Carl Pavano

At 48 years old, Carl Pavano has this physical status:

Carl Anthony Pavano (born January 8, 1976) is an American former professional baseball player.

A right-handed pitcher, Pavano played in Major League Baseball from 1998 to 2012 for the Montreal Expos, Florida Marlins, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, and Minnesota Twins.

He was a member of the 2003 World Series champions and appeared in the 2004 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

He signed with the Yankees in 2005, where he became known for his frequent injuries during his four years with the team.

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Amateur career

Pavano, a native of New Britain, Connecticut, graduated from Southington High School in Southington, Connecticut, the alma mater for former major league pitcher Rob Dibble. Pavano's old jersey (14) is still exists (unretired as of 2011). Pavano, a baseball player from Southington, coached the baseball team to a state championship in 1994. Pavano signed up to play college baseball at Louisiana State University.

Professional career

Pavano was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 13th round (355th overall) of the 1994 amateur draft. He was 6–6 with a 3.44 ERA in 22 starts in 1996, with the Michigan Battle Cats at A level. He has received several awards, including Best-Star in Minor Leagues, Double-A All-Star, Eastern League All-Star, and Red Sox minor league player of the year, among others. He was 16–5 with a 2.63 ERA in 26 starts in 1997 and was named a Triple-A All-Star.

Pedro Martnez was sent from Montreal, along with pitcher Tony Armas Jr., in a deal that brought Pedro Martez to Boston in November 1997. Pavano made his Major League debut against the Philadelphia Phillies on May 23, 1998 by starting and pitching seven solid innings. Though encouraging no walks, he allowed one run and struck out six people. He pitched 7.1 innings against the Phillies on June 2, 1998, his first victory. Pavano is best known for missing Mark McGwire's 70th home run in 1998. He played four and a half seasons for the Expos, scoring 78 starts and a record of 24–35 with a ERA of 4.83.

Pavano was traded to the Florida Marlins in the middle of the 2002 season (with Graeme Lloyd, Mike Mordecai, and Justin Wayne) for Cliff Floyd, Wilton Guerrero, and Claudio Vargas.

Despite being plagued by injuries, Pavano became a key part of Florida's starting rotation and had a fruitful postseason in 2003 for the World Series champion Marlins. He started Game 4 of the Series against the Yankees, limiting New York to one run over eight wickets in a game the Marlins would win by 4–3.

Pavano completed his playoff debuts in 2004, a record of 18–8 wins and a 3.00 ERA.

Following the season, Pavano became a free agent, and despite receiving larger calls from Boston, Detroit, and Cincinnati, he decided against a four-year deal with the New York Yankees worth $39.95 million on December 20, 2004.

Pavano's 2005 debut in seven of his first ten appearances, resulting in a 4–2 record and a 3.69 ERA. However, he suffered his right shoulder in June and went on the disabled list in June. Pavano made 17 starts and finished 4–6 with a 4.77 ERA. Pavano had hoped to be healthy for the 2006 season, but he started the season on the disabled list after bruising his buttocks in a spring training game. In 2006, he did not pitch in the Majors at all, and he was only involved in minor league rehab in the minor leagues. Pavano broke two ribs in a car accident after hitting another vehicle with his Porsche in West Palm Beach, Florida, on August 15, 2006. Gia Allemand, his girlfriend at the time, was with him in the car. Nonetheless, he did not tell the Yankees until August 28, the day they told him that they didn't want him to be on the disabled list in order to play on Thursday.

Pavano had to prove that he wanted to pitch for the team in spring training, according to Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina. Mussina said he did not believe he was the only Yankee to feel this way. Mussina said of Pavano's injury, "it didn't look good from a player's and teammate's perspective."

"Was everything just coincidence?

Over and over again?

I'm not sure." Pavano's amount of work in rebuilding his clubhouse image was "sizable," according to manager Joe Torre. The Yankees selected Pavano to open with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays later this season, after ace Chien-Ming Wangstrained his right hamstring late in spring training. Pavano was put on the 15-day DL with what was described as a "elbow strain." Pavano would opt for Tommy John surgery in his elbow on May 23, 2007.

Pavano's request in December 2007 was asked by the Yankee organization to commit a minor league player to clear a roster spot for a 40-man roster. Tom O'Connell, Pavano's agent, said he would accept the offer but later decided against it. Pavano's recovery was going quicker than expected, and he may be ready to pitch at the Major League level by mid-summer 2008.

Pavano made his first recovery start for the Charleston RiverDogs after his Tommy John surgery on July 29, 2008, allowing one hit and one walk in two scoreless innings.

Pavano pitched five innings against the Baltimore Orioles on August 23, 2008, giving up three earned runs on seven hits, one walk, and five strikeouts in the Yankees 5-3 victory. In the Yankees' 2–1 victory, he made his second start of the season against the Toronto Blue Jays on August 29 and was victorious, pitching six strong innings.

Pavano did not endear himself to his Yankee teammates, and he said he would not visit the team while they were in Tampa Bay, near where he was recuperating. In addition, Pavano's manager, Tom O'Connell, the fourth agent to go through in his career, believes that Pavano will still be a hot commodity on the free agent market this winter, despite his injury history. "Carl is a 1–2 starter." Those guys don't grow on trees. These guys are very unusual, 200-inning guys in this game, and they are the ones that make the money. "I did it two years in a row before being injured," O'Connell said.

During a game that began on September 14, Pavano allowed three earned runs and five hits before abandoning the mound in the sixth inning following the trainer and manager Joe Girardi's visit. When he first arrived, Pavano was pitching to Eric Hinske with one out and a runner on first. Pavano walked off the field after a brief discussion as the sellout crowd booed him with boos. It was classified as a "left hip fracture."

Pavano was "American Idle" after he sustained injuries with the Yankees. He played a total of 26 MLB games over four seasons, compared to 31 with the Marlins in 2004.

Pavano's one-year contract with the Cleveland Indians worth $1.5 million plus a potential $5.3 million in incentives was signed on January 6, 2009.

Pavano was traded to the Minnesota Twins on August 7, 2009, for whom he played in the vital third game against the Yankees in the 2009 American League Division Series (ALDS).

Pavano applied for free service after the season, but the Twins later accepted the Twins' offer of salary arbitration. He had his best season since 2004. Pavano earned a record of 11–2 during the period from May 29 to August 13, with one of them being a shutout twice. He went 17-11-11 for a season of 3.75 (including a threw of 221 innings) and helped the Twins win the Central Division championship (which he also threw 221 innings). However, 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 close the season.

Pavano was named the Twins' Pitcher of the Year in 2010, as well as the Joseph W. Haynes Award.

Pavano agreed to a two-year, $16.5 million contract with the Twins on January 19, 2011. In 2011, he was paid $8 million in 2011 and $8.5 million in 2012, as well as up to $500,000 in incentives.

Pavano was the Twins' starter on Opening Day in a 13-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on April 1, 2011. He gave up seven earned runs over 4+ innings.

Pavano converted a batter to a trashcan in the Minnesota Twins dugout on May 1, 2011, after being knocked out in the sixth innings of a 10-3 loss. "I'm as ill as I can get." Pavano replied, "That's as ill as I can get." It actually felt really good. I just kept whaling away with it. The (bat) will not break. I couldn't break a bat in the dugout, and there wasn't anything out there (on the mound). It was egregious." Pavano's stats as of his May 8 start were 2–4 with an ERA of 6.64, the highest of any Twins pitcher at this time. Pavano put 5+1/3 scoreless innings against the Blue Jays on May 13, 2011 but the Twins lost by a no decision. His pitching began to improve in late May and early June. Pavano won in a complete game two-run victory over Kansas City on June 3rd, and he pitched another complete game victory against the White Sox 12 days later. Pavano continued to have mixed success throughout the season. He had a 9-13 record and a 4.30 ERA, his first season with the Twins, which culminated in a shutout of the Kansas City Royals. Pavano was the only one of the Twins' starting pitchers in 2011, and he was the only one who stayed in the rotation for the entire season. Due to injuries, Francisco Liriano, Brian Duensing, Nick Blackburn, and Scott Baker were all unable to get off to work.

In 2012, Pavano was the Twins' opening day starter. In seven innings against the Baltimore Orioles, he was disqualified after allowing four runs on five hits in seven innings.

On February 26, 2014, he announced his retirement from baseball.

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