Confession | Andy Pettitte went with the truth

WASHINGTON — Andy Pettitte felt caught in the middle between his friends Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee. In the end, the Yankees pitcher's conscience told him which side to choose.

Pettitte told congressional lawyers that Clemens informed him nearly a decade ago he had used human growth hormone and said McNamee let him know in 2003 or 2004 that Clemens had used steroids. Pettitte also admitted his use of HGH was not limited to 2002, as he previously said, and that he took injections in 2004 after obtaining the substance from his father.

"I have to tell you all the truth," Pettitte said in his deposition last week, which was released after Wednesday's congressional hearing. "I have to live with myself. And one day I have to give an account to God and not to nobody else of what I've done in my life."

McNamee, personal trainer for Clemens and Pettitte, said in the Mitchell Report that Clemens used steroids and HGH, an accusation the seven-time Cy Young Award winner denies. McNamee also said Pettitte used HGH.

On Dec. 15, two days after the Mitchell Report was released, Pettitte said he used HGH for two days in 2002 while with the Yankees. Last week, he went further, in a deposition for congressional investigators and an affidavit submitted in exchange for being excused from Wednesday's hearing.

"In 2004, when I tore the flexor tendon in my pitching arm, I again used HGH two times in one day out of frustration and in a futile attempt to recover. Unfortunately, I needed surgery on the arm later in the year. I regret these lapses in judgment," Pettitte said in his affidavit.

Herges, Hill apologize

Colorado Rockies reliever Matt Herges says he's actually glad he was implicated in the Mitchell Report on drugs in baseball because it led him to do some soul-searching and clear his conscience over his "dirty little secret."

Herges and Rockies first-base coach Glenallen Hill, who was also implicated in the Mitchell Report, broke their silence on the matter by issuing written apologies for using performance-enhancing drugs.

Hill played for seven teams over his 13-year career that ended in 2001, including 74 games with Seattle in 1998.

Hill's name surfaced in the investigation as having purchased performance enhancers in 2000 or '01 while with Anaheim. Hill told Mitchell he bought anabolic steroids but didn't use them. On Wednesday, he said he did use them.