Twenty years and seven days since Andy Pettitte's lone career home run, his son matched him in that category in his very first game in affiliated ball.
Drafted in the eighth round in July by the organization his dad won five World Series rings with, Luke Pettitte went deep during Single-A Tampa's 12-11 loss to Daytona on Tuesday at George M. Steinbrenner Field. The Yankees prospect was 2-for-3 with two walks, two RBIs and two runs scored.
Pettitte's parents and fiancé Brooklyn made the trip to Tampa for his debut. He ate brunch with them in the morning before arriving at the team's clubhouse, which kept his mind at ease through the day's excitement.
"I was headed to the the field and the nerves really set in," Pettitte said. "I was like, 'Wow, this is actually happening. This is a pretty awesome moment.' Once I got to the clubhouse, I got to meet a bunch of the guys. All the guys were super, super welcoming. I knew some of the guys from the complex and my Draft class as well. But getting to meet a bunch of new guys was really good for me to help me settle in."
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The 21-year-old got over his nerves fairly quickly, notching his first hit in the opening frame on an RBI single to right off righty Aaron Watson (CIN No. 6).
"The first two pitches were cookies," Pettitte laughed. "I probably should have hit the first two because those are really good pitches to hit. ... I saw the big gap there on the right side. I was just telling myself like, 'Hit the heater the other way and really let it fly with the breaking ball if I see it up.' He threw me a heater in. It jammed me a little bit, and it actually helped me shoot it the other way."
The Dallas Baptist product got ahead in the count, 2-1, against lefty Dominic Scheffler (Reds) in the fifth. The right-handed-hitting designated hitter then squared up an 89.3 mph fastball on the inner half, sending his first homer 400 feet to left-center with 109.8 mph exit velocity.
"I came into the dugout, and (Zak) Wasserman, the manager, he was like, 'We don't round up here, but it was 109.8,'" Pettitte said. "I love hitting in stadiums like this because I feel like the ball just echoes so much off the bat, and it was pretty loud.
"But I hit it so low I thought it was going to either hold up and the kid was going to catch it, or it was just going to hit off the wall. So I really wasn't watching the ball. I was just trying to get to second, and I heard everyone screaming, so I was like, 'Well, hopefully it was a homer.' And I looked up, and nobody had the ball, so that was really, really cool."
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The older Pettitte connected on his lone pro homer with the Astros on Aug. 11, 2006, when his son -- who wore the No. 21 that his father wore with Houston in his debut -- was just a year old. The former southpaw spent 15 of his 18 big league seasons with New York, even making five rehab appearances for the Tarpons in his career.
"It was just a pretty surreal moment," Luke said. "Obviously, I get to wear the pinstripes. It's not the Yankee uniform yet, but getting to try and follow in my dad's footsteps and take in what tonight was all about. Having them there, and making the most of every opportunity and every moment that I had, that was really special."
Pettitte, who signed with New York as a two-way player, has brief memories of the 2009 season, the Yankees' most-recent World Series title. He remembered his father's first retirement in 2011 before returning for two final seasons and making his last big league start in Houston, where the Pettitte family calls home.
"Part of me wishes I was a little bit older, just to take advantage of it," Luke said. "In my mind, I was so young, so I thought it was pretty normal. But being around the game so much and being able to grow up in the game and around all the big leaguers, it helped in a way, especially with the mindset of things on the baseball side."