My New Hero

It's Andy Petitte. I'm his new biggest fan. Never thought I'd cheer for a Yankee, but here I am, and here's why:

“I have to tell you the truth. 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. And that’s why I’ve said and shared the stuff that I’ve shared today that I wouldn’t like to share.”

OK, his version had a whole bunch of y'all's in it. But it is the substance of Petitte's deposition to the congressional hearings into baseball dirty little steroid secret that matters. Here it is: I lied. I took steroids. I saw my friends take them. And I lied about that. But now, because some things matter more than standing behind an old lie, I am going to tell the truth.

So unlike Barry Bonds and Mark McGuire and, heaven help him, Roger Clemens, Petitte admitted to what we all knew to be true and took one of the hardest steps imaginable. He chose to stop lying. Even if it meant he removed all legal doubt about his use of performance enhancers. Even if it meant making his good friend Clemens look like an ass (or a bigger ass, as the case may be).

Sounds like Hall of Fame material to me.