It's just like old times

SPRING TRAINING
It's just like old times
BY BOB HERZOG
March 13, 2007





TAMPA, Fla. -- When Andy Pettitte strode out to the mound at high noon yesterday at Legends Field, he might have blinked in the bright sunlight and done a double-take. There was one captain, shortstop Derek Jeter, fielding a practice grounder and firing across the diamond to his predecessor, first baseman Don Mattingly.

But Pettitte had been briefed beforehand. He knew that for this simulated game he would be reunited on the field with Donnie Baseball, who was Pettitte's teammate in 1995 - Mattingly's last big-league season and Pettitte's first.

"When he told me that, I loved it!" Pettitte said after his four-inning, 56-pitch stint. "Guys were giving me a hard time about staying back here . But I told them, 'Cap's coming out for me.' It was funny."

Seeing Mattingly play the field was part of what made yesterday's simulated game a little different. There also was the sight of Andy Phillips trying to make up for some lost time by taking nine at-bats against Pettitte.

Phillips was the first batter Pettitte faced and he grounded out, Jeter to Mattingly. That at-bat lasted four pitches. Phillips started toward the dugout but was told to go right back to the plate, where he struck out on three pitches. Phillips went 2-for-9, including an opposite-field double to right.

"It's hard to get used to grounding out and then running back and hitting again," Phillips said with a laugh. "I felt like I was in the old Bugs Bunny cartoon where the same guy keeps swinging."

The lighthearted nature of yesterday's exercise was further apparent when, in the third of Pettitte's innings, a ground ball scooted past Mattingly's glove side for a single.

"He gave me a bad break on a ground ball to first. He's not moving quite like he used to. His reaction time's not real good," Pettitte joked. "I was thinking, 'Just don't get hit with a bad hop.' I'd feel terrible."

In fact, though, Pettitte was beaming after his third "start" of spring training. The finger that was hit with a bat shard last time out didn't bother him and catcher Jorge Posada said his fastball hit 91 mph.

"Mechanically, it felt good. Got some good fatigue in my shoulder. It was a good day," Pettitte said. "I feel like I'm getting stronger. It's spring training. I'm just trying to build my endurance up. I'm not throwing too many cutters - that's arm strength. But I threw a few more today."

Phillips was serious about facing live pitching in preparation for today's starting assignment, his first since leaving the Yankees after his mother was badly hurt in a car accident two weeks ago. "His stuff was pretty good. There was life on his fastball and his breaking ball was sharp," Phillips said.

Mattingly's glove was sharp, too, even if his feet aren't as quick as they used to be. In Pettitte's final inning, Mattingly easily fielded a chopper and expertly flipped to Pettitte covering first for the out. On the next-to-last batter, Jeter sidearmed a throw that short-hopped the nine-time Gold Glove winner. Mattingly made the clean scoop for the putout.

Later Jeter joked that he deliberately tested Mattingly. The old captain passed one test. Pettitte passed another.

Copyright 2007 Newsday Inc.