Andrew Eugene Pettitte (born
June 15, 1972 in Baton Rouge
, Louisiana
) is an American
left-handed starting
pitcher who is currently a free agent.
In his major league career, he played for the Yankees from – . He
then signed with the
Houston Astros,
and played for them from through . In , Pettitte rejoined the
Yankees. He has won five championships as a Yankee and is Major
League Baseball's all-time postseason wins leader with 18.
Through 2009, Pettitte is 9th among active major league players in
win-loss percentage (.629); 4th in wins (229); and 7th in
strikeouts (2,150). He is also one of only three
active players with at least 200 wins, 2,000 strikeouts, and a
winning percentage at or above .600. The others are
Randy Johnson and
Pedro Martínez.
Early life
Pettitte is of Italian and French descent, the younger of two from
Tommy and JoAnn Pettitte.
He attended Deer Park High School
in Deer Park,
Texas
. Andy Pettitte also pitched the Deer to
within one win of the state title.It was there he met his future
wife Laura. Together, they have four children: Joshua Blake (born
November 3, 1994), Jared (May 28, 1998), Lex Grace (January 10,
2001), and Luke Jackson (June 20, 2005).
Selected by the Yankees in the 22nd round of the
1990 MLB draft, he opted
instead to attend
San Jacinto
College North in , where he won 8 of 10 decisions.
On May 25, 1991, he signed with the Yankees as an
amateur draft and follow selection.
Professional baseball career
Minor leagues
In his minor league career he went 51–22, with a 2.49 ERA in 113
starts. He never had a losing season. In the rookie league, he had
an 0.98 ERA.
Major leagues
First stint with the New York Yankees (1995–2003)
Pettitte made his major league debut on April 29, , with the
New York Yankees. In , he made the
American League
All-Star team and
finished second to
Pat Hentgen for the
AL
Cy Young Award. He led the league
in wins (21), was 3rd in W-L pct. (.724), and was 8th in the AL in
ERA (3.87). The Yankees won the
1996
World Series with Pettitte going 1-1 in the 6 game series. The
next year, Pettitte led the league in starts (35), pickoffs (14),
and double plays induced (36), and was 3rd in the league in innings
(240.3; a career high), 4th in ERA (2.88), wins (18), and W-L pct.
(.720), 6th in complete games (4), 8th in strikeouts (166), and
10th in walks/9 IP (2.43). In , he was 7th in the league in
complete games (5; a career high), and 8th in wins (16). That
season, he won his second
World Series
Title with the Yankees, winning his only start in the four game
series.
The Yankees continued their success in .
New York won the
AL East Pennant by 4 games while Pettitte was 3rd in
the American League in wins (19), 6th in W-L pct. (.679), and 7th
in complete games (3). He finished off the season with his fourth
World Series Title. In , he made
the All-Star team for the second time and was named the
MVP of the
ALCS, after winning
Games 1 and 5 against the
Seattle
Mariners. He was 3rd in the AL in walks/9 IP (1.84), and 8th in
strikeouts (164) and strikeouts/9 IP (7.36).
The following year, he was 9th in the AL in W-L pct. (.722) and
complete games (3). Pettite continued his success through .
Pettitte was 2nd in the league in wins (21), 5th in W-L pct.
(.724), 6th in strikeouts (180; a career high) and strikeouts/9 IP
(7.78; a career-best), 8th in games started (33), and 9th in
walks/9 IP (2.16).
Houston Astros (2004–2006)
After the season, Pettitte left the Yankees, signing a 3-year,
$31.5 million contract with the
Houston
Astros. He switched his uniform number to #21, in honor of
Roger Clemens, who previously wore
that number in Boston and Toronto. His season, in which he held
batters to a .226 batting average, was shortened by elbow
surgery.
Pettitte returned to form in to help the
Astros make their first trip to
the
World Series. His 2.39
ERA in 2005 was a career-best,
and 2nd-best in the
National League
behind teammate
Roger Clemens. He was
also 2nd in the league walks/9 IP (1.66) and LOB percentage (79.7%;
a career best),
[67235] 3rd in sacrifice hits (15), 5th in wins
(17), and 8th in W-L pct. (.654). He held lefties, 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.
In , Pettitte went 14–13 with a 4.20 ERA as the Astros missed the
playoffs. He led the NL in starts (35), tied for 7th in pickoffs
(4), and was 8th in double plays induced (26), and 10th in
strikeouts (178) and batters faced (929). He held batters to a .229
batting average when there were 2 out with runners in scoring
position.
Back in New York (2007–present)
Pettitte pitching during Spring
Training 2007.
