Andy Pettitte

Roger Clemens’ teammate with New York and Houston
Career Stats: click here

Breakdown: A nice guy and excellent pitcher who often viewed Clemens as a guide/older brother. Like Clemens, Pettitte attended San Jacinto College and was raised in Texas. Yet, come the end of their relationship, Pettitte trusted Clemens, and was very disappointed by the way the Rocket dismissed him.

From The Rocket That Fell to Earth: As soon as the Dean and Rog interview concluded, Clemens was once again the talk of the town— and he loved it. His face was every­where. The buzz flew from one water­ cooler conversation to another. The NFL invited Clemens to appear on stage at an event leading up to Houston’s Super Bowl XXXVIII. Even Tiger Woods had an opinion, snidely asking, “When people retire, do they ever stay retired?” Soon enough Clemens was telling reporters that, having played golf with Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell, he found the idea of a return “defi­nitely” tempting.

Some who knew Clemens watched suspiciously from afar. While he would often brag of his kinship with Pettitte, the relationship was more older brother–younger brother than friend­ friend. Having also grown up in Texas and attended San Jacinto, Pettitte would have jumped through fiery hoops to impress Clemens, his role model and mentor. When Roger spoke, Andy listened. So why was it that Clem­ens had to do his all to upstage his peer? “He couldn’t just let Andy enjoy the excitement of signing with the Astros,” says one person who knows both pitchers. “He had to steal the spotlight and make it his own. That’s very typical Roger behavior. The attention belongs to him, or it belongs to no one.”