| Carl Pavano | |
|---|---|
 Pavano with the Minnesota Twins in 2010 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born: (1976-01-08)January 8, 1976 (age 49) New Britain, Connecticut, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| May 23, 1998, for the Montreal Expos | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| June 1, 2012, for the Minnesota Twins | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 108–107 |
| Earned run average | 4.39 |
| Strikeouts | 1,091 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Carl Anthony Pavano (born January 8, 1976) is an American former professionalbaseball player. Aright-handedpitcher, Pavano played inMajor League Baseball from 1998 to 2012 for theMontreal Expos,Florida Marlins,New York Yankees,Cleveland Indians, andMinnesota Twins. He was a member of the2003 World Series champion Marlins and appeared in the2004 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. He signed with the Yankees in 2005, with whom he became known for frequent injuries during his four-year stint with the team.
Born inNew Britain, Connecticut, Pavano graduated fromSouthington High School inSouthington,Connecticut, the alma mater of former major league pitcherRob Dibble. Pavano's retired jersey (number 14) still hangs (unretired as of 2011). At Southington, Pavano led the baseball team to a state championship in 1994.[1] Pavano initially committed to playcollege baseball atLouisiana State.[2]
Pavano was selected by theBoston Red Sox in the 13th round (355th overall) of the1994 amateur draft.[3] In 1996, with the A levelMichigan Battle Cats, he was 6–6 with a 3.44 ERA in 22 starts.[4] This earned him a number of honors includingBaseball America first team Minor League All-Star, Double-A All-Star,Eastern League All-Star & Pitcher of the Year and Red Sox minor league player of the year. In 1997, with the AATrenton Thunder, he was 16–5 with a 2.63 ERA in 26 starts and was selected as a Triple-A All-Star.
In November1997, the Red Sox sent Pavano toMontreal, along with pitcherTony Armas Jr., in a trade that broughtPedro Martínez to Boston.[5] Pavano made his Major League debut on May 23, 1998 by starting and pitching seven strong innings against thePhiladelphia Phillies. He allowed one run and struck out six while allowing no walks.[6] He recorded his first win on June 2, 1998 when he pitched 7.1 innings, also against the Phillies.[7] Pavano is well known for giving up Mark McGwire's 70th home run in the 1998 season.[8] He pitched four and one-half seasons for the Expos, making 78 starts and had a record of 24–35 and an ERA of 4.83.
The Expos traded Pavano to theFlorida Marlins in the middle of the2002 season (withGraeme Lloyd,Mike Mordecai andJustin Wayne) forCliff Floyd,Wilton Guerrero, andClaudio Vargas.[9]
Despite being plagued by injuries, Pavano became an important part of Florida's starting rotation and had a highly successful postseason in2003 for theWorld Series champion Marlins. He started Game 4 of the Series against the Yankees, holding New York to onerun over eight innings in a game the Marlins would go on to win, 4–3, in extra innings.[10]
Pavano followed up his playoff exploits with his best season to date in2004, posting an 18–8 record and a 3.00 ERA.
Pavano became afree agent following the season and, despite receiving bigger offers from Boston,Detroit, andCincinnati, chose to accept a four-year contract worth $39.95 million with theNew York Yankees on December 20, 2004.[11][12]
Pavano began the 2005 season with quality starts in seven of his first 10 appearances, compiling a 4–2 record and a 3.69 ERA. However, in June of that year, he injured his right shoulder and went on the disabled list. Pavano made 17 starts and finished 4–6 with a 4.77 ERA. The Yankees expected him to be healthy for the 2006 season, but Pavano began the season on the disabled list after bruising his buttocks in aspring training game. He did not pitch at all in the Majors in 2006, making only minor league rehab starts. On August 15, 2006, Pavano broke tworibs in anautomobile accident after he hit another vehicle with his Porsche inWest Palm Beach,Florida.[13] His girlfriend at the time,Gia Allemand, was with him in the car.[13] However, he did not tell the Yankees about the incident until August 28, the day they informed him that they planned for him to come off the disabled list to play that Thursday.[14]
During spring training in 2007, Yankees pitcherMike Mussina said that Pavano needed to prove that he wanted to pitch for the team, and that he did not believe he was the only Yankee who felt this way. "It didn't look good from a player's and teammate's standpoint," Mussina said of Pavano's injuries. "Was everything just coincidence? Over and over again? I don't know." ManagerJoe Torre explained that the amount of work Pavano needed to do in repairing his clubhouse image was "sizable."[15] Later that season, after aceChien-Ming Wang injured his right hamstring late in spring training, the Yankees chose Pavano to start on Opening Day against theTampa Bay Devil Rays atYankee Stadium.[16] On April 15, 2007, Pavano was placed on the 15-day DL with what was described as an "elbow strain".[17] On May 23, 2007, it was reported that Pavano would opt forTommy John surgery on his elbow.[18]
In December 2007, the Yankees asked Pavano to accept a minor-league contract to clear space on their 40-man roster. Pavano's agent, Tom O'Connell, stated that Pavano would consider the request, but he later turned it down. O'Connell also stated that Pavano's rehabilitation was going faster than expected and he might be available to pitch at the Major League level by mid-summer 2008.[19]
