Andy Pettite Not the Good Guy Anymore

[Zeebers]

Clearly to me Andy, looks like the winner in all of this. The reason is plain and simple, Clemens continues to be an arrogant prick which deflects all the negative attention off of dandy Andy. I wouldn't go as far as to call Andy a saint like many folks have, but I'll chose to believe everything he has said yesterday. Although its still curious to me why Andy used the HGH the second time if it didn't help him the first time. Common sense would dictate, if you know you're doing something wrong and it does not have the desired effect on you, why do it again??

[mbn007]

Just my 2 cents.

Andy cheated. No 2 ways about it. He used HGH on multiple occasions. That can't be condoned. I do understand that his intent was for recovery from an injury, and not to gain a competitive advantage, like a Bonds or Clemens are accused of, or like a McGuire or Palmeiro were accused of.

But he used the stuff, and that was wrong. He did have an advantage over a guy who had the same injury and did not use HGH.

However, the only thing these players, especially the active ones, can do is apologize. For that I can forgive them. But those who continue to deny, or make excuses (flax-seed oil???) I can't stand.

Andy did wrong. But he will not hear it from me if he is pitching in a game I attend. Unlike Sheffield, who I booed loudly, from my RF seats when he was out there, in early 2006, before he got hurt.

[Maxman]

Remind me to never trust you on the subject of cheeseburgers and their detrimental effect on society.

I am a semi-vegetarian. One of my goals in life is to be the worlds fattest vegetarian. Beef isn't my thing despite what you may have read here.

[Maxman]

Just my 2 cents.

Andy cheated. No 2 ways about it. He used HGH on multiple occasions. That can't be condoned. I do understand that his intent was for recovery from an injury, and not to gain a competitive advantage, like a Bonds or Clemens are accused of, or like a McGuire or Palmeiro were accused of.

But he used the stuff, and that was wrong. He did have an advantage over a guy who had the same injury and did not use HGH.

However, the only thing these players, especially the active ones, can do is apologize. For that I can forgive them. But those who continue to deny, or make excuses (flax-seed oil???) I can't stand.

Andy did wrong. But he will not hear it from me if he is pitching in a game I attend. Unlike Sheffield, who I booed loudly, from my RF seats when he was out there, in early 2006, before he got hurt.

I definitely agree with that. He is wrong. Tons of them are wrong. I respect those that admit it though.

NOBODY has come forward who wasn't in the report. Yet we can reasonably assume there are hundreds of other players. So Andy did what is common. He cheated and didn't admit it until he had to.

The reason I give Andy credit here is because he is going to lose a friendship with Roger for his honesty. I respect him doing the right thing even if it is late in the game.

[Kidhuman]

While I have respect for Andy admitting it, I lose respect for the fact he lied. Sure he came and told the truth, but can we believe it was 5 times now?

I know it seems I am an avid Clemens defender here, I know he is lying. Andy lied about it. My question is why did it take the Mitchell report to get all these players to admit it? If they knew it was wrong and cheating or to recover quicker, why not come and admit it with out being investigated. Thats how honest all these people are. I would love to see a player who is not mentioned in any report come and admit it.

[Scott Dierking]

While I have respect for Andy admitting it, I lose respect for the fact he lied. Sure he came and told the truth, but can we believe it was 5 times now?

I know it seems I am an avid Clemens defender here, I know he is lying. Andy lied about it. My question is why did it take the Mitchell report to get all these players to admit it? If they knew it was wrong and cheating or to recover quicker, why not come and admit it with out being investigated. Thats how honest all these people are. I would love to see a player who is not mentioned in any report come and admit it.

Why did they not fess up? The same reason my kids do it-They thought they could get away with it.

And you know what, the vast majority have. The unfortunate ones that have had to pay the piper have toi be saying "why me, why me?".

It was a chance they took.

[Lil Bit Special]

Talking about it and understanding what went on, or can happen is VERY VERY important. Just because you don't want to hear about it doesn't make it not important.

I have 2 boys, 8 and 10 years old who see what is going on. This mess has given me the opportunityh to talk to them about drugs and steroids. It has allowed them to see something in teh news related to high profile athletes who screwed themselves up by trying to take a shortcut.

And what is happening to all the players implicated, especially the Bonds', Pettites' and Clemenns' of the world, for other players to see what they are having to go through, and hopefully that serves a strong deterent.

You just want to "put rules in place" it is not that easy. The players union has fought "rules". It is taking talking about all of this in order to "fix" it.

Sorry, that is what it is taking to "fix" it. Not sweeping it under a rug.

Good that you are using this as a lesson for your children. I applaud you for this. I wish more parents would take an active role with their children teaching them life lessons from the failure of our "heroes"

I never said it wasnt important, but it is not necessary for us to have every single player in the Mitchell report tell us what he did and why. It has become a witch-hunt. If Roger Clemens had just kept his fat mouth shut it wouldnt have come to a congressional hearing.

I know that rules cant be put into place. I know what collective bargaining is. I didnt want to bore the entire site discussing what trade-offs the league has to give players in order to get stricter steroid policies. But one thing will force the unions hand. Anti trust exemption. The thing that got us steroid policy in place to begin with.

I dont want it swept under the rug. I want it fixed. Does it really do any good having players tell us why they did 'roids or hgh??? No it doesnt. I was a huge supporter of the Mitchell Report and I watched the press conference and read the entire report the day it came out. It told me how widespread their usage was. But my biggest fear was it was going to become a circus with the players having to tell us why they did what they did. Having Pettite tell me he used it to help recover from an injury doesnt change my opinion of him.

If you feel these daily updates about Clemens, Pettitte, Loduca, Tejada, whoever else is included is necessary... fine. enjoy it. But it is doing nothing to stop the usage of these illegal substances. The only way you will stop it is through tougher penalties.

[mbn007]

..................

The only way you will stop it is through tougher penalties.

A long time ago we had this thread about what the penalties should be, and I was one of the few who wanted real long-term suspensions. Now, I think I was too lenient.

I want an agreement for a random HGH blood test. Test any 10% of the MLB, anonymously. That is roughly 800 players based on the 25 man roster, or 130 players based on the 40 man rosters. If 10% of that group fails the HGH blood test, the test becomes mandatory league-wide, and at surprise intervals. Any player failing a Steroid or HGH test after that time, the initial penalty is 81 games. After that, the second penalty is a full 162 games. The 3rd failure is lifetime banishment.