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Carl Pavano
Cleveland Indians – No. 44
Starting pitcher
Bats: RightThrows: Right
debut
May 23, 1998, for the Montreal Expos
Career statistics (through 2008 season)
Win-Loss	66-66
Earned run average	4.32
Strikeouts	692
Stats at Baseball Reference
Teams
Montreal Expos (1998-2002) Florida Marlins (2002-2004) New York Yankees (2005, 2007-2008) Cleveland Indians (2009-present)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion (2003)

Carl Anthony Pavano (born January 8, 1976 in New Britain, Connecticut) is a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Cleveland Indians. Pavano is known for being injury-prone, spending the majority of the 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 seasons on the disabled list.

Early career

Pavano was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 13th round of the 1994 amateur draft. He came out of Southington High School located in Southington, CT. In November 1997, he was sent to Montreal, along with pitcher Tony Armas, Jr., in the trade that brought Pedro Martínez to Boston. Pavano debuted with the Expos in 1998 and was traded to the Florida Marlins in the middle of the 2002 season in a trade that included Cliff Floyd. Pavano gave up Mark McGwire's 70th home run in the 1998 season.

World Series performance

Despite having been plagued by injuries, Pavano became an important part of Florida's starting rotation and had a highly successful postseason in 2003 for the World Series-Champion Marlins. He started Game 4 of the Series against the Yankees, holding New York to one run over eight innings in a game the Marlins would go on to win, 4-3, in extra innings.

In a nine year career with Montreal, Florida, and the New York Yankees, Pavano compiled a 62-64 record with 677 strikeouts and a 4.27 ERA in 1049 innings. At the plate, he was a .139 hitter with two home runs and 14 RBI in 166 games.

New York Yankees (2005-2008)

Pavano followed up his playoff exploits with his best season to date in 2004, posting an 18-8 record and a 3.00 ERA. He became a free agent following the season and, despite receiving bigger offers from Boston and Cincinnati, chose to accept a four-year contract worth $39.95 million with the New York Yankees on December 20, 2004.

In 2005, Pavano began the season with quality starts in seven of his first 10 appearances, compiling a 4-2 record and a 3.69 ERA. However, in June of that year, he injured his right shoulder and went on the disabled list. Pavano made 17 starts and finished 4-6 with a 4.77 ERA. The Yankees expected him to be healthy for the 2006 season, but Pavano began the season on the disabled list after bruising his buttocks in a spring training game. He did not pitch at all in the Majors in 2006, making only minor league rehab starts. On August 15, 2006, he broke two ribs in an automobile accident. However, he did not tell the Yankees until August 28, the day they informed him that they planned for him to come off the disabled list to play that Thursday.

In spring training in 2007, Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina said that Pavano needed to prove that he wanted to pitch for the team. Mussina said he does not believe he is the only Yankee who feels this way. "It didn't look good from a player's and teammate's standpoint," Mussina said of Pavano's injuries. "Was everything just coincidence? Over and over again? I don't know." Manager Joe Torre explained that the amount of work Pavano needed to do in repairing his clubhouse image was "sizable." Later that season, after ace Chien-Ming Wang injured his right hamstring late in spring training, the Yankees chose Pavano to start on Opening Day against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Yankee Stadium. On April 15, 2007, Pavano was placed on the 15-day DL with what was described as an "elbow strain". On May 23, 2007, it was reported that Pavano would opt for Tommy John surgery in his elbow.

In December 2007, the Yankee organization asked Pavano to accept a minor league contract to clear space on their 40-man roster, Pavano's agent, Tom O'Connell, stated that he would consider the request, but he later turned it down. O'Connell also stated that Pavano's rehabilitation is going faster than expected and he might be available to pitch at the Major League level by mid-summer 2008. By refusing the minor league contract and remaining on the roster the entire season, Pavano guaranteed himself a share of the Yankees' post-season bonus money, which would have been worth up to $300,000 had the Yankees won the World Series.

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

Pavano made his first start of the 2008 season during the Yankees series against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday August 23, 2008, pitching 5 innings, giving up 3 earned runs on 7 hits, 1 walk and 5 strikeouts in the Yankees 5-3 win. He made his second start of the season against the Toronto Blue Jays on August 29 and was victorious pitching 6 innings in the Yankees 2-1 win.

Since his first stint on the disabled list, Pavano did not endear himself to his Yankee teammates and has stated that he will not visit the team when they play in Tampa Bay, near where the pitcher is rehabilitating. Meanwhile, Pavano's agent Tom O'Connell – the fourth agent the right-hander has gone through in his career – believes that Pavano would still be a desired commodity on the free-agent market this winter, even with his injury history. "Carl's a 1-2 starter. Those guys don't grow on trees. Those guys are very rare, 200-inning guys are very rare in this game, and they're the ones that make the money. And he did it two years in a row, before he got hurt, and I'm sure he's going to do it again," O'Connell said.

During a game Pavano started on September 14, he allowed three earned runs and five hits before he left the mound in the sixth inning following a visit by the trainer and manager Joe Girardi. Pavano was pitching to Eric Hinske with one out and a runner on first when he got the mound visit. After a short discussion, Pavano walked off the field as the sellout crowd showered him with boos. It was reported as a "left hip injury."

Cleveland Indians (2009-present)

On January 6, 2009, Pavano signed a one year deal with the Cleveland Indians.

References

1. B.B. Branton (2007-07-02). "Milestone Major League Home Runs – Those Who Hