TAMPA — This is the new reality for Andy Pettitte.
Day 2 of The Comeback was about the legs, not the left arm. That is the challenge facing Pettitte. Even though he breezed through a 50-pitch bullpen session on Tuesday firing on pure adrenaline and he will face hitters in live batting practice tomorrow, the reality of his comeback hit him hard yesterday.
“I came in this morning and wanted to do my normal work,’’ Pettitte told The Post, “but to be honest I couldn’t do it. After the emotions of [Tuesday], the adrenaline, I didn’t feel very good this morning.’’
He felt 39.
“I’ll admit to you, I did,’’ Pettitte said with a smile, saying that now he truly understands why May 1 is the target date to return to the majors. “I have to tell myself, ‘Don’t push it.’ Pitching-wise and my arm, I’m pretty far along, but my legs, I need to get my legs under me good and strong.
“I know I’m impatient, but I have to be smart about this, I want to be healthy,’’ said Pettitte, who strained a groin in mid-July of 2010, his last year pitching in the majors.
Pettitte was in the weight room by 7 a.m. yesterday doing work on his legs, but took it slow because it’s going to take time to build leg strength after not going through a regular training routine.
“I’ve been car-pooling it at that time of the morning,’’ he said of his life up until a few days ago.
“I’m trying not to do too much,’’ said Pettitte, who elected not to run yesterday. He usually runs the day after a bullpen session. He did take pitcher’s fielding practice.
“I’m trying not to kill myself too much in the weight room with the load also of running and covering bases,’’ Pettitte said.
“I didn’t think this was really going to happen,’’ Pettitte said of the comeback. When it did, adjustments were made. “I had to call my Pony League team I was coaching and say, ‘Hey, I’m not head coach anymore. I’m leaving.’ ’’
Vacation plans to Wyoming were canceled as well as a hunting trip to Colorado with one of his sons. Pettitte said his family is completely behind the comeback, but admitted it was tough leaving the house and 11-year-old daughter Lexy.
“She was behind it more than anybody,’’ Pettitte said, “but Monday night when she gave me a hug goodbye, it was like, ‘Oh gosh, the tears were flowing.’ She had me crying. It was tough, but they’re doing great.’’
Pettitte is going to have his family around the clubhouse as much as possible, something manager Joe Girardi encourages.
“My kids never wanted me to retire,’’ Pettitte said. “My kids are at the age where Joe lets them come and hang around the team. They think it’s the greatest thing ever to hang out here with the guys.’’
His son, Josh, a high school junior, is a pitcher at Deer Park High, where Pettitte pitched, so he cannot just pick up and go, but the others will be in New York when possible.
Tomorrow, Pettitte will face hitters in live batting practice, Girardi said. Pettitte’s focus yesterday was on his fielding. This scene on Field 3 at Steinbrenner Field could have been at Yankees Old-Timer’s Day. There was Goose Gossage hitting ground balls to Pettitte with David Wells watching from behind the mound as Ron Guidry played first base. That’s 773 wins, 327 saves and 73 major league seasons of baseball gold.
“Now it’s official,’’ Gossage said of the comeback after Pettitte took some grounders and covered first. “I never thought Andy should have retired in the first place.”
Guidry made jokes about Pettitte throwing the ball too hard to him at first. At the end of the 15-minute session, the four walked off single file back to the clubhouse, a major league lineage that dates back to 1972, Yankees greats past and now present, once again.