After the 2006 season, Pettitte left the Astros, and signed a
1-year, $16 million contract with the
New York Yankees. There was also a player
option clause in the contract which would have allowed Pettitte to
stay in New York in 2008 for $16 million. Pettitte switched his
uniform number back to #46 after wearing #21 in Houston.
On January
11, , Pettitte was re-introduced as a Yankee at a Yankee
Stadium
press conference.
Pettitte was followed back to the Yankees by former
Houston Astros teammate
Roger Clemens. Both players left the Yankees
after the
2003
season to play for the Astros. In May 2007 Clemens signed with
the Yankees as well and joined the Yankees rotation in June. Once
again Clemens and Pettitte were pitching for the same team.
Pettitte won his 200th career game on September 19, 2007.
In 2007 he led the American League in starts (34), was 7th in
batters faced (916), and was 9th in innings pitched (215.3),
finishing the regular season with a 15–9 win-loss record. He also
had the 5th-lowest HR/9 innings pitched ratio in the AL
(0.67).
On November 5, he declined his 2008 option, becoming a free agent.
Then on December 1, 2007, Pettitte was offered arbitration by the
Yankees. However, on December 3, 2007 Pettitte announced that he
will pitch for the Yankees in 2008. On December 7, 2007, Pettitte
accepted the Yankees offer of arbitration. He officially signed a
one year, $16 million contract with the Yankees on December
12.
On September 21, 2008, Pettitte was the last starting pitcher for
the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. He recorded his 2,000th career
strikeout in the second inning, striking out
Baltimore Orioles catcher
Ramon Hernandez. Pettitte ended up
getting the victory in the game (a 7–3 win), pitching five innings.
Pettitte led the Yankees in innings pitched in 2008 with 204. Over
14 seasons, Pettitte has averaged 158 strikeouts a season, the same
number as he accumulated in 2008.
In 2009, the Yankees offered Pettitte a one year, $10.5 million
dollar contract, but Pettitte declined because he and agent
Randy Hendricks thought the amount
was too steep a decline from his $16 million earnings the previous
year. On Monday January 26, 2009, Pettitte agreed to a one-year,
$5.5 million contract that was incentive laden. Based on innings
pitched and days on the active roster, Pettitte could receive as
much as $12 million for 2009. Pettitte began the season as the
Yankees' number 4 starter, behind
CC
Sabathia,
A. J. Burnett, and
Chien-Ming Wang, followed by
Joba Chamberlain in the 5th
spot.
On August 31, 2009, Pettitte took a
perfect
game through 6 and 2/3 innings when 3rd baseman
Jerry Hairston Jr. committed an error on
a routine ground ball. The next batter (
Nick Markakis), who wouldn't have come up in
the inning if not for the error, got a hit to break up the
no-hitter.
On October 25, 2009, Pettitte was the winning pitcher as the
Yankees beat the
Los
Angeles Angels of Anaheim in game 6 of the
ALCS to clinch the series and advance to the
World Series against the
Philadelphia Phillies. This brought
his career total of series-clinching wins to five, breaking the
record he previously shared with
Roger
Clemens,
Catfish Hunter and
Dave Stewart.
On October 31, 2009, Pettitte drove in his first postseason run
during Game 3 of the World Series when he got a single to center
field that scored Nick Swisher. He was the winning pitcher for that
game.
On November 4, 2009, Pettitte pitched Game 6 of the 2009 World
Series on three days of rest. Experts were critical of the decision
to pitch the 37-year-old on short rest, but Pettitte again was the
winning pitcher in game 6 of the 2009 World Series, defeating the
Philadelphia Phillies 7-3. He
extended his record career total series-clinching wins to six, and
extended his record for post-season career wins to 18. He became
the first pitcher in Major League Baseball history to start and win
three series-clinching playoff games in the same year.
Additionally, on September 27 against the Red Sox, Pettitte had
been the winning pitcher in the division-clinching game. Pettite
filed for free agency on November 19, 2009.
Career perspective
Pettitte pitching in 2008
Pettitte has been a 20-game
winner twice, posting 21–8 records
in and .
Pettitte has been a part of seven
American League pennant-winning teams, one
National League pennant-winning team
and five
World Series championship
teams. He holds the record for most wins in
postseason history with 18.
He is the only MLB pitcher since to win at least 12 games in each
of his first nine seasons.
For his career, Pettitte has a 229–135 win-loss record, with a 3.91
ERA and 2,150 strikeouts in innings. He also has never had a losing
season in Major League Baseball.
Pettitte holds the all-time record for most starts and innings
pitched in the post-season (40 and 249.0, through 2009).
When Pettitte started Game 3 of the
2009 World Series, he passed
Christy Mathewson and
Waite Hoyt, with the second most
World Series starts.
