Former Yankees hurler Andy Pettitte is only 46 years old, but on Sunday, he was an Old Timer.
Taking part in his first Old Timer's Day game at Yankee Stadium, Pettitte took in the moment both on the mound and at the plate. He also got to chat with the current Yankees in the dugout and cluhouse in the days leading up to the game. He even threw batting practice to the team on Sunday.
Putting on the pinstripes against gave Pettitte flashbacks, and maybe it is because this year's Yankees squad has put together the best start by a Yankee team since the 1998 team that won the World Series after winning 114 regular-season games. Pettitte was 26 on that team, and now at 46, he thinks this Yankee team has the potential to be great as well.
"Being able to see what they're doing, at least now when I talk to these guys, you can kind of tell them, you got a chance to do something special here," Pettitte told The Post's Howie Kussoy. "The goal every year is to win a championship, [but] you don't want to win just one chammpionship. You almost feel like with this group of players, hopefully you can pull off several of them. That's a lot to start talking about, but hopefully this year it's a step that the organization can take.
"They've got a great mix of veterans and young players, and it's a good situation."
Pettitte knows how special it is to play alongside the same players you get called up with. He is a member of the legendary Core Four that included Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, and Jorge Posada as well.
For players like Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, and Luis Severino, they find themselves in Pettitte's position now. And Pettitte believes that new core is something the Yankees should keep together.
"It reminds me a lot of what we did when we first came up," Pettitte said. "They've got a solid, young core nucleus here, and you would have to imagine they're going to be good for a while.
"They're fun to watch. They have so much talent."
The Yankees have boatloads of talent in their farm system as well. Pettitte met one of those talented young arms in Jonathan Loaisiga, who earned a win in his first career start on Friday. And, though it was nice to meet one of the players that could very well make a solid impact in the Yankees' future, Loaisiga reminded Pettitte just how old he really is.
"You never really look at yourself like [an old time], but Loaisiga walked into the locker room [Friday], and I introduced myself -- I didn't know if he knew me or not -- and he was just staring at me, going 'Andy Pettitte,'" he said. "He said, 'I've watched you since I was an itty bitty.' I said, 'Goodnight, I'm getting old.' "
Since his retirement, Pettitte has been back home in Texas, where he enjoys being a high school pitching coach as well as a coach for his son's team in Houston. Still connected to the game, he doesn't see himself taking any jobs in the MLB anytime soon.
"The time commitment to do something like this at this level would be a life-changer," Pettitte explained. "But also, as a man you want to have something to do. You want to have purpose in your life, you want to affect people and impact people, especially people younger than you. You feel like you've got stuff that you can share with them."
So, don't expect to see Pettitte regularly around a ballpark anytime soon -- expect for when he's called an old-timer next year as he dusts off his pinstripes. In the meantime, he'll be watching the new-generation Yankees that look to achieve the five championship he totaled over his career.