Yankees legend who used PEDs credits God for helping him in aftermath

Former Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte credits God for helping him deal with the aftermath of his performance-enhancing drug use during the early 2000s.

In an interview on FOX Nation’s “Ainsley’s Bible Study” last week, Pettitte said he feared how fans and others might react to his admission of PED use, but that “God just like covered it up.”

“I can honestly say, literally, like, as I walked through all of that, as humans, we kind of built up in our mind, like, what this is going to look like and how horrible this is going to be,” he said. “And even though it was hard, it was tough to walk through, and, of course, the discussions at that age, when — I needed to have with my kids and I wanted to talk to them about how to handle stuff. But, man, God — just everything, as I walked through that, God just like covered it up. He really did. I thought everywhere I went after that, I was going to be booed in ballparks. And I never heard anybody say anything really. I mean, how does that happen?”

Pettitte, seated next to his wife Laura for the FOX interview, added that “as believers, we sin every single day.”

“But, for me, walking through that [PED experience] again was just another — just verified even more than ever how real my faith is in God and how — because that was a tough time. Like, that was a tough time,” he said. “I felt like you get involved in this, like this big thing.

“And, of course, in New York, it’s even like bigger. And it’s like, man, how did this end up like this?”

After being cited in the Mitchell Report in 2007, Pettite admitted that he took Human Growth Hormone in 2002 and 2004. HGH wasn’t banned until 2005, and in 2012, MLB became the first of the major pro sports leagues to test for it.

In 2008, Pettitte issued an apology, saying he used HGH to recover from injuries while with the Yankees in 2002 and with the Houston Astros in 2004.

“I am sorry,” Pettitte said at the 2008 news conference. “I know in my heart why I did things. I know that God knows that. I know that I’m going to have to stand before him one day. The truth hurts sometimes and you don’t want to share it. The truth will set you free. I’m going to be able to sleep a lot better.”

When the Mitchell Report was released, Pettitte and fellow Yankee Roger Clemens were among those listed as using PEDs.

Asked about potential criticism he might face, Pettitte said in 2008, “I’ll take it like a man.”

“God knows my heart,” Pettitte added. “Was it stupid? Yeah, it was stupid. Was I desperate? Yeah, I was probably desperate. That’s the only excuse I can give you.”

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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter and Basketball Insider for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.