Whitey Ford is in front with 22 starts. Pettitte
has played in 8 different World Series (7 with the Yankees, and one
with the Astros), and been on the winning end of 19 postseason
series - both of which are tops among active players.
Pettitte is 18–9 with a 3.90 ERA and 164 strikeouts in 40
postseason games (1995–2003, 2005, 2007, 2009), with the most
postseason wins in the history of
Major League Baseball. Pettitte has
pitched 249.0 innings in the postseason.
During the period from 1995–2009, no major league pitcher has
accumulated more victories.
Pitching style
Andy Pettitte throws a four-seam
fastball,
a
cutter, a 12-6
curveball, a sinker, and a
changeup. His out pitch is the cutter at 85-88 mph
with good inside break on right-handed batters, resulting in a lot
of ground ball outs and double plays. His fastball is now in the
lower 90s and his curve is about 74-76 mph with a 12-6 straight
down break.
Awards
- 1996–All-Star
- 1996–Good Guy Award, from the
New
York
Sports Photographers
- 1996–Greater Houston Area Major League Player of the
Year, from the Houston Chapter of the Baseball
Writers’ Association of America
- 2001–All-Star
- 2001–ALCS Most Valuable Player
- 2003–Greater Houston Area Major League Player of the
Year, from the Houston Chapter of the Baseball Writers’
Association of America
- 2003–Warren Spahn Award,
awarded annually to the top left-handed pitcher in baseball, from
the Oklahoma Sports Museum
Use of performance-enhancing drugs
On September 30, 2006 the
Los
Angeles Times reported that former
relief pitcher Jason Grimsley, during a June 6, 2006 federal
raid by
federal agents investigating
steroids in baseball, named Pettitte as a
user of
performance
enhancing drugs. The
Times reported that Pettitte was
one of five names blacked out in an affidavit filed in federal
court. Grimsley had told investigators that he got
amphetamines,
anabolic steroids, and
human growth hormone (HGH) from
someone (later named as
Kirk Radomski)
recommended to him by former Yankees trainer
Brian McNamee, who is a personal strength
coach for Clemens and Pettitte.
However, on October 3, 2006, the Washington Post reported that San Francisco
United States
attorney Kevin Ryan said that the Los Angeles Times
report contained "significant inaccuracies." Contrary to the
initial LA Times report, neither the name of Clemens nor Pettitte
appeared in the affidavit submitted by Grimsley.
[67236]
On December 13, 2007, Pettitte was one of several Yankees named in
the
Mitchell Report.
Mitchell and his staff received the information on Pettitte from
McNamee who told them he injected Pettitte with HGH on 2-4
occasions in 2002 so that he would heal from an elbow injury
quicker.
On December 15, 2007, Pettitte verified McNamee's claim admitting
to using the HGH on two occasions in 2002, as it was meant to help
heal an injury, and not to enhance his performance. Pettitte said
he felt an obligation to return to the team as quickly as possible.
He denied any further usage of HGH during his career; he also
denied use of steroids or any other performance-enhancing
drug..
On February 13, 2008, in an affidavit made public as part of a
hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on
Oversight and Governmental Reform, Pettitte admitted to additional
injections of HGH twice in one day in 2004, using HGH obtained via
prescription for his seriously-ill father. Also in this affidavit
Pettitte unequivocally recalled being told by former Yankees
teammate Roger Clemens in 1999 or 2000 that Clemens had recently
received injections of HGH. Clemens claimed during the noted
hearing that Pettitte "misremembered" Clemens' 1999/2000 HGH
remark, alleging that what Pettitte really heard was Clemens'
reporting of his wife's use of HGH at that time, though earlier
during this same hearing Clemens denied knowing of any use of HGH
by his wife. McNamee corroborated Pettitte's recollection of
events.
On February 18, 2008, Pettitte reported to Yankees spring training
and apologized to fans for his past drug use. In the press
conference, he said the performance enhancing-drug scandal has put
a "strain" on his relationship with close friend and former
teammate,
Roger Clemens.
See also
References
- Andy Pettitte Stats and Graphs - New York Yankees |
FanGraphs
- Andy Pettitte Declines his 2008 option
- Andy Pettitte Will Pitch in 2008
- Transactions: 2007, New York
Yankees
- Chuck, Bill. 100 random things about the Red Sox, Rays, and
Yankees, The Boston Globe. Published
April 2, 2009. Retrieved May 2, 2009.
- Pettitte holding onto his pinstripes
- [1]
- [2]
- [3]
- Pettitte files to become free agent
- On December 13, 2007 Pettitte was named as one of the HGH users
in the Mitchell Report.
- http://files.mlb.com/mitchrpt.pdf
- Yankees’ Pettitte admits to using HGH - Baseball -
MSNBC.com
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