LAKELAND, Fla. — A defiant Andy Pettitte stood in front of his locker yesterday in the visiting clubhouse at Joker Marchant Stadium and said those counting the injury-riddled Yankees out in 2013 are in for one rude awakening.
The joke is on them.
Pettitte said he fully expects the Yankees to be in the World Series.
“I feel good about this team. I know we’re banged up a little, but I feel good,’’ Pettitte began. “I think we’re going to …’’
Pettitte didn’t finish the thought, but then added, “We’ll see what happens, it will make us a little bit tougher, it will make us better ballplayers. Out there you got to grind through this. We’ll see what happens.’’
It was brought to Pettitte’s attention that it sounded like he was going to say, “The Yankees are going to surprise some people.’’
He does not like that word.
“We’re the division champs,’’ Pettitte said defiantly. “You will never hear me say that. I expect us to win the division and until somebody knocks us off, we’re the champs of that division. We came four games away from going to the World Series last year. That’s a pretty good year. We got a lot of pieces coming back and hopefully we can do what we want to do and that’s get to the World Series.’’
Pettitte said this was not just his thought, but the overriding feeling inside the Yankees clubhouse.
“In this clubhouse we all know that,’’ Pettitte said after pitching a strong 6 1/3 innings, allowing eight hits and four runs, in the 10-6 loss to the muscular Tigers, a team that swept them away in the ALCS and looks even stronger with the return of Victor Martinez and the addition of Torii Hunter.
“I just expect to win,’’ Pettitte added. “It really doesn’t matter. I just expect to win. We’ve had a lot of success around here for a long, long time and we don’t expect it to stop. I think everybody is on board with me.’’
Manager Joe Girardi said the Yankees are not sitting around playing the woe-is- me game.
As for Pettitte’s contention the Yankees fully expect to get to the World Series, despite a season that is shaping up to look like a disaster. Girardi is on board.
“I believe our guys really believe that, I do too,” he said. “That’s what we expect to do, we know it’s a long year, it’s a long journey and you are going to go through things, but we expect to do it.’’
Despite all of the injuries, the most encouraging news for the aged Yankees is this: The Big Three of CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda and Pettitte are throwing the ball well this spring. Imagine if any of those arms went down. The Yankees would be over the cliff.
“Everybody is important, but it’s important we all stay healthy,’’ Pettitte said of the rotation. “It’s going to be really important, but I love our depth. I love the depth we have in the rotation. I think we’re going to be all right.
“It almost feels like I was never retired, you forget about it so fast,’’ said Pettitte, 40, who is way ahead of last year’s pace when he returned from retirement.
Pettitte surrendered three runs in the fifth on a day the wind was blowing straight out.
Pettitte’s strength is that he always believes in Pinstripes. But here’s the funny thing, over in the other clubhouse, the Tigers’ Hunter told The Post he believes the Yankees will be stronger than anyone believes.
“As long as I’ve been around, a guy who has seen everything, ’’ Hunter said, “the Yankees seem to prevail. With all the scrutiny, with all the injuries, anything that is going on, that organization prevails. No matter what, they find a way to get it done.’’
This is the Yankees’ biggest challenge in many, many years though, and the playoffs and World Series just seem too far away this time around.
No joke.