Andy Pettite made his summer schedule a lot lighter today when he announced he will retire from MLB. That gives the New York Yankees pitcher plenty of time to prepare to testify at former teammate Roger Clemen’s felony perjury trial that is scheduled for later this year.

Three years ago this month, the Yankees called a press conference at the beginning of spring training and Pettite faced media about his admissions related to taking HGH in 2002. His ability to master the delicate balance between giving the media and public enough information to seem credible while avoiding making himself look like a long time cheater, was admirable.

While he admitted getting a couple of HGH injections from former trainer Brian McNamee, saying they were solely for the purpose of healing a nagging injury, Pettite was all but forgiven by the time the session was over; in other words, he had us at hello.

Pettite did confirm what he had told federal prosecutors months before when he and Clemens were named as steroid users in MLB’s Mitchell Report. That meeting included making admissions and answering questions about McNamee and his friend Roger Clemens. Clemens and Pettite shared McNamee and while Andy never admitted seeing Clemens use any banned substances, he admitted that the two conversed about it and that is how he knew that McNamee was injecting both of them.

Clemens, shown in his mugshot above, called his former trainer McNamee a liar under oath but couldn’t muster the same vitriol for his fellow pitcher. That is how we got the famous phrase that Pettite must have “misremembered” the conversation the two players had.

McNamee’s testimony was more believable to Congressional members as well as federal prosecutors specifically because of Pettite’s own admissions. So the former friends will face the discomfort of facing each other, with Pettite in the witness box looking down at Clemens at the defense table, in front of a judge, jury and as many media members that fit in the courtroom.

In the meantime, Clemens just got word this week that a federal judge in N.Y. has determined that McNamee’s slander trial against Roger can proceed; more bad news for the retired pitcher. That case will not be scheduled until the criminal proceedings are concluded and by that time, there’s a chance Clemens may be donning an orange jumpsuit.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles.

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