Steroids issue gets no spring break

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Another day, another act of contrition from baseball players mentioned in the Mitchell Report.

Monday, pitcher Andy Pettitte apologized to the New York Yankees, Houston Astros and his fans for the “embarrassment” he caused by taking human growth hormone, and reliever Eric Gagne apologized to his family, friends and new Milwaukee teammates but stopped short of admitting to the use of performance-enhancing substances.

On Saturday, Washington Nationals catcher Paul Lo Duca, a former Dodger who was cited as a steroids and HGH user, had apologized for “mistakes in judgment.”

While remorse was the response in some quarters, disgust ruled elsewhere, with ambivalence running a close second.

Pitchers and catchers have reported, spring-training camps in Florida and Arizona are abuzz with activity, and players wish the steroids story, which has dominated baseball’s landscape for years and went from ugly to downright nasty on Capitol Hill last week, was going, going, gone.

“I’m sick and tired of hearing about it, and to be honest with you, I don’t even care,” Angels reliever Scot Shields said when asked whether he watched the Congressional hearing pitting star pitcher Roger Clemens against ex-trainer Brian McNamee.

“I didn’t watch the hearings. It doesn’t affect me. Baseball has taken some good hits, but once we get back on the field, start doing our thing, playing baseball the way we can, hopefully we can put this behind us.”

New Angels center fielder Torii Hunter said he watched portions of the hearing, in which Clemens denied using the performance-enhancing drugs McNamee claims to have injected in him, and couldn’t believe his eyes and ears.

“That case should have been on ‘Judge Judy,’ ” Hunter said. “There’s no way it should have been in Congress. Congress has other things to worry about. Where’s Osama bin Laden? Where are the weapons of mass destruction? Stop the war. . . .

“I’m tired of hearing about it. With the drug policies we have in place, you have got to be a dumb . . . to fail a steroids test.”

What is galling to Hunter is the suspicion surrounding the game.

“People crack jokes all the time -- I’ve had family members say, ‘Hey, you taking HGH?’ It was funny at first, but it isn’t funny any more. I was listening to [a national radio show] and they said baseball players are taking steroids. What? They said baseball players.

“That stinks. That’s what we’re known for. I hate that. . . . All these players, one gets caught, and we all get caught? Why is that? We’re all individuals.”

Will the sport recover?

“There’s no question, it’s sad,” new Dodgers Manager Joe Torre said. “I still think baseball is far stronger than to have this be a lasting scar. It’s certainly going to be a scar, but one that will eventually go away.

“Baseball, to me, it’s always been a sport you can trust. And right now, we have to get that trust back, because, unfortunately, any time somebody hits a home run that’s farther anybody thinks it should go, that question is going to be there.

“The sad part about it is that it’s going to take time for the fan to believe what we’re doing and what we’re saying. . . . It’s sad to turn on the television and it’s in Congress. You’d like to believe baseball can take care of its own house.”

Pettitte and Gagne did some house cleaning Monday, Pettitte during an hour-long, nationally televised news conference in Tampa, Fla., Gagne during a minute-long press gathering in Phoenix.

In addition to his December admission that he used HGH for two days in 2002 while with the Yankees, Pettitte said he injected himself with HGH for one day in 2004 while with the Astros.

“I never want a young person to do what I did,” Pettitte said. “I’m sorry for the mistakes I have made.”

The left-hander also found himself in the crossfire between Clemens and McNamee, giving a sworn statement that implicated Clemens, his good friend, in the use of HGH, while lending credibility to McNamee by confirming the testimony the trainer gave Mitchell Report investigators about Pettitte.

“I can’t even describe how uncomfortable a situation this has been,” Pettitte said. The pitcher, who hasn’t spoken to Clemens in a month, said, “I think it’s put a strain on our friendship.”

The veteran even acknowledged he considered not playing because of the situation.

“That wouldn’t be the thing to do as a man,” Pettitte said. “I felt like I needed to come out and face you guys, and whatever circumstances that come, I’ll take it, I’ll take it like a man and I’ll try to do my job.”

Pettitte said his lawyers advised him not to speak about Clemens’ claims that Pettitte “misremembered” or “misheard” the conversation in which Pettitte claimed Clemens said he had used HGH.

Pettitte could be subject to testifying in Clemens’ defamation suit against McNamee -- and possibly in front of a federal grand jury investigating Clemens for perjury.

“You don’t want any contradictions out there,” said Mathew Rosengart, a former federal prosecutor and adjunct professor at Pepperdine Law School.

“It is standard procedure for lawyers to advise clients not to speak publicly about a matter under investigation, particularly if you’re expecting your client to testify before a grand jury.”

Also, Commissioner Bud Selig has yet to complete his review of the cases of players named in the Mitchell Report. Selig said when the report was released in December he would consider suspensions “on a case-by-case basis” and act “swiftly” in doing so. On Monday, he told the Associated Press he does not know when he will finish or what punishment he’ll pursue.

Gagne, according to the Mitchell Report, purchased two shipments of HGH from admitted steroids dealer Kurt Radomski, one that was sent to the pitcher’s Florida home and the other to the Dodger Stadium clubhouse in August 2004.

The closer, who signed a one-year, $10-million deal with the Brewers, addressed reporters in English and French but did not take questions.

“I feel bad for my family, what they had to go through. And all my friends. And especially my teammates in Milwaukee,” Gagne said. “It’s just a distraction that shouldn’t be taking place. I’m just here to help the Brewers to get to the World Series and get to the playoffs. And that’s all I really care about.”

Though Gagne’s news conference was a sound bite compared to Pettitte’s, it still caused a little strain in the Brewers clubhouse.

“Obviously, everybody wants to know the truth,” third baseman Bill Hall said, “but once you get the truth, stop digging.”

Brewers Manager Ned Yost pointed to the media as the reason the steroids story won’t die.

“We just did a web chat. We had over 400 questions about our team; two were about the Mitchell Report,” Yost said. “Move on. Come along with the rest of us.”

Times staff writers Kevin Baxter, Dylan Hernandez, Bill Shaikin and Lance Pugmire contributed to this report.

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mike.digiovanna@latimes.com