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02/17/2008 6:36 PM ET
Pettitte to address media Monday
Yankees pitcher hasn't spoken publicly since hearing
By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com









TAMPA, Fla. -- Andy Pettitte's spring arrival will be documented by a phalanx of cameramen and reporters, who will barrage him with questions -- few of them baseball-related -- and expect answers to as many as possible.
One year ago, Legends Field provided something of a time warp for Pettitte, who put the pinstripes back on and remarked how it had felt like he'd never left. There will be little familiar on Monday afternoon as he conducts a 3 p.m. ET news conference.

After calling out former teammate Roger Clemens in a Congressional affidavit for allegedly admitting performance-enhancing drug use nearly a decade ago, plus owning up to another use of HGH in 2004, Pettitte knows he will have to meet the media before he can move on.

"I think he wants to get his life back to normal," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "I don't think Andy is a guy that goes into hiding. I think he wants to get back to doing what he wants to do, and that's pitch for the New York Yankees."

Girardi said he planned to speak with Pettitte on Sunday evening to go over logistics, and the left-hander will have some catching up to do. He is reporting to camp four days late, having been granted an additional exemption from the mandatory pitchers-and-catchers date by general manager Brian Cashman.

"Whatever took place, Andy's a good man and he's admitted his mistakes," Cashman said Sunday. "There are necessary steps on the ladder as he climbs back up on the mound, and [Monday] is step one in this process."

Mentioned in the Mitchell Report, Pettitte had been summoned to Capitol Hill not so much to discuss his own personal use -- which he has admitted -- but more to provide background testimony relating to Clemens' continuing he-said, he-said battle with former trainer Brian McNamee.

Pettitte gave 2 1/2 hours of deposition on Feb. 4 and also swore to an affidavit for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform four days later, stating he and Clemens discussed using HGH in a conversation at Clemens' gymnasium in Memorial, Texas.

Clemens would eventually dispute Pettitte's account, telling the hurler in 2005 that he had actually been speaking about his wife, Debbie. But Pettitte's wife, Laura, also provided an affidavit supporting her husband's version of events.

Famously, Clemens told Congress that Pettitte "misremembers" the conversation. The final moments of Clemens' appearance were marked by the hurler trying to overpower Henry Waxman's banging gavel, pleading to the committee chairman (D-Calif.) that Pettitte's scathing affidavit "doesn't mean he's not mistaken."

Pettitte also testified that he and McNamee had spoken in 2003 or 2004 about Clemens' alleged steroid use.

Though Pettitte was relieved of appearing in person for the hearing Room 2154 of the Rayburn House Office Building, just in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol, his words became important weapons as representatives attempted to poke holes in Clemens' defiant demeanor last Wednesday.

Clemens continued to vehemently deny using performance-enhancing drugs during his Major League career, but it was Pettitte's openness that wound up being lauded. Waxman concluded his statement by saying, "Mr. Pettitte's consistent honesty makes him a role model on and off the field."

As part of his affidavit, Pettitte admitted to injecting himself with HGH in 2004 out of frustration just days before he was to undergo season-ending elbow surgery with the Astros. Pettitte had previously acknowledged trying HGH twice in 2002 to help relieve pain in his pitching elbow.

If there are additional instances, Pettitte would create a firestorm, but Girardi said that he expects Pettitte has been complete.

"My thought is Andy has probably told everything that there is," Girardi said

Cashman acknowledged that mistakes have been made, but said that it was the organization's main concern to help Pettitte get through the ordeal and prepare for the season. New York inked Pettitte to a one-year, $16 million deal to stabilize its rotation on Dec. 12, one day before the Mitchell Report's release.

"I've seen him perform at the highest level on the field, and I've seen him do wonderful things off the field," Cashman said. "Obviously, he's admitted to some mistakes now off the field. It's a complicated situation."

Girardi said that he does not believe Pettitte's situation will cause a season-long distraction for the Yankees, but acknowledged that Clemens' prospective legal situation could create new issues.

Clemens has filed a defamation lawsuit against McNamee that is currently awaiting a hearing in a Houston federal court, and the Department of Justice may investigate Clemens' testimony to investigate possible perjury charges.

"A lot of that depends on what happens with Roger and what he continues to do," Girardi said. "If that was to all die down, I think it would pretty much go away. But obviously there's some litigation there that Andy could be a part of, so from that standpoint, it could linger."

In Pettitte's absence, his locker has sat unused at Legends Field, though he has been acknowledged in the room. A popular and trusted member of the roster, numerous teammates have said that they will embrace Pettitte from the moment his plane lands at Tampa International Airport on Monday morning.

"Andy is a great human being and a great teammate," Yankees closer Mariano Rivera said. "I don't see why this would stop him from helping the team. He will need us to get him through this, but I have no doubt."

While Yankees pitchers and catchers will continue to work out on Monday, Girardi said that Pettitte will be excused from stretching and tossing. He will instead be accompanied by his attorney, the Pittsburgh-based Jay Reisinger, as he attempts to answer all of the lingering questions that have followed him from his home in Deer Park, Texas, to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., and now back to the Yankees' spring home, where Pettitte said he first tried HGH in June 2002.

Girardi said that he does not believe Pettitte will sidestep many inquiries.

"My guess is, Andy's always been a pretty open guy," Girardi said. "Andy's always been an honest guy. I think he'll tell you as much as he can legally tell you."

Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.