Left-hander makes his return official Wednesday against Rays
NEW YORK -- Derek Jeter marveled as he considered the vision of Andy
Pettitte, his cap dragged low over his eyes, making that slow walk to the
mound once more in Yankees pinstripes.
Pettitte's familiar delivery, demeanor and Texas twang have been reintroduced
to the clubhouse universe for some seven weeks now, and as the Grapefruit
League ran its course, the seamless nature of Pettitte's readjustment was
appreciated.
His presence wasn't a novelty, a gimmick concocted to sell souvenir T-shirts
and fill seats. It was a return born out of necessity. Most importantly, it
felt right, as though Pettitte wandered out of a time machine and knew
nothing different.
"It seems like he never even left," Jeter said. "Once he got here, he fit
right in. He knows how everything works. It's hard to believe it's been three
years since he's been gone. It wasn't even weird when he was out there in
Spring Training. It's just like he picked up from 2003."
On Wednesday, Pettitte's return to the organization's title pursuits will
become official, as he throws his first pitches as a Yankee since the 2003
World Series.
Watching the Opening Day festivities unfold as a spectator on Monday,
Pettitte was struck by the sameness of it all.
He had walked on the field at Yankee Stadium following a January press
conference, a wintry chill whipping the flags atop the ballpark and
interrupting a ceremony that was more reunion than introduction, but that
wasn't the most accurate measure of the Yankee experience.
With a capacity crowd and the unspoken emphasis upon winning again enveloping
the facility, as it did Monday, Pettitte could truly appreciate his return.
"It's hard to explain," Pettitte said. "I feel so comfortable and everything
is exactly like it was when I left. There's just something that makes you
feel good."
As a homegrown product of the Yankees' system, Pettitte may have abandoned
some of his New York habits over a three-year National League stint with the
Astros, but he hasn't forgotten how things work up here.
The traffic patterns and pathways from a Westchester neighborhood to Yankee
Stadium remain the same. No longer can Pettitte drive home after games and
play rancher on the open fields of Texas, but that's a sacrifice that the
left-hander was willing to make.
Instead of tending to cattle, Pettitte has headed up the role of herding
along some of the Yankees' younger or needy pitchers. When Carl Pavano's
Yankee Stadium locker was adjusted to neighbor Pettitte's, it was a
calculated realignment, reflecting the hours of advice and tutelage that
Pettitte had delivered to the once-beleaguered hurler during Spring Training.
Pavano carried a refreshed outlook into his Opening Day start on Monday, and
when Pettitte makes that same walk on Wednesday, he'll do so having joined
Mike Mussina and Mariano Rivera as the elder statesmen of the Yankees' staff.
As Joe Torre said, "He's coming back here, basically, as a senior citizen."
At 34, Pettitte might be slightly offended by the suggestion of his Social
Security years approaching, but the point is valid.
"It's strange to see how your career goes," Pettitte said. "When you get to a
certain age, you just switch over to that role of trying to help out, and
trying to be a little bit of a pitching coach and mental coach to guys. You
want to try to make a difference, and, hopefully, help somebody along the
way."
The Yankees take a certain confidence in the fact that Pettitte has traveled
these roads before, understanding the World Series projections that are
annually levied upon the roster out of camp. Pressure is just a fact of life,
something to deal with, tuck away and reanalyze later.
As Jeter said, "There's no situation that he's going to be overwhelmed with."
Though the Yankees haven't reached a Fall Classic since Pettitte's departure,
the expectations haven't changed. If anything, the clamor for a 27th World
Series title has actually grown.
Recalling the last time he passed through the Bronx, Pettitte said he hadn't
had opportunities to stop and soak it all in -- a world of memories were
racing past, but Pettitte's vision was tunneled. All that seemed to matter on
every fifth day was staring ahead and down into the pocket of Jorge Posada's
glove.
If a given start didn't end with a victory, it was a unsuccessful. If the
season didn't end with a parade down the Canyon of Heroes, it wasn't enough.
Pettitte doesn't exactly relish that part of the business, but he understands
it.
As the Devil Rays -- and each lineup to follow -- stride to the plate against
Pettitte, his attention will be trained in much the same area. But Pettitte
hopes that once in a while, he'll be able to take a step back, walk off the
mound and take a few mental snapshots for later appreciation.
"You go so hard for so many years, it kind of wears on you a little bit,"
Pettitte admits. "You always can't win. You want to win, but you always
can't. Somewhere in the mix, you want to try to enjoy it."
As he noted Monday, a brief span of time went by this offseason when Pettitte
was ready to hang it up and walk away from the game, his passions sapped
somewhat by the elbow injuries that still remain a concern in the darkest
corners of the Yankees' minds.
Pettitte's contract offers, at minimum, just one season of service to the
Yankees -- a decision agreed upon by Pettitte, so as not to feel as though
he'd be letting the Yankees down if he decided not to return next year.
In simplest form, it's one more turn around the league, enough of a taste for
Pettitte to decide if he still loves it enough to suit up for another
go-round.
"I'm taking it one year at a time," Pettitte said. "I want to try to give
this team everything I've got this year, then evaluate everything at the end
of the season."
The journey begins Wednesday.
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