ANAHEIM – He is part of a pitching fraternity that houses members with catchy nicknames Rocket, Moose, Boomer and El Duque. One is a Hall of Fame lock the minute he is eligible. Another approaches his job with little emotion and until this year had been the home office for consistency. The next one, you have no trouble knowing he is around. Finally, there is the mysterious one who can be hot-headed and moody in the same sentence.
Then there is Andy Pettitte, one of the most successful pitchers in the majors across the past six years. No signature nickname. No bells and whistles that Roger Clemens, Pettitte’s closest friend, is known for. He doesn’t have Mike Mussina’s poker face. Compared to David Wells, Pettitte is a mute button. And Pettitte doesn’t have Orlando Hernandez’ mood swings.
Yet, with Clemens on the DL, Mussina struggling, Wells saying his surgically repaired back hasn’t been right since the All-Star break, and El Duque fighting Jeff Weaver to remain in the rotation when Clemens comes back, Pettitte has earned a temporary nickname: Ace.
When Ramiro Mendoza put the finishing touches on Pettitte’s 4-0 win over the Angels on Friday night at Edison Field, Pettitte had his fourth win in his last five decisions with his second straight gem.
Pettitte (6-4) fired 81/3 shutout innings in which he allowed four hits, two walks and fanned six to stop a two-game losing streak for the AL East-leading Yankees, who started yesterday’s action with a four-game lead over the second-place Red Sox.
In Pettitte’s last two games, he has worked 152/3 innings, allowed only eight hits and one run for a nifty 0.57 ERA. Both gems came following a Yankee loss.
“Andy enjoys the responsibility. This is what he didn’t have when he came off the DL,” Joe Torre said. “He didn’t have that mental toughness he is showing us now. That’s only because he wasn’t in competition for a period of time.”
When Pettitte came back from seven weeks on the DL thanks to a cranky elbow, he believed he needed to throw the ball as hard as he could to make up for lost time. Now, six weeks later, he understands that’s not his style.
“He was the perfect example of a crafty left-hander,” Torre said of Pettitte, who used a four-seam fastball inside to set up a big curveball and cut fastball. “And he had it in his hip pocket to throw that cutter down and in where he could get people to swing and miss at it. He is very deceptive. As big as he is, he can use both sides of the plate and still throw soft.”
The softest pitch is Pettitte’s curveball, a pitch that was his best when he broke into the big leagues in 1995 but eventually faded into the background. But after talking with Mike Stanton before a July 28 start against Tampa Bay, the top-to-bottom break is back and Pettitte has used it very well the last two starts.
“I have gotten on top of it more,” Pettitte said. “The last two starts I have thrown it a lot more. It has a tighter spin.”
Pettitte retired the first 11 Angels before Tim Salmon drove an opposite-field double off the wall in right-center. The only inning Pettitte had to sweat was the seventh. Working with a 4-0 lead, Pettitte gave up a one-out double to Garret Anderson and walked Troy Glaus. But Pettitte responded by retiring Alex Ochoa on a harmless fly to left and Scott Spiezio on a routine fly to center.
There was a time when Pettitte didn’t know what was happening with his elbow.
“I didn’t think it would take that long,” Pettitte said. “There was a little doubt in my mind that I wouldn’t be able to come back. At the time there was a question, I am not going to lie.”
Now, there is no question. About Pettitte’s elbow or stature on the staff.