Andy Pettitte
Andrew Eugene Pettitte is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball, primarily for the New York Yankees. He also pitched for the Houston Astros. Pettitte won five World Series championships with the Yankees and was a three-time All-Star. He ranks as MLB's all-time postseason wins leader with 19.
Pettitte was drafted by the Yankees organization in 1990, and he signed with them roughly a year later. After debuting in the major leagues in 1995, Pettitte finished third in voting for the American League Rookie of the Year Award. In 1996, he led the AL with 21 wins and was runner-up for the AL Cy Young Award. Two years later, he was the Yankees' Opening Day starter. Pettitte established himself as one of the "Core Four" players who contributed to the Yankees' late-1990s dynasty that produced four championships. Pettitte won the 2001 AL Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award in helping his team win the pennant. After spending nine seasons with the Yankees—a stint in which he won at least 12 games each season—Pettitte signed with the Astros in 2004. He rejoined the Yankees in 2007 and later that season admitted to using human growth hormone to recover from an elbow injury in 2002. Pettitte's second tenure with the team lasted six seasons, interrupted by a one-year retirement in 2011, and also produced a fifth World Series championship in 2009. He retired after the 2013 season.
Pettitte's pitching repertoire included a four-seam and cut fastball and several off-speed pitches such as a slider, curveball, and changeup. A left-handed pitcher, he had an exceptional pickoff move to first base, which allowed him to record 98 career pickoffs. Among Yankees pitchers, Pettitte ranks first in strikeouts, third in wins, and tied for first in games started. He won the most games of any pitcher in the 2000s. The Yankees retired his uniform number 46 and dedicated a plaque to him in Monument Park in 2015.
Early life
Andrew Eugene Pettitte was born on June 15, 1972, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He is of Italian and Cajun descent, and the younger of two children born to Tommy and JoAnn Pettitte. He moved to Texas while in the third grade. Pettitte attended Deer Park High School in Deer Park, Texas, where he pitched for the school's baseball team. His fastball ranged from between. Pettitte also played center and nose guard for the school's football team.College career
Recruited by San Jacinto College North in Houston, Texas, he opted to play college baseball when coach Wayne Graham compared him to Roger Clemens.Professional career
Draft and minor leagues
The Yankees selected Pettitte in the 22nd round, with the 594th overall selection, of the 1990 Major League Baseball draft. As Pettitte enrolled in a junior college rather than a four-year school, the Yankees retained the right to sign him as a draft-and-follow prospect. On May 25, 1991, he signed with the Yankees, receiving an $80,000 signing bonus, double the Yankees' initial offer. In 1991, Pettitte pitched for the Gulf Coast Yankees of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League and Oneonta Yankees of the Class A-Short Season New York–Penn League, making six starts for each team. With Oneonta, Pettitte teamed up with catcher Jorge Posada, his longtime batterymate, for the first time. Pettitte threw a knuckleball at the time. Posada struggled to catch the knuckleball, prompting Pettitte to abandon the pitch.In 1992, Pettitte pitched for the Greensboro Hornets of the Class A South Atlantic League. He pitched to a 10–4 win–loss record and a 2.20 earned run average, with 130 strikeouts and 55 walks, in 27 games started. That season, Pettitte and Posada first played with Derek Jeter. Pettitte pitched for the Prince William Cannons of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League in the 1993 season, finishing the year with an 11–9 record, a 3.04 ERA, 129 strikeouts, and 47 walks in 26 starts. He also made one start for the Albany-Colonie Yankees of the Class AA Eastern League during the season. Pettitte began the 1994 season with Albany-Colonie, where he had a 7–2 record and 2.71 ERA in 11 starts, before receiving a promotion to the Columbus Clippers of the Class AAA International League. With Columbus, Pettitte had a 7–2 record and a 2.98 ERA in 16 starts. The Yankees named him their minor league pitcher of the year.
