Surgery reduces Pettitte to spectator

HOUSTON -- Andy Pettitte moved deliberately around the Houston Astros' clubhouse, avoiding countless showers of champagne to remain remarkably dry during the team's raucous postgame party after winning the division series in Atlanta last week.

It was a bittersweet moment for Pettitte, who left the New York Yankees in the offseason to enjoy precisely that kind of moment with his hometown Astros. But, thanks to elbow surgery in August, the left-hander has been a spectator during Houston's postseason run.

Understandably, Pettitte has been in no mood to join in the revelry.

"I kind of felt awkward," he said. "You kind of let everybody do their thing. It's just awesome to see a team be able to win its first playoff series. I was just kind of sitting back, taking it in."

While his teammates prepared to face the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 5 of the NL championship series Monday night, Pettitte will go through another grueling rehab session in the mostly empty trainers' room.

Pettitte won't take the mound in October for the first time since he was promising 22-year-old in the Yankees' minor league system.

That's been a lot more painful to deal with than his achy elbow.

"This is very, very frustrating," said Pettitte, now 32. "Since I've been in the big leagues, the point was to get to the World Series. If we didn't, the season was a failure. To not be a part of it right now is very unfamiliar territory."

Foreshadowing the trouble to come, Pettitte felt a twinge in his elbow after a checked swing during an at-bat --something he didn't have to worry about with the Yankees -- in his first start of the season. He went on the disabled list twice, missed eight starts with a sore arm and, when he did throw, hardly resembled the guy long known as one of baseball's best postseason pitchers.

His final start of the year came against the Mets at Shea Stadium on Aug. 12, when the Astros were 56-58 and looked nothing like a team destined to be playing in mid-October.

Pettitte gritted his teeth through the pain that night, making his teammate and longtime friend Roger Clemens so ill that he refused to watch the game from the dugout.

With the Astros still stumbling along, Clemens convinced Pettitte to have season-ending surgery and get ready for the next year.

"He couldn't (pitch)," Clemens said, "but he would have tried if he knew we'd get to this point. He'd be pitching right-handed right now."

Now Pettitte and the Astros are left to wonder what might have been if Pettitte had put off surgery and joined Houston's thin and inexperienced rotation for the playoffs.

"I'm disappointed for him because this would be his arena that he would deserve, and particularly in his hometown," Astros manager Phil Garner said. "The other side of it is it would be awful nice to have him to be able to pitch in this series. He's been here, he's done that and he's pitched well in these situations."

Pettitte feels even worse when he thinks of Clemens, who pitched on three days' rest in Game 4 against Atlanta and will probably need to do so again if Houston makes it to the World Series.

"It was supposed to be me out there," Pettitte said. "He's supposed to be laid-back and not having to have too much heat on him right now. I'm just proud of him."

Though he's not on Houston's playoff roster, Pettitte dutifully wears his uniform and brick-red warmup jacket for every game. He nervously paces around the dugout, enthusiastically cheering on his teammates and occasionally offering advice to the pitchers.

Depending on the day and his mood, the Astros' playoff run can be either a welcome consolation or painful reminder.

"I just feel I can be an encouragement, so I'm constantly talking with everybody," Pettitte said. "This is just awesome to see."