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01/29/2008 7:00 PM ET
Pettitte deposition postponed
Hearing moved to Monday for Yankees left-hander
By Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com








WASHINGTON -- The deposition for Yankees left-hander Andy Pettitte has been postponed from this Wednesday to next Monday, the two Congressional leaders of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said in a joint statement released on Tuesday.
The deposition schedule in advance of a Capitol Hill public hearing on Feb. 13 further analyzing the findings of former Sen. George Mitchell in his Report about the use of performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball has been in flux since it was formally announced by the committee on Jan. 18.

Pettitte, who was named in the Mitchell Report, was invited to appear along with ex-teammates Roger Clemens and Chuck Knoblauch plus Brian McNamee, once Clemens' personal trainer, and Kirk Radomski, a former Mets clubhouse employee. Mitchell, Commissioner Bud Selig and Don Fehr, the long-time executive director of the Players Association, appeared at a hearing on Jan. 15.

"Mr. Pettitte is cooperating voluntarily with the Committee, and we look forward to his testimony on Monday," said Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Ranking Minority Member Tom Davis, a Republican from Virginia. "We appreciate Mr. Pettitte's willingness to assist the Committee."

Regarding the private testimony, Knoblauch is the first one scheduled to appear this coming Saturday. Clemens is slated to follow Pettitte on Tuesday and McNamee is on the docket two days later. Radomski has finally been scheduled to appear on Feb. 12, a day before the public hearing. He pleaded guilty to selling drugs illicitly and money laundering in the wide federal net that exposed the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative and is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 8.


Since the Mitchell Report was released on Dec. 13, Pettitte has acknowledged that McNamee injected him with human growth hormone twice, saying that he did so to speed up his recovery from elbow tendinitis. On page 176 of the Report, Mitchell said that McNamee recalled having injected Pettitte with HGH he had obtained from Radomski on "two to four occasions."

"Pettitte stated [to McNamee] that he wanted to speed his recovery and help his team," Mitchell wrote.

Knoblauch, who agreed to appear after the committee issued a subpoena, has yet to comment publicly about his involvement.

Otherwise, the greater issue at stake is the varying statements by Clemens and McNamee about whether the seven-time Cy Young Award-winning pitcher actually used steroids or HGH during a period from 1998-2001. Under an agreement with the federal prosecutor's office -- which stipulated he could face criminal charges for making false statements -- McNamee told Mitchell that he had injected Clemens multiple times with performance-enhancing substances.

Clemens, either through his attorney or his own public statements, has categorically denied taking those drugs, saying instead he had been injected with Vitamin B-12 and lidocaine.

Clemens' agents released an 18,000-word statistical report on Monday attempting to make the case that his longevity as a pitcher was the result of adjustments he made in his game rather than the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Clemens, 45, concluded his 24th season in the Major Leagues in 2007.

Barry M. Bloom is a national reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.