A Bite Out of Big Apple

No matter how hard the New York Yankees tried to spin it, they lost again.

When Andy Pettitte bolted the Bronx for the Houston Astros on Thursday, he left the Yankees with a huge hole in the rotation and a bigger one in the clubhouse.

While Boston has added Curt Schilling and tries to land Alex Rodriguez, the pinstriped juggernaut that has dominated baseball for nearly a decade appears to be fading.

In this busy offseason, the Yankees are being out-Yankeed so far.

“It’s a huge loss,” former New York outfielder Paul O’Neill said, referring to Pettitte.

Even though the Yankees agreed later in the day to the a trade that brings them Kevin Brown from the Dodgers for Jeff Weaver, Pettitte’s departure was a stunning blow to a team that has won 26 World Series titles and is used to getting what it wants in the offseason.

Pettitte waited and waited for the Yankees to show him love and appreciation. It never came.

Owner George Steinbrenner didn’t take him to dinner, didn’t even make a single wooing telephone call, a puzzling approach given how important the left-hander was to the team.

“There is no doubt, part of me is broken,” Pettitte said. “I’m a Yankee. That’s all I know is Yankees.”

Just four players -- Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada -- remain from the flashy corps that helped the Yankees win four World Series rings from 1996 to 2000.

“I feel like we kind of started this run together,” Pettitte said. “They were a big factor in this for me. That’s who I was going to battle with the last nine years.”

Even so, Pettitte decided to leave, putting aside his close relationship with manager Joe Torre and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre to be closer to his home in suburban Houston. Pettitte took $7.5 million less to sign with the Astros -- the Yankees’ last offer was for $39 million over three years, only two-thirds of it guaranteed.

Mike Mussina, Pettitte’s teammate for the past three seasons, said the departure was tough to accept.

“He was one of the original players that put the Yankees in the position they’re in,” Mussina said from his home in Pennsylvania. “He came up through the system with Posada and Jeter and Rivera, and was instrumental in getting this team to the level they’re at. He just provided a stability you like to see in a rotation and a team. Now that’s not going to be there anymore.”

Jason Giambi thought back to Pettitte’s contributions on the field last season.

“He was our big-game pitcher,” he said in California.

When Steinbrenner was in charge of nearly all baseball decisions in the 1980s and early 1990s, he squandered millions of dollars on lesser lights such as Pascual Perez, Danny Tartabull and Ed Whitson. Steinbrenner often has called his decision to let Reggie Jackson sign with the Angels after the 1981 season his biggest mistake.

If the Yankees are overtaken by Boston next season, he may look back at his lackadaisical pursuit of Pettitte as a bigger blunder. Steinbrenner doesn’t think that will happen.

“We know the fans may be disappointed, but if you’re counting us out next year, don’t bet the house,” Steinbrenner said in a statement.

Later, at the team’s minor league complex in Tampa, Fla., he said the loss of Pettitte was inevitable.

“It’s obvious to a lot of us from the start that he wanted to go home,” Steinbrenner said. “He wanted to go home to Houston. And I admire him for wanting to be with his family. He couldn’t do that in New York.”

When New York courted Mussina after the 2000 season “it seemed like every guy on the team called” him, recalled his agent, Arn Tellem.

Pettitte said he hadn’t spoken with Torre and the only teammate he talked to was Jeter. Pettitte, according to some people close to him, felt neglected.

“The team that is trying to attract you treats you differently than the team you play for,” Mussina said. “That certainly was my one-time experience.”

It took the Yankees until the 11th inning of Game 7 of the American League championship series to finish off the Red Sox, before losing the Series to the Florida Marlins.

Since then, New York has been weakened by the retirement of Roger Clemens and the departure of Pettitte, who combined for 38 of the Yankees’ 101 wins.

While Boston heads into next season with Schilling, Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe in its rotation, the Yankees face their most uncertain season since 1996, with their top three starters Mussina, Jose Contreras and Brown.

New York did add pitcher Javier Vazquez, who has talent but has never pitched in postseason pressure. The Yankees also are on the verge of acquiring the surly Brown and signing moody outfielder Gary Sheffield.

It appears that from his office in Tampa, Steinbrenner has gone back to his old habit of treating players like baseball cards, flipping them at whim.

Pettitte sounded sad about the way things turned out.

“It seems like a dream right now and not true,” he said.

Come next October, it may turn into Steinbrenner’s nightmare.

“We’ll still be tough,” he said. “We’re going to be tough.”