Pettitte's stare made impression on a young Hamels

Andy Pettitte may not be the face of the Yankees. Yet, there's little dispute that Pettitte's has been the most ubiquitous face of postseason baseball the last 14 seasons.

The television cameras love to hone in on a pitcher's face, sometimes offering revealing shots of tension, anxiety, excitement, confidence or poise.

In Pettitte's case, it reveals intense concentration.

When the Yankees' 37-year-old lefthander looks for a sign from his catcher as he prepares to deliver a pitch, all that's visible from the camera shot are his coal-black eyes because he holds his glove high and the bill of his cap is pulled low.

It's become such a familiar postseason stare because Pettitte has more postseason starts (38) and more postseason wins (16) than any pitcher in history.

"I can't remember when I started doing it," Pettitte said yesterday. "I'm sure it was in the minor leagues. I just wanted to see the mitt, and I felt like if I narrowed the window. . . . Sometimes I would see other things. Sometimes I'd pick up maybe just people in the stands behind the catcher and stuff like that.

"So for me I just wanted to simplify it as much as I can and just see the mitt and try to see my ball going to where I want it, almost visualizing the pitches before I throw them."

With the World Series tied at one game apiece, Pettitte will make postseason start No. 39 - and World Series start No. 12 - tonight against the Phillies. As loud and raucous as the Citizens Bank Park crowd will surely be, Pettitte's experience and his uncanny ability to focus on the task at hand will block out the din as he goes against Phillies lefthander Cole Hamels.

Hamels, who is 12 years younger than Pettitte, was among the postseason baseball television watchers who became familiar with the Pettitte stare as a teenager.

"I think of him and Randy Johnson with the stare over the glove," Hamels said. "I kind of do that a little bit, but it's not as pronounced as that. I think when all you see is his eyes, he's definitely focusing really well. And he has something up his sleeve."

During the off-season, a lot of clubs thought Pettitte had nothing but a tired old arm up his sleeve. He looked like a shot pitcher most of the second half of the 2008 season, when he was 14-14 with a 4.54 earned run average, the worst record and highest ERA of his career.

There were also suspicions about Pettitte's decline in 2008 because it was his first season after he became one of several Yankees named in the Mitchell Report.

In December 2007, Pettitte admitted using a human growth hormone twice in 2002, with the intention of healing an injury and not to enhance his performance. He denied further use of HGH during his career and said he never used steroids or an other performance-enhancing drug.

After '08, Pettitte declined a one-year, $10.5 million offer from the Yankees because he felt it was too much of a drop from the $16 million he made that season.

Eventually, Pettitte went back to the Yankees and accepted a one-year, $5.5 million contract that could grow to $12 million if he met all the incentives. In the least, it's likely he met several of the incentives. Following a slow start, Pettitte rebounded for a productive 14-8 season.

This postseason, he is 2-0 in three starts. His last outing he held the Angels to one run in 61/3 innings to win the Yankees' ALCS clincher, placing Pettitte ahead of John Smoltz for the most postseason wins.

Pettitte last started a World Series game for the Yankees on Oct. 25, 2003, against Florida, a 2-0 loss. He spent three seasons with Houston and pitched in the '05 World Series against the White Sox, getting a no decision.

Now in his eighth World Series, Pettitte is in position to leave the Phillies trailing a postseason series for the first time since they began their World Series championship run last year. He's back on the big stage in a Yankees uniform, which just seems right, looking for his fifth World Series ring.

"This is what I felt like they brought me back over here to try to do," said Pettitte, a native of Baton Rouge, La. "And obviously, this is what I came back for to help get accomplished."