Pettitte asks out; has the truth already been told?

Fearing implicating his bestest buddy former teammate, Andy Pettitte has asked to be excused from appearing in front of the House Oversight Committe on Wednesday.

Pettitte asked out of public testimony because he did not want to say something to hurt his friend and former teammate while in the glare of national television coverage

Interestingly, according to the report, Chairman Waxman agrees with Pettitte and is consulting his Republican counterpart. I think I know why Waxman's agreeable to this.

I can completely appreciate Pettitte's stance; I mean who wants to rat out a friend, particularly when doing so would likely result in a perjury charge and jail time for that friend. However close Pettitte and Clemens are or might have been, Andy surely feels a debt of gratitude for Roger helping elevate his game and fitness training. Not everything Clemens did or achieved is due to PEDs; you have to have the god-given talent in the first place. Clemens took Pettitte under his wing and showed him how to work his rear-end off and Andy's career blossomed as a result.

But, and it's a HUGE BUT, doesn't Pettitte's request look like a fear of telling the world that Roger is lying on TV? It does to me. Guessing that I won't be alone come drive-time radio tomorrow. What is also likely is that Pettitte has already implicated Roger via deposition and sitting and pointing the finger ON TV could simply be too difficult for Pettitte, who's known to be a sensitive and introverted guy. It's my guess that Andy has validated McNamee's story in the deposition and Waxman is giving him a break so he doesn't have to do it for the whole world to see.

Waxman and Co. already got what they need from Pettitte; an admission of guilt, a confirmation of McNamee's story and enough rope to hang Clemens. Waxman will let Pettitte go with the Committee's thanks.


Now, steering this back towards the on-the-field stuff: I'm really wondering how Pettitte will perform this year. If he is the one to effectively hang Roger, does he become a cheered-for villian around the league? Will he be applauded for his honesty? Or will he be booed as one of The Mitchell Gang? Most Yanks get booed on the road regardless, but Pettitte would seem to be too plain vanilla to be booed in most visiting parks. Not so much anymore. Tell ya one thing: I know Cashman is expecting Pettitte to hand deliver 16 wins and a 3.75 ERA.

What do we, the fans, want the outted users to do? Apologetic, repentant, hat-in-hand? Defiant, loud, aggressive? Slink away into the darkness? Make a statement and that's it? I don't know, either.