Pettitte's Day in the Public Black Eye

Andy Pettitte's deposition before congress may be nothing compared to the scrutiny he will face from the Yankees' beat reporters when he arrives at spring training today. Pettitte's reputation has already taken a huge hit (we've always admired him, but we definitely look at him differently now). He's always been considering a religious, God fearing man, but apparently he came up with the wrong answer when posed with the question, "What would Jesus do?"

Pettitte was named in the Mitchell Report and immediately came out and said, somewhat defiantly, yes I did it, but it was one time in 2002 to rehab an injury; it was a mistake, etc...

But under oath Pettitte copped to a 2nd HGH use in 2004. His reason for not revealing this earlier? He was protecting his father who had actually obtained the HGH from one of Pettitte's former high school teammates.

While we have no doubt about the veracity of his comments concerning Roger Clemens, why should we believe Pettitte now when it comes to his own HGH use? How do we know he didn't use again in 2006, but isn't saying anything to protect his wife or brother or whomever?

The answer is we don't know. We can only hope that Pettitte has now been completely truthful and can put this behind him. He will be vilified on the road, and yes, if he struggles at home, he will be vilified there too, just as Jason Giambi had been in 2004 after his apology for a phantom substance.

The days ahead will be very telling for the future of Andy Pettitte.