ST. PETERSBURG -- With a few more gray hairs and a broader outlook, Andy Pettitte officially began his on-field return to the Yankees on Friday. Making his first Grapefruit League appearance for New York since 2003, Pettitte threw two scoreless, hitless innings against the Devil Rays at Progress Energy Park. The left-hander threw 20 pitches -- 15 for strikes -- and recorded a strikeout.
"It was really nice to be back out there," Pettitte said. "Once you get out on the mound, you forget what [uniform] you have on. It's still just the mitt and trying to make quality pitches. It was great to be back out there and get the first one under my belt."
Pettitte used the appearance to tinker with different grips on his curveball, but his greatest satisfaction seemed to come from his changeup, which he has vowed to continue using in order to be more of a complete pitcher.
"He was a guy you counted on all the time, even though you always mentioned another guy's name first," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "What you see now is more polished. One thing Andy did every year was get better."
The one strikeout Pettitte recorded in the contest, getting Jorge Cantu swinging in the second inning, came on a change.
"If I can throw that all year," Pettitte said, "I'd be all right."
Watching Pettitte throw darts in a Yankees uniform fit so well, it was almost as if he'd never left. It was even more incomprehensible that Pettitte actually considered retirement after last season.
As the Houston Astros' 2006 campaign wore down to its final days, Pettitte's left elbow began barking, further complications in a 14-13 season that Pettitte felt should have turned out much better than it did.
Torre had kept in close contact with Pettitte following his departure for Houston after the 2003 season and connected for friendly chats with the left-hander over the summer, describing Pettitte as disappointed and somewhat confused.
On the mound, Pettitte felt good enough, on his way to a second consecutive 200-plus-innings season. But the results weren't matching the effort, and as Pettitte's ERA rounded out to a 4.20 mark, he wondered if his pitching days had come to an end.
"I didn't think my arm would allow me to pitch past the '06 season," Pettitte said.
He voiced those concerns to Torre, who now admits that he didn't believe him.
"I dismissed it, based on the fact that at the end of the year, we're all frustrated," Torre said.
The manager's instincts proved correct as Pettitte began tossing in the offseason, surprising himself by how good he felt.
The timing was right for Torre's recruitment pitch, which commenced over numerous offseason telephone calls, one reunion dinner of the 1996 Yankees at Chelsea Piers in New York, and culminated in a one-year contract in December.
Pettitte remembered Torre's pleas as such: "We want you back. Just come back." Eventually, after the initial shock of the Yankees' continued interest, Pettitte did just that, inking a one-year agreement with an option for 2008.
On a breezy March afternoon in St. Petersburg, his pitches sending two innings worth of Devil Rays batters back to the bench empty-handed, it appeared Pettitte had made the correct decision.
"You want to go where you feel like you're wanted," Pettitte said.