New York Yankees (1995–2003)
Baseball America ranked Pettitte the 49th-best prospect in baseball prior to the 1995 season. In spring training, Pettitte competed for a spot in the starting rotation with Sterling Hitchcock. Hitchcock won the competition, and Pettitte opened the season in the bullpen, making his major league debut with the Yankees on April 29, 1995. The Yankees demoted him back to the minors on May 16 to allow him to continue starting. Eleven days later, he was recalled due to an injury to Jimmy Key. With Scott Kamieniecki and Mélido Pérez also suffering injuries, Pettitte became a member of the starting rotation. He recorded his first major league win on June 7. He continued to perform well through July, leading Yankees' starters in ERA. Pettitte won six of his last seven starts, finishing the season with a 12–9 record and a 4.17 ERA, and placed third in American League Rookie of the Year Award balloting, behind Marty Cordova and Garret Anderson. He started Game 2 of the 1995 American League Division Series against the Seattle Mariners, allowing four runs in seven innings. The Mariners won the series three games to two.Believing Pettitte to be the superior pitcher, the Yankees traded Hitchcock prior to the 1996 season. Starting the season in the rotation, Pettitte had a 13–4 record at the end of the first half of the season, and made the AL All-Star team. He did not appear in the 1996 MLB All-Star Game, due to a sore arm. He led the AL with 21 wins and finished third in winning percentage, and eighth in ERA. He finished second to Pat Hentgen for the AL Cy Young Award, with the smallest difference in voting since 1972. Hentgen won the award in part because he pitched more complete games than Pettitte. The Yankees defeated the Texas Rangers in the 1996 ALDS and the Baltimore Orioles in the 1996 American League Championship Series. Pettitte won two games against the Orioles, and had his opportunity for a third start in the series cancelled by rain. Pettitte started Game 1 of the 1996 World Series against the Atlanta Braves. He allowed seven runs in innings in the first game, but outdueled John Smoltz in Game 5, which the Yankees won 1–0. The Yankees defeated the Braves in Game 6 to win the series, four games to two.
In 1997, Pettitte tied for first in games started, and also led the league in pickoffs, and double plays induced. He was third in the league in innings pitched , fourth in ERA, wins, and winning percentage, sixth in complete games, eighth in strikeouts, and tenth in walks per nine innings. Pettitte finished fifth in the AL Cy Young Award voting. In 1998, he was seventh in the league in complete games, and eighth in wins. In the 1998 ALCS, Pettitte allowed four home runs in Game 3 against the Cleveland Indians. The Yankees won the series, and defeated the San Diego Padres in the 1998 World Series. Pettitte started in Game 4, defeating Kevin Brown in the deciding game of the series.
File:President George W Bush with the 2000 World Series Champion New York Yankees.jpg|thumb|Pettitte and teammates from the 2000 World Series champion Yankees team pose with US President George W. Bush during a White House visit
The Yankees won the 1999 World Series. They continued their success in the 2000 season. Pettitte finished third in the AL in wins, sixth in winning percentage, and seventh in complete games. He finished off the season with his fourth World Series Title. In 2001, he made the All-Star team for the second time and was named the ALCS Most Valuable Player, after winning Games 1 and 5 against the Seattle Mariners in the 2001 ALCS. He was third in the AL in walks per nine innings, and eighth in strikeouts and strikeouts per nine innings.
The following year, he was ninth in the AL in winning percentage and complete games. Pettitte continued his success through 2003. Pettitte was second in the league in wins, fifth in winning percentage, sixth in strikeouts and strikeouts per nine innings, eighth in games started, and ninth in walks per nine innings. He won the Warren Spahn Award, given annually to the best left-handed pitcher in baseball.
Houston Astros (2004–2006)
Pettitte became a free agent after the 2003 season. Interested in playing closer to his Deer Park home, and feeling that the Yankees were not interested in re-signing him, Pettitte signed a three-year, $31.5 million contract with the Houston Astros of the National League. The best offer actually came from the Boston Red Sox, the historic rivals of the Yankees, at four years for $52 million, yet Pettitte never seriously considered signing with them. In Houston, Pettitte switched his uniform number to No. 21, in honor of Roger Clemens, who previously wore that number in Boston and Toronto. His 2004 season, in which he held batters to a.226 batting average, was shortened by elbow surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon.Pettitte returned to form in the 2005 season to help the Astros reach their first-ever World Series. His 2.39 ERA was a career-best, and second in the NL behind teammate Clemens. He was also second in the league walks/9 IP and LOB percentage, third in sacrifice hits, fifth in wins, and eighth in winning percentage.. He held left-handed batters, who over his career have outhit righties when batting against him, to a.200 batting average, had a career-best 4.17 SO/BB ratio. Pettitte went 14–13 with a 4.20 ERA during the 2006 season as the Astros missed the playoffs. He tied for the National League lead in starts, tied for sixth in pickoffs, and was eighth in double plays induced, and tenth in strikeouts and batters faced.