allegations of drug use against his former teammate, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner.

“Obviously it’s put a strain, I think, on our friendship,” Pettitte said Monday. “I love him like a brother.”

On the day he reported to spring training with the New York Yankees, the pitcher faced reporters for the first time since the Mitchell Report was released in December and revealed accusations Pettitte had used human growth hormone. He patiently spent 55 1/2 minutes explaining what he had done and why he did it.

“I felt like I need to come out, be forward with this,” Pettitte said. “Whatever circumstances or repercussions come with it, I’ll take and I’ll take like a man and I’ll try to do my job.”

Other athletes have ducked tough questions about allegations of drug use, using evasions and nonspecific replies. Pettitte admitted his mistakes and several times patiently asked reporters, “Did I answer your question?”

Flanked by manager Joe Girardi and general manager Brian Cashman with several teammates nearby, Pettitte seemed skittish at the start as he read from notes.

“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,” he said. “I also want to tell anyone that is an Andy Pettitte fan I am sorry, especially any kids that might look up to me.”

He said he was a “nervous wreck” and “scared to death” before the news conference. He relaxed after a few minutes and went into far greater detail than most accused athletes about their transgressions.

“I know that once I have this press conference and talk to everybody about this and share everything …, I think the truth will set you free,” Pettitte said. “I think I’m going to be able to sleep a lot better at night once all this gets by.”

Brian McNamee, the former personal trainer to Pettitte and Clemens, said in the Mitchell Report that Pettitte used HGH in 2002 while with the Yankees. Two days after the report was released Dec. 13, Pettitte issued a statement through his agent confirming McNamee’s account and saying that was the only time he used HGH.

In a deposition and an affidavit to a congressional committee two weeks ago, Pettitte said he injected himself with HGH for one day in 2004 while with the Astros after obtaining two syringes from his father.

“I am sorry for not telling the whole truth in my original statement,” Pettitte said. “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.”

Pettitte said there were no other times he used performance-enhancing drugs.

“That’s it. There are no other surprises out there,” he said. “… anything that would come up would be definitely false allegations.”

The 35-year-old lefty with 201 regular-season wins and four World Series championship rings said he did not feel as if his accomplishments were tainted. He said he used HGH only because he felt pressure to pitch while injured because of his multimillion salary and thought HGH might help his elbow heal.

“I didn’t do it to try to get an edge on anyone. I didn’t do it to try to get stronger or faster or throw harder. I did it because I thought it might be able to help me,” he said.