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Full Name: Andrew Eugene Pettitte Primary Position: P
Height/Weight: 6' 5"/235 First Game: April 29, 1995
Birthdate: June 15, 1972 MLB Experience: 12 years
Birthplace: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Bat/Throw: Left/Left

Biography[]

Andrew Eugene Pettitte (born June 15, 1972 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana) is an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball.

He made his major league debut on April 29, 1995 with the New York Yankees, with whom he spent nine seasons in the starting rotation. Selected by the Yankees in the 22nd round of the 1990 draft, he opted to attend junior college; on May 25, 1991 he signed with them as an amateur free agent. Pettitte has been a part of six American League pennant-winning teams and four World Series championship teams. He is tied for a record 13 playoff wins with John Smoltz of the Atlanta Braves. He is the only MLB pitcher since 1930 to win at least 12 games in each of his first nine seasons.

Pettitte has been a 20-game winner twice, in 1996 and 2003, each time with a 21-8 mark. In 1996 he was the runnerup to Pat Hentgen for the AL Cy Young Award after leading the league in wins, and in 2001 he was named the MVP of the ALCS after winning both the first and last games. He was named to the AL All-Star team in 1996 and 2001.

On December 11, 2003, Pettitte signed a 3-year, $31.5 million free agent deal with the Houston Astros. His former Yankees teammate Roger Clemens joined him a few weeks later, foregoing his planned retirement. Pettitte's 2004 season was shortened by elbow surgery, but he returned in 2005 as one of the league leaders in ERA (second to only team-mate Roger Clemens) and an important factor in the Astros contending for the wild card. Prior to the 2005 season, Pettitte had a record of 155-82, with 1,354 strikeouts and a 3.94 ERA.

When Pettitte started game two 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 seven different World Series (six 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 was also one of the players named in baseball's Mitchell Report. According to the report, after Pettitte was sidelined in spring 2002, his personal trainer, Brian McNamee, claimed that he injected Pettitte with HGH between two and four times. Pettitte, like most players, declined to speak with investigators for the Mitchell Report.

Pettitte (pronounced "PET-it") married Laura Dunn on January 9, 1993; they have four children.

Pettitte was born on the same day as former Yankee pitching teammate Ramiro Mendoza. He was also born on the same day as Tony Clark, who played for the Yankees in 2004.

Pettitte bears a striking resemblance to Around The Horn host Tony Reali to the effect that Reali almost always refers to Pettitte as "that gooood-looking man".

Scouting Report[]

Pitching[]

Pettitte is a finesse pitcher. He relies on pinpoint control and excellent pitch selection to consistently retire hitters. He's known for being an innings-eater and is often relied on by his manager to pitch into the seventh inning in his starts.

His repertoire includes several fastball variations, a big curveball and a changeup. He mostly works off his heavy sinking fastball and one of the better cut fastballs in the game, both of which sat around 91-93 MPH before his 2004 shoulder surgery. Now Pettitte's fastballs usually hover around 89-91 MPH. He uses his big hook to set up the fastballs and his changeup is mostly reserved for right-handed hitters.

Hitting and Defense[]

Pettitte exemplifies the idea that pitchers are automatic outs at the plate. He's built to be in the American League, as his bunting skills are poor and he doesn't run the bases well at all.

Defensively Pettitte is solid. He fields his position well and is fairly quick off the mound and sure-handed, but will never compete for a Gold Glove.

Overall[]

While he's known to put together seasons with high win totals, he's only had a few truly dominant regular seasons. He's not an ace-quality pitcher but can solidify the second or third spot in any team's starting rotation.


Statistics[]

Pitching Stats[]

