December 15, 2007

Two Apologies

F.P. Santangelo:
I did something absolutely wrong. I shouldn't be made a hero. I made a bad decision against everything I believe. I admitted it and I faced the music. And if by me being embarrassed helps generations to come not have to make the difficult decisions that I had to make, then it's good that this all came out.
Andy Pettitte:
If what I did was an error in judgment on my part, I apologize. I accept responsibility for those two days. ... In 2002 I was injured. I had heard that human growth hormone could promote faster healing for my elbow. I felt an obligation to get back to my team as soon as possible. For this reason, and only this reason, for two days I tried human growth hormone. Though it was not against baseball rules, I was not comfortable with what I was doing, so I stopped. ... I wasn't looking for an edge. I was looking to heal.
(Emphasis mine.)

One nice thing about Pettitte's mealy-mouth statement (if what I did was a mistake -- it might not be) is it increases the pressure on his training buddy.

5 comments:

allan said...

SoSHer lurker bean8282 makes a good point:

"Isn't looking to heal quicker looking for an edge? ... I hear often fans and so called "analysts" alike making the distinction between those who used HGH to return more quickly from injury as opposed to healthy ball players who used HGH to boost performance. This contention is faulty. The use of PEDs for whatever reason provides an unfair advantage. Ingesting hormones or anabolic steroids is unnatural and, therefore, those who choose to take PEDs do so knowingly in order to gain an advantage over the next athlete who chooses not to. Had Pettitte not taken HGH would he have been able to regain the health necessary in order to perform at a major league level in 2002? Is it possible that he may have missed extended time in order to rehab an elbow that needed more time to heal naturally? His use of HGH all of "two days" (not likely) constitutes gaining an unnatural and unfair advantage over the competition. His decision to do so was obviously not an uncommon one given the fact that a major portion of MLB players were making similar decisions. However, to qualify his decision on the basis of his need to recover from an injury is incorrect."

Unknown said...

In talking with a friend of mine, he raised a good point. Pettitte's statement vindicates/corroborates the trainer's statements.

allan said...

And that's why the Con Man's got to be squirming right about now ...

:>)

Benjamin said...

Everyone knows that if you want to heal faster, you buy black-market HGH and inject it yourself. You certainly don't go to a doctor.

Unknown said...

Pettite's half apology doesn't answer my big question, which is what does he know about his best buddy Roger?