With a Win, the Ending to Pettitte's Illustrious Career Is Complete HOUSTON - They had a secret signal worked out. If Andy Pettitte, 41 years old and aching in almost every joint in his body, could not go any longer, if he needed to be rescued by a reliever, he would go to the rosin bag at the back of the mound. It would be his sign he was ready to leave baseball for good. His manager had told him that the decision on when to come out of the last game of his career was Pettitte's alone. But through the seventh inning and 92 pitches, Pettitte had not gone anywhere near the bag. After eight innings, he had thrown more than 100 pitches, but he still did not touch it. So finally, with two outs in the ninth, a runner on first base and a complete game now tantalizingly close, Manager Joe Girardi walked out of the dugout - accompanied by a round of booing from the fans - and told Pettitte it was still up to him. Pettitte flashed back to all those times that his former manager, Joe Torre, had taken him out after eight innings because Torre had Mariano Rivera, the best closer in baseball, to turn to. By Saturday night, Rivera had already announced he would never play again, so that was not an option. Pettitte told Girardi, "I want to finish." He did, and with a flourish befitting his marvelous career. In his 438th start for the Yankees, which tied him with Whitey Ford for the most by a pitcher with the team, Pettitte matched Rivera's magical moment from Thursday night with magic of his own. He threw his first complete game in seven years, a 116-pitch gem, to beat the Houston Astros, his former team, 2-1, and put a bow on his life as a baseball player. "I couldn't have dreamed of this to make it work out the way it did," he said. For most of the last 90 years, the Yankees have made winning into an art form. They were not able to win enough this year to make the playoffs, but they have shown the world how to say goodbye. On Thursday at Yankee Stadium, Rivera was removed by Pettitte and Derek Jeter and responded by weeping on Pettitte's shoulder. So before Pettitte's final start Saturday, in front of his hometown fans, there was some debate about how he would be removed from the game. Would Rivera return the favor? Would Girardi do it? No one did. "Classic Andy," Girardi said. I'm going to find a way to fight through it. It was the last of 521 career starts, but Pettitte looked every bit like the dependable young left-hander he was when he helped the Yankees to the first of his five World Series titles, in 1996. Now with his hair almost as gray as it is black and the years etched in the lines on his face, he summoned the talent and strength of his youth, pitching with a rookie's enthusiasm and a veteran's determination. When he got Jonathan Villar to ground out in the eighth to complete a 1-2-3 inning, he pounded his glove with his left hand and walked stoically off the mound. Between innings throughout the game, he spent time in the tunnel with C. C. Sabathia, who agreed with Girardi that this game had all the feel of a playoff game for the Yankees - the team wanted a win for Pettitte that much. "I was so nervous, my palms were sweating," Sabathia said. He just gutted it out. That's a champion, right there. Pettitte jogged back to the mound as most of the fans in the announced crowd of 37,199 stood and cheered, and then he went about attacking the Astros" hitters. After two quick outs, the fans rose to their feet again, but Chris Carter singled, the last of five hits against Pettitte. Now in the stretch, he gave his signature stare over his glove one last time and induced a ground ball to third base on his 116th pitch. Eduardo Nunez made the play, and Pettitte slapped his hands together, spun around with a huge smile and hugged catcher Chris Stewart. "It's just another day that I'll never forget," Pettitte said. After he hugged each of his teammates, players on both teams came out of the dugouts and applauded as Pettitte waved to the crowd and then to them. He had evened his record to 11-11 and become the only pitcher with at least 15 seasons never to have a losing one, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He improved his career record to 256-153, including 219-127 with the Yankees, and he earned his 275th win, including playoff games. Despite his overwhelming success, Pettitte was not thought of as pitcher with overwhelming tools, and he often had to battle his way through outings. But battle he did. "I played this game as hard as I could," he said. I feel like I milked every ounce of talent out of this body that God gave me. I was never a hard thrower; I never felt that I had great stuff. I wasn't able to strike out a lot of guys. I just felt like I gritted and willed myself through games. That is what he did Saturday, with his family and dozens of friends and relatives on hand to watch, along with an entire stadium that was rooting for him, no matter what uniform he wore. And as with Rivera, there were tears. After the game, as he recounted the events of the day, Pettitte said he started flashing back over his career during his familiar drive to the stadium. He recalled his days in the minor leagues. He remembered Girardi catching him from 1996 to 1999; he remembered five championships, and much more. Then, with his family standing nearby, he was asked about his final moments on the field, waving to the crowd - his Houston neighbors - and to the Astros, who stayed behind and cheered him along with the Yankees. It was more than he could bear, and he broke down. "I felt I wasn't even worthy of that happening to me," he said. But he was. After 18 years in the major leagues, Pettitte, like Rivera, was worthy of deciding his own exit. He never went to the rosin bag.