The New York Times
Published: February 15, 2007
TAMPA, Fla., Feb. 14 — In the itinerant world of a baseball player, it is possible to leave home to go home again. That was the sensation Andy Pettitte felt the other day, when he stuffed his suitcases at home in Deer Park, Tex., for a long season with his old team, the Yankees.
“It hits you: Wow, I’m leaving,” Pettitte said Wednesday at Legends Field. “The closet here is empty. I’m shipping everything to Tampa and then going to New York.”
Pettitte logged nine stellar years with the Yankees before signing with the Houston Astros after the 2003 World Series. He never expected to be back, but now that he is, he said it felt natural. He even found a house in Westchester County only two miles from his old one.
“It seems like we never left,” Pettitte said.
In reality, though, the Yankees have changed quite a bit. Only six current teammates were here when Pettitte left — Jason Giambi, Derek Jeter, Hideki Matsui, Mike Mussina, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera — and all of the coaches are new.
Manager Joe Torre remains, and he has stayed in touch with Pettitte over the past three years. They talked before the Astros played in the 2005 World Series; they talked last summer about a gift for the former pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre; and they talked in November at Torre’s charity dinner.
“He’s not just my manager,” Pettitte said. “I feel like I can go in there and talk about life.”
Pettitte was the Yankees’ highest-profile acquisition over the winter, which said a lot about their strategy. The Yankees traditionally import stars and agree to pay them lavishly for years. But this off-season, they traded two Hall of Fame-caliber players in Randy Johnson and Gary Sheffield, and have not offered a major league contract to a franchise icon, Bernie Williams. Pettitte was appealing partly because he took a short-term deal.
Pettitte signed for one year and $16 million with a player option for 2008 at the same amount. At 34, he could have commanded a longer deal, and turned down an overture from St. Louis for three years and more than $45 million.
But Pettitte’s elbow concerns him, as he freely admits in a self-deprecating way. He said he felt strong, and has thrown off a mound five or six times. But he has taxed the elbow heavily since having surgery on it in 2004, making 72 starts over the past two years, including the postseason. The health of his elbow is never far from his mind.
“It makes me think about it every once in a while,” Pettitte said. “But I just try to get back on the mound and make my starts. However my elbow feels, whatever I’ve got that day, just go with it.”
Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman said Pettitte’s medical exams turned out better this winter than they did three years ago, before his surgery. But Cashman acknowledged the risk.
“The elbow is something he’s had to deal with for quite some time,” Cashman said. “If we can keep him healthy, he’ll be a productive player for us.”
Pettitte adapted to a new environment during his three years in Houston. He threw his changeup more often to neutralize right-handed hitters at Minute Maid Park, where the left-field wall is close. At Yankee Stadium, with its spacious left-center-field power alley, Pettitte said, he would be more confident using his cutter, while keeping hitters honest with the change.
Pitchers and catchers took physicals Wednesday, and Pettitte could throw off a mound Thursday with the other starters. For now, that group includes Pettitte, Mussina, Chien-Ming Wang, Kei Igawa and Carl Pavano. By midseason, the Yankees hope to add Roger Clemens.
Clemens is a semiretired free agent at 44 years old. Pettitte said he would go golfing with Clemens during spring training, but he did not plan to persuade him to join the Yankees. Clemens tends to dominate the conversation, anyway.
“Usually when me and Roger get together, he talks,” Pettitte said. “There’s nothing I’ve got to say. He knows how I feel about him and I know how he feels about me. He knows whoever he adds himself to, he’s going to be an unbelievable help to that team.”
Pettitte said Clemens was keeping his arm in shape and recently threw for an hour at Minute Maid Park. True to form, Pettitte said his own arm could never withstand that strain.
“He’s amazing,” Pettitte said. “If I threw for an hour right now, I wouldn’t pitch the rest of the year.”
If the Yankees were laughing, it was nervous laughter. They are relying on Pettitte the way they used to, and he feels the responsibility.
“I feel like I’m going to hold up, or I wouldn’t have come here,” Pettitte said. “I don’t want to go through the agony of feeling like I let everybody down.”
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