Andy Pettitte fesses up

NEW YORK (AP) -- (12/15/07)--New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte is admitting his use of human growth hormone. The veteran left-hander was one of more than 80 players mentioned in the Mitchell Report.

The 20-month investigation into the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball was released Thursday.

Pettitte said he tried HGH on two occasions, stressing he did it to heal faster and not enhance his performance. He emphasized he never used steroids.  Pettitte also says -- quote -- "if what I did was an error in judgment on my part, I apologize."

Pettitte asked the trainer he shared with Roger Clemens, Brian McNamee, to help him with HGH while on the disabled list early in the 2002 season, the report said. McNamee recalled injecting Pettitte two to four times, Mitchell said.

HGH wasn't banned by baseball until January 2005.

Pettitte was not linked to steroids in the report, and said he never had never used them.

The 35-year-old lefty is 201-113 lifetime. He started his major league career in 1995 and won four World Series championships with the Yankees. He pitched for his hometown Houston Astros from 2004-06 and helped them reach their first World Series.

Pettitte returned to the Yankees last season and went 15-9. This month, he put off retirement and agreed to a $16 million, one-year contract to play for the Yankees next season.

Mitchell devoted 1½ pages to McNamee's testimony about Pettitte. Clemens was mentioned on nearly nine pages, with McNamee saying he injected the star pitcher.  Clemens was accused of using steroids and HGH and, through his lawyer, vehemently denied the accusations.

When Clemens joined the Yankees in 1999, he and Pettitte became fast friends and training partners. McNamee was part of their regimen - Clemens had worked with him in Toronto before being traded to New York.

According to the Mitchell Report, Pettitte asked McNamee about using HGH after the 2001 season, and the trainer said he discouraged the pitcher from trying it.

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