More than a “distraction”

Eric Gagne is sorry about the “distraction” that his being named in the Mitchell Report caused to his teammates. Is he apologizing to those 680 guys he's struck out in his career? What exactly is he sorry about?

Nationals catcher Paul Lo Duca took the same tactic – pioneered by Jason Giambi in 2005 - apologizing for something, but not really specifying what that could be. When asked:

"Come on, bro'. Next question," was his response, according to the Associated Press.

Miguel Tejada refused to talk about it at all, on advice of counsel. Others proclaim on the media hilltops – Roger Clemens, for example – that they are innocent.

And they might all be doing it wrong. If innocent, they can't do any more than Clemens is doing. If they're guilty, they should all be following the lead of Andy Pettitte, because in the court of public opinion, he practically seems innocent.

Pettitte took HGH, admitted it, and was willing to talk about it at length. In the process, he's making himself human – fallible – and I believe he'll earn back his reputation, even as he's going to be forced to re-live it all if he must testify more about Brian McNamee and Clemens.

He admitted why he did it – fear about an injury ending his career – and the public can understand that.

Pettitte probably isn't a Hall of Fame pitcher. But this PR spin – because it doesn't look like spin or feel like spin – is Cooperstown-worthy.