"Hi Andy, Great to see you." The Boss, 2/23/08

• Former tobacco industry lobbyist George Mitchell (left) celebrating with Red Sox owners 12/01. (AP photo)

***Forgotten fact: In 2003, The Boston Red Sox offered Pettitte more than Houston or the Yankees, $52 million over 4 years, and Pettitte turned it down.***

• UPDATE, 3/19/08: THE NY TIMES ARTICLE BY JACK CURRY HAS DELETED REFERENCE TO THE RED SOX OFFER TO PETTITTE.

THE ARTICLE HAS STOOD FOR ABOUT A YEAR SO THIS EDIT OF HISTORICAL VALUE BY THE TIMES (or someone authorized to edit their archived content) OCCURRED SOMETIME in the past 3+ weeks. NEVERTHELESS, THE RED SOX' OFFER TO PETTITTE STILL REMAINS ON ESPN.COM'S ARTICLE POSTED 12/12/03,

• and in a NY Times article by Dave Anderson, 12/12/03,

"A Different End if the Red Sox Were Involved."

• ESPN.com, "Deal is $7.5 million less than Yankees' Offer," 12/12/03 (referencing the Astros' offer) ; ESPN news services, AP contributed

• ""Boston made an early $52 million, four-year bid, one of the sources said, but Pettitte decided he couldn't pitch for the Yankees' rival."

• Jack Curry, NY Times, 2/25/07, (posted on this blog 2/24/07): REFERENCE TO PETTITTE HAS BEEN DELETED WITHOUT EXPLANATION AS OF 3/18/08) SM.

February 23, 2008 -- TAMPA - "For the first time this spring, George Steinbrenner was having lunch at his favorite Legends Field hangout, Max's Cafe. Andy Pettitte came strolling down the hallway on his way home when he spotted The Boss.... Andy Pettitte

• Pettitte strode into the room. Steinbrenner's eyes lit up. "Hi Andy, great to see you," Steinbrenner said. Steinbrenner warmly shook hands with the pitcher...

Steinbrenner chatted with Pettitte for a short while, happy to talk to one of his championship Yankees."...

• From NY Post article by ESPN regular Kevin Kernan, "By George, It's the Boss," 2/23/08

P.S. The ESPN employee who wrote this article doesn't note Andy's current fame is due to nothing compared to some--like Paul Byrd, Troy Glaus, and many others just lucky not to have been 'NAMED' (ie UNVEILED at International Celebrity Mitchell's 12/13 telecast)-- and who did much worse. Instead of investigating the many "guilty" players who weren't 'NAMED,' so-called "journalists" just hammered Pettitte 24/7. The Yankees were patsies for a travesty of a "report" from conception to delivery by a bunch of back-room billionaires. Most of the "cheats" in baseball are walking around laughing their heads off. Enjoy your stardom at ESPN. Or even the National Geographic Channel--they ran a special just a few days ago on the "report" highlighting certain names .....

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