Andy Pettitte used human growth hormone to recover from an elbow injury in 2002, the New York Yankees pitcher said two days after he was cited in the Mitchell Report.
Pettitte said he tried HGH on two occasions.
"If what I did was an error in judgment on my part, I apologize," Pettitte said Saturday in a statement released by his agent. "I accept responsibility for those two days."
"In 2002 I was injured. I had heard that human growth hormone could promote faster healing for my elbow," Pettitte said in the statement released to The Associated Press by agent Randy Hendricks.
"I felt an obligation to get back to my team as soon as possible. For this reason, and only this reason, for two days I tried human growth hormone. Though it was not against baseball rules, I was not comfortable with what I was doing, so I stopped.
"This is it - two days out of my life; two days out of my entire career, when I was injured and on the disabled list," he said. "I wasn't looking for an edge. I was looking to heal."
"If what I did," is kind of shaky, but I expected Andy to come clean if he really did use HGH because...
A) his first statement was very cautions.
B) He seems sincere about his religious background.
Updated:
Is this good enough for the fans? It is for me (even though I am saddened that he used them) because he didn't triple the size of his head and throw 98 mph fast balls while racking up Cy Young awards. Pain and injuries can lead players and people in general to try unusual things to get better, but I would never have used anything that didn't come from my medical/homeopathic doctor, a well respected chiropractor or acupuncturist.
I've been sick for almost two weeks now (hence I haven't been posting lately) with a viral infection that won't quit and Thursday my doctor toyed with the idea of giving me "steroids" of all things, but we decided against it.
And where were all the incredible sports reporters that always tell bloggers how much we need them? We know they have protected players for decades, but for them to say that they were hoodwinked too is laughable.