Houston Sports - Andy Pettitte

Andy Pettitte

Born: June 15, 1972

Sport: Baseball (256-153 pitching record, 3-time All-Star, All-time MLB leader in postseason wins and innings pitched, All-time Yankees leader in strikeouts)

This week the World Series will begin, and the winner will either be hosting the franchise's first-ever trophy (in the case of Milwaukee or Tampa Bay) or just the first one in 78 years (Cleveland).  While some players and fans can only be described as long-suffering, waiting for what seems like forever for their team to finally get their chance, some players have had charmed careers that result in numerous awards.  One baseball player that had more than his share of postseason glory grew up in the Houston area and played a significant role in one of the premier eras of the Astros organization.  Although best known as a member of the Yankees, Andy Pettitte was a local kid who gave his local team several years during his prime while leading a mark in baseball's record book.  Let's take a look at the story of one of the Fall Classic's most storied southpaws. 

Pettitte's first Houston-area action was at Deer Park High School

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was the birthplace of Andy Pettitte, whose father Tommy was a police officer and mother JoAnn stayed home raising Andy and his older sister, Robin.  At the age of eight, while in the third grade, young Andy was relocated to the south Houston suburb of Deer Park as Tommy switched careers to make more money at a chemical plant.  Andy's passion was baseball even from an early age, and by the time he was a teenager playing for Deer Park High School his talent was obvious.  The other love he developed was for a coed named Laura Dunn, the daughter of a local pastor, and despite her parents unease with her dating at such a young age the couple would ultimately remain together.  Pettitte didn't have quite the same love for school, where he was shy and awkward, and his skill at football didn't appear to provide much in the way of future prospects, so when the Yankees organization called Andy's name in the 22nd round of the 1990 MLB Draft it was certainly enticing to the recent high school graduate.  He chose to attend college, however, playing one season for San Jacinto Community College.  Because he chose junior college rather than a four-year university, the Yankees retained his rights as a draft-and-follow player (a strategy no longer allowed by MLB rules) and Pettitte agreed to sign with the club one year later for a bonus of $80,000. 

Despite not lighting up the radar gun or matching the appearance of a star pitcher, Andy Pettitte performed consistently well during his somewhat deliberate rise through the minor leagues.  After brief stints in rookie ball and low-A at the end of the 1991 season, during which time he played with longtime teammate Jorge Posada for the first time, he moved into the A league for his first full year.  In 1992 the batterymates joined Derek Jeter for the first time with the Greensboro Hornets where, because Posada struggled to catch Pettitte's knuckleball, Pettitte dropped the pitch from his repertoire.  A year later he was promoted to Advanced A ball and got a single start at AA, and also married his high school sweetheart Laura, with whom he would raise four children.  After recording identical 7-2 records at both AA and AAA in 1994, Pettitte was named the Yankees minor league pitcher of the year and showed up to spring training in 1995 with a chance to try out for the major league club.  By opening day the final rotation spot had been awarded to Sterling Hitchcock, but Pettitte was named to the Yankees roster as a bullpen arm and made his debut on April 29, 1995.  The organization ultimately thought he had more of a future as a starting pitcher, so they sent him back to AAA but after just two appearances he was sent back to New York because of injuries.  With three pitchers unable to play, Pettitte was thrust into the rotation and he made the most of his opportunity by recording 12 wins and coming in third in the AL Rookie of the Year balloting.  The 1995 season was the first to include a Wild Card, which allowed the Yankees to play in the postseason despite not winning their division.  Although they lost to the Seattle Mariners, Pettitte got his first taste of the playoffs and he enjoyed it.

The 1996 season was a breakout for Andy Pettitte as the Yankees demonstrated their belief in the young lefty by trading away Hitchcock, and he lived up to their expectations.  Behind new manager Joe Torre, Pettitte led all AL pitchers with 21 wins, earning his first All Star appearance and coming in second to Toronto's Pat Hentgen for the Cy Young Award.  The team also reached new heights by reaching the World Series and defeating the Atlanta Braves for their first title since the 1978 season.  Pettitte tossed five games, earning two wins, a loss, and two no-decisions in 32 innings of work.  During the 1997 season he developed into a reliable workhorse, leading all of baseball in starts, pickoffs, and double plays induced, while giving up the fewest home runs per nine innings.  He struggled in the postseason, however, dropping two of his starts to the Cleveland Indians.  That would be the lone setback in what is likely the best run in the Wild Card era, as the Yankees blew away the competition each of the next three years and claimed back-to-back-to-back World Series titles.  Only the combination of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling in 2001 allowed the Arizona Diamondbacks to edge New York in a seven-game series, with Pettitte taking a pair of losses despite a successful season that saw his second career All Star selection and a strong ALCS effort that saw him earn ALCS MVP honors.  After another pair of successful seasons, including a campaign that saw Pettitte snubbed from the All Star game despite eventually earning 21 wins, a loss in the 2003 World Series to the Florida Marlins ended his time with the Yankees as he entered free agency.

Wanting to play closer to his Texas home in 2004, Andy Pettitte decided to sign a contract with the Houston Astros.  One month later, another Houstonian and former Yankee pitcher decided to tag along and Pettitte was once again on a roster alongside Roger Clemens.  Alongside a bevvy of talent including Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, Lance Berkman, Carlos Beltran, Roy Oswalt, Jeff Kent, and Billy Wagner, the Astros looked formidable on paper.  After a 44-44 start to the season, however, manager Jimy Williams was fired and the team brought in Phil Garner who unexpectedly spurred a 48-26 finishing kick to earn the NL Wild Card.  Recovering from major surgery that had taken him out after just 15 starts, Pettitte could only watch from the sidelines as the Astros won their first postseason round in history over the Atlanta Braves before falling to the St. Louis Cardinals in a seven-game NLCS.  His 2005 campaign was electric, however, as he recorded a strong 17-9 record with a 2.39 ERA to help Houston once again shake off a slow start to push into the playoffs, and this time they were able to defeat both Atlanta and St. Louis to reach their first World Series in franchise history.  In heartbreaking fashion the Astros were swept by the Chicago White Sox, losing four games by a total of six runs, marking the third World Series defeat in five seasons for Pettitte.  After a rough 2006 the Astros missed the playoffs, and Pettitte considered retirement before eventually returning to the Yankees.  He was implicated that season in the Mitchell Report on steroid and human growth hormone use in baseball, and Pettitte admitted to using HGH, which wasn't legally allowed for athletic purposes but also not actually banned by MLB at the time, to recover from a 2002 surgery.  In his third season back he was rewarded when the Yankees finally won another World Series in 2009, marking Pettitte's fifth title, and in 2010 he earned his third and final All Star appearance.  Although he announced his retirement and spent a year away from the game, Pettitte returned to the Yankees in 2012 at the age of 40 and ended up pitching two final seasons.  He retired for good after the 2013 season, with his final appearance a complete game victory against the Houston Astros.  That game tied him for the record number of starts as a Yankees pitcher with 438 and knotted his season record at 11-11, ensuring that Pettitte never had a single losing season during his 18-year career.  The Yankees retired his number 46 in 2015 and placed his plaque in their Monument Park, and he has also been inducted in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame (2016).  Pettitte has spent years advising Yankees GM Brian Cashman and, despite being naturally introverted, also has become a public speaker who is very outspoken about faith and family.  Pettitte is currently eligible for the Hall of Fame but this year in his eighth appearance on the ballot he has only garnered 48.5% of the vote, and it remains to be seen if he'll earn the necessary 75% during his final two years of eligibility.

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