Year Team G GS W L ERA K R ER CG SHO SV IP H HR BB IB WP HBP
1995 NY A 31 26 12 9 4.17 114 86 81 3 0 0 175 183 15 63 3 8 1
1996 NY A 35 34 21 8 3.87 162 105 95 2 0 0 221 229 23 72 2 6 3
1997 NY A 35 35 18 7 2.88 166 86 77 4 1 0 240.1 233 7 65 0 7 3
1998 NY A 33 32 16 11 4.24 146 110 102 5 0 0 216.1 226 20 87 1 5 6
1999 NY A 31 31 14 11 4.70 121 105 100 0 0 0 191.2 216 20 89 3 3 3
2000 NY A 32 32 19 9 4.35 125 111 99 3 1 0 204.2 219 17 80 4 2 4
2001 NY A 31 31 15 10 3.99 164 103 89 2 0 0 200.2 224 14 41 3 2 6
2002 NY A 22 22 13 5 3.27 97 58 49 3 1 0 134.2 144 6 32 2 2 4
2003 NY A 33 33 21 8 4.02 180 109 93 1 0 0 208.1 227 21 50 3 5 1
2004 HOU N 15 15 6 4 3.90 79 37 36 0 0 0 83 71 8 31 2 4 0
2005 HOU N 33 33 17 9 2.39 171 66 59 0 0 0 222.1 188 17 41 0 2 3
2006 HOU N 36 35 14 13 4.20 178 114 100 2 1 0 214.1 238 27 70 9 2 2
2007 NY A 36 34 15 9 4.05 141 106 97 0 0 0 215.1 238 16 69 1 3 1
Total NL 84 83 37 26 3.38 428 217 195 2 1 0 519.2 497 52 142 11 8 5
Total AL 319 310 164 87 3.95 1416 979 882 23 3 0 2008 2139 159 648 22 43 32
Total 403 393 201 113 3.83 1844 1196 1077 25 4 0 2527.2 2636 211 790 33 51 37

Fielding Stats[]

Year Team POS G GS INN PO A ERR DP TP PB SB CS PkO AVG
1995 NY A P 31 26 175 5 27 1 0 0 1 9 8 12 .970
1996 NY A P 35 34 221 6 38 3 2 0 5 10 11 10 .936
1997 NY A P 35 35 240.1 9 44 1 4 0 3 16 7 14 .981
1998 NY A P 33 32 216.1 11 37 1 5 0 0 17 6 6 .980
1999 NY A P 31 31 191.2 5 38 2 3 0 1 16 7 5 .956
2000 NY A P 32 32 204.2 17 33 4 3 0 2 5 3 3 .926
2001 NY A P 31 31 200.2 9 40 0 2 0 6 11 5 7 1.000
2002 NY A P 22 22 134.2 8 27 2 0 0 2 7 4 6 .946
2003 NY A P 33 33 208.1 7 29 6 1 0 2 13 1 0 .857
2004 HOU N P 15 15 83 6 17 1 0 0 1 3 2 1 .958
2005 HOU N P 33 33 222.1 12 40 1 3 0 1 5 4 3 .981
2006 HOU N P 36 35 214.1 2 31 2 2 0 1 10 3 3 .943
2007 NY A P 36 34 215.1 13 28 1 2 0 4 18 8 5 .976
Total P 403 393 2527.2 110 429 25 27 0 29 140 69 75 .956

Batting Stats[]

Year Team G AB R H HR RBI AVG OBP SLG 2B 3B BB SO HBP SH SB IBB GDP
1995 NY A 31 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1996 NY A 35 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1997 NY A 35 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1998 NY A 33 4 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 3 0 2 0 0 0
1999 NY A 31 5 0 1 0 0 .200 .333 .200 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0
2000 NY A 32 5 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
2001 NY A 31 4 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
2002 NY A 22 3 0 1 0 1 .333 .333 .667 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
2003 NY A 33 7 0 1 0 1 .143 .143 .143 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
2004 HOU N 15 23 0 4 0 2 .174 .269 .217 1 0 3 5 0 3 0 0 1
2005 HOU N 33 62 1 5 0 3 .081 .094 .081 0 0 1 19 0 15 0 0 0
2006 HOU N 38 62 4 12 1 5 .194 .206 .290 3 0 1 19 0 10 0 0 0
2007 NY A 36 4 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0
Total NL 86 147 5 21 1 10 .143 .170 .190 4 0 5 43 0 28 0 0 1
Total AL 319 32 0 3 0 2 .094 .121 .125 1 0 1 14 0 3 0 0 0
Total 405 179 5 24 1 12 .134 .161 .179 5 0 6 57 0 31 0 0 1

Transactions[]

  • Selected by New York Yankees in the 22nd round of the free-agent draft - did not sign (June 4, 1990).
  • Signed as a non-drafted free agent by New York Yankees (May 25, 1991).
  • Granted free agency (November 6, 2003).
  • Signed by Houston Astros (December 16, 2003).
  • Granted free agency (November 6, 2006).
  • Signed by New York Yankees (December 8, 2006).

Trivia[]

See also[]

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