On July 29, 2008, Pavano made his first rehab start since his Tommy John surgery for theCharleston RiverDogs, allowing onehit and onewalk in two scoreless innings.[20]
Pavano made his first start of the2008 season during the Yankees’ series against theBaltimore Orioles on August 23, 2008, pitching five innings, giving up three earned runs on seven hits, one walk and five strikeouts in the 5–3 Yankees win.[21][22] He made his second start of the season against theToronto Blue Jays on August 29 and was victorious, pitching six strong innings in the Yankees' 2–1 win.[23]
Since his first stint on the disabled list, Pavano did not endear himself to his Yankee teammates, and he stated that he would not visit the team when they played in Tampa Bay, near where he was rehabilitating. Meanwhile, Pavano's agent Tom O'Connell believed that Pavano would still be a desired commodity on the free-agent market that winter, even with his injury history. "Carl's a 1–2 starter. Those guys don't grow on trees. Those guys are very rare, 200-inning guys are very rare in this game, and they're the ones that make the money. And he did it two years in a row, before he got hurt, and I'm sure he's going to do it again," O'Connell said.[24]
During a game Pavano started on September 14, he allowed three earned runs and five hits before leaving the mound in the sixth inning following a visit by the trainer and managerJoe Girardi. Pavano was pitching toEric Hinske with one out and a runner on first when he got the mound visit. After a short discussion, Pavano walked off the field as the sellout crowd showered him with boos. It was reported as a "left hip injury."[25]
Due to his repeated injuries with the Yankees, the New York media began derisively referring to Pavano as "American Idle." During his time with the Yankees, he pitched a combined 26 MLB games over four seasons, compared to 31 with the Marlins in 2004.
On January 6, 2009, Pavano signed a one-year deal with theCleveland Indians worth $1.5 million with a possible $5.3 million in incentives.[26]
On August 7, 2009, Pavano was traded to theMinnesota Twins,[27] for whom he lost the clinching third game against the Yankees in the2009 American League Division Series (ALDS).[28]
Following the season, Pavano filed for free agency, but later accepted the Twins' offer through salary arbitration.[29] He ended up having his best season since 2004. During the stretch from May 29 to August 13, Pavano compiled a record of 11–2 with an ERA of 2.79, including twice throwing back-to-back complete games in which one was also a shutout. He went 17–11 with an ERA of 3.75 over the course of the season (in which he also threw 221 innings) and helped the Twins run away with the Central Division title. However, in the playoffs Pavano lost Game 2 of the 2010 ALDS to the Yankees at Target Field 5–2, and the Twins were swept in three games to end the season.
For 2010, Pavano was named the Twins' Pitcher of the Year, receiving the Joseph W. Haynes Award.[30]
On January 19, 2011, Pavano agreed to a two-year, $16.5 million contract with the Twins. He was paid $8 million in 2011 and $8.5 million in 2012, along with up to $500,000 in incentives.[31]
Pavano was the Opening Day starter for the Twins on April 1, 2011, giving up seven earned runs over 4+ innings in a 13–3 loss to theToronto Blue Jays.[32]
On May 1, 2011, after performing poorly against the Kansas City Royals, Pavano took a bat to a trashcan in the Minnesota Twins dugout after being removed in the sixth inning of a 10–3 loss. Pavano responded by saying "That's as frustrated as I can get. It actually felt pretty good. I just kept whaling away with it. The (bat) wouldn't break. I couldn't break a bat in the dugout and I couldn't break any out there (on the mound). It was embarrassing."[33] Pavano's stats as of his May 8 start were 2–4 and an ERA of 6.64, the highest of any Twins pitcher at this point in the season.[34] However, on May 13, 2011, Pavano threw5+1⁄3 scoreless innings against the Blue Jays but got the no decision in the Twins 2–0 loss.[35] His pitching continued to improve through late May and early June. Pavano recorded his 100th win in a complete game two-run performance on June 3 against Kansas City,[36] and he pitched another complete game win 12 days later against the White Sox.[37] Pavano continued the season with mixed success. He finished with a 9–13 record and a 4.30 ERA, closing out the Twins' season with a shutout of Kansas City Royals. Of the five starting pitchers for the Twins in 2011, Pavano was the only one who remained in the rotation for the entire season.Francisco Liriano,Brian Duensing,Nick Blackburn, andScott Baker all missed starts due to injuries.
Pavano was again the opening day starter for the Twins in 2012. He took the loss after allowing four runs on five hits in seven innings pitched against theBaltimore Orioles.[38]
He announced his retirement from baseball on February 26, 2014.[39]
Pavano served as an analyst forFox Sports Florida forMiami Marlins pre- and postgame shows starting with the 2014 season.[40] He was dropped in 2017.[41]
Pavano was asinkerballer. He threw his sinker and less-usedfour-seam fastball in the mid-to-upper 80s. He also had a slider and changeup, the former primarily used against right-handed hitters and the latter primarily against lefties.[42]
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