Andy 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 (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".
