NEW YORK -- Derek Jeter marveled as he considered the vision of Andy Pettitte, his cap dragged low over his eyes, making that slow walk to the mound once more in Yankees pinstripes.
Pettitte's familiar delivery, demeanor and Texas twang have been reintroduced to the clubhouse universe for some seven weeks now, and as the Grapefruit League ran its course, the seamless nature of Pettitte's readjustment was appreciated.
His presence wasn't a novelty, a gimmick concocted to sell souvenir T-shirts and fill seats. It was a return born out of necessity. Most importantly, it felt right, as though Pettitte wandered out of a time machine and knew nothing different.
"It seems like he never even left," Jeter said. "Once he got here, he fit right in. He knows how everything works. It's hard to believe it's been three years since he's been gone. It wasn't even weird when he was out there in Spring Training. It's just like he picked up from 2003."
On Wednesday, Pettitte's return to the organization's title pursuits will become official, as he throws his first pitches as a Yankee since the 2003 World Series.
Watching the Opening Day festivities unfold as a spectator on Monday, Pettitte was struck by the sameness of it all.
He had walked on the field at Yankee Stadium following a January press conference, a wintry chill whipping the flags atop the ballpark and interrupting a ceremony that was more reunion than introduction, but that wasn't the most accurate measure of the Yankee experience.
With a capacity crowd and the unspoken emphasis upon winning again enveloping the facility, as it did Monday, Pettitte could truly appreciate his return.
"It's hard to explain," Pettitte said. "I feel so comfortable and everything is exactly like it was when I left. There's just something that makes you feel good."
As a homegrown product of the Yankees' system, Pettitte may have abandoned some of his New York habits over a three-year National League stint with the Astros, but he hasn't forgotten how things work up here.
The traffic patterns and pathways from a Westchester neighborhood to Yankee Stadium remain the same. No longer can Pettitte drive home after games and play rancher on the open fields of Texas, but that's a sacrifice that the left-hander was willing to make.
Instead of tending to cattle, Pettitte has headed up the role of herding along some of the Yankees' younger or needy pitchers. When Carl Pavano's Yankee Stadium locker was adjusted to neighbor Pettitte's, it was a calculated realignment, reflecting the hours of advice and tutelage that Pettitte had delivered to the once-beleaguered hurler during Spring Training.
Pavano carried a refreshed outlook into his Opening Day start on Monday, and when Pettitte makes that same walk on Wednesday, he'll do so having joined Mike Mussina and Mariano Rivera as the elder statesmen of the Yankees' staff.
As Joe Torre said, "He's coming back here, basically, as a senior citizen." At 34, Pettitte might be slightly offended by the suggestion of his Social Security years approaching, but the point is valid.
"It's strange to see how your career goes," Pettitte said. "When you get to a certain age, you just switch over to that role of trying to help out, and trying to be a little bit of a pitching coach and mental coach to guys. You want to try to make a difference, and, hopefully, help somebody along the way."
The Yankees take a certain confidence in the fact that Pettitte has traveled these roads before, understanding the World Series projections that are annually levied upon the roster out of camp. Pressure is just a fact of life, something to deal with, tuck away and reanalyze later.
As Jeter said, "There's no situation that he's going to be overwhelmed with."
Though the Yankees haven't reached a Fall Classic since Pettitte's departure, the expectations haven't changed. If anything, the clamor for a 27th World Series title has actually grown.
Recalling the last time he passed through the Bronx, Pettitte said he hadn't had opportunities to stop and soak it all in -- a world of memories were racing past, but Pettitte's vision was tunneled. All that seemed to matter on every fifth day was staring ahead and down into the pocket of Jorge Posada's glove.
If a given start didn't end with a victory, it was a unsuccessful. If the season didn't end with a parade down the Canyon of Heroes, it wasn't enough. Pettitte doesn't exactly relish that part of the business, but he understands it.
As the Devil Rays -- and each lineup to follow -- stride to the plate against Pettitte, his attention will be trained in much the same area. But Pettitte hopes that once in a while, he'll be able to take a step back, walk off the mound and take a few mental snapshots for later appreciation.
"You go so hard for so many years, it kind of wears on you a little bit," Pettitte admits. "You always can't win. You want to win, but you always can't. Somewhere in the mix, you want to try to enjoy it."
As he noted Monday, a brief span of time went by this offseason when Pettitte was ready to hang it up and walk away from the game, his passions sapped somewhat by the elbow injuries that still remain a concern in the darkest corners of the Yankees' minds.
Pettitte's contract offers, at minimum, just one season of service to the Yankees -- a decision agreed upon by Pettitte, so as not to feel as though he'd be letting the Yankees down if he decided not to return next year.
In simplest form, it's one more turn around the league, enough of a taste for Pettitte to decide if he still loves it enough to suit up for another go-round.
"I'm taking it one year at a time," Pettitte said. "I want to try to give this team everything I've got this year, then evaluate everything at the end of the season."
