Andy Pettitte Totally Explained

Everything about Andy Pettitte totally explained

Andrew Eugene Pettitte (born June 15, 1972 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana) is an American left-handed starting pitcher who plays for the New York Yankees. In his major league career, he played for the New York Yankees from 1995-2003. He then signed with the Houston Astros, playing from 2004 through 2006. In 2007, Pettitte rejoined the Yankees. He won four championships as a Yankee and made the playoffs every year except for 2006. Through 2007, Pettitte is 8th of all active major league players in win-loss percentage (.640); 12th in wins (201; all those ahead of him are older than he is); and 13th in strikeouts (1,844). He is 5th in strikeouts (1,416), 6th in games started (310), and tied for 6th in wins (164) among Yankee players. He is also one of only 4 active players with at least 180 wins, 1,700 strikeouts, and a winning percentage at or above .640. The others are Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, and Roger Clemens.

Early life

Pettitte is of Italian and Cajun French descent. He attended Deer Park High School in Deer Park, Texas. In 1990, he pitched the Deer to within one win of the state title. It was there he met his future wife Laura. Together, they've had four children: Joshua Blake (11/3/94), Jared (5/28/98), Lexy Grace (1/10/01) and Luke Jackson (6/19/05). Selected by the Yankees in the 22nd round of the 1990 draft, he opted instead to attend San Jacinto College North (Houston, Texas), where he won 8 of 10 decisions.
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.

New York Yankees (2007 - )

After the 2006 season, Pettitte left the Astros, and signed a 1-year, $16 million contract with the New York Yankees. There is also a player option clause in the contract which will allow Pettitte to return to 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 pitched his first game for the Yankees since 2003 on April 5, 2007 against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on a freezing night at Yankee Stadium.
   Pettitte lost his first game of the season when he pitched against the Boston Red Sox on April 27, 2007. He pitched 4 2/3 innings, letting up 5 runs on 6 hits and 5 walks.
   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 of 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'll 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 12th. (External Link

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Postseason career

In each of Pettitte's 9 seasons with the New York Yankees, the team advanced to the post-season.
   Pettitte holds the all-time record for most starts and innings pitched in the post-season (35 and 218.2, through 2007).
   When Pettitte started Game 2 of the 2005 World Series, he was tied for second for most World Series starts. Along with Christy Mathewson and Waite Hoyt, Pettitte has started in 11 of the Fall Classics. Whitey Ford is in front with 22 starts. Pettitte has played in 7 different World Series (6 with the Yankees, and one with the Astros), and been on the winning end of 18 postseason series - both of which are tops among active players.
   Pettitte is 14-5 with a 3.96 ERA and 139 strikeouts in 35 postseason games (1995-2003, 2005, 2007). Pettitte has pitched 218.1 innings in the postseason.

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. Contrary to the initial LA Times report, neither the name of Clemens nor Pettitte appeared in the affidavit submitted by Grimsley.(External Link

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   On December 13, 2007, Pettitte was named in the Mitchell Report. Pettitte was one of several members of the Yankees, who Mitchell, a Director of the rival Boston Red Sox, listed on his 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'd heal from an elbow injury quicker. At the time of the now-admitted injections, Major League Baseball (MLB) had no specific rules barring professional baseball players from using steroids and HGH; however these drugs were, always have been, and remain illegal for individuals to possess or use without a prescription, regardless of what MLB has to say on the matter.
   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. Pettitte was scratched from his Spring Training start on March 22, 2008 because of back spasms and expects to have full strength when the season begins.

Quote

"Whatever I do, I love to win. I don't care if it's tennis or ping pong, I'll kill myself to win it." — Andy Pettitte Further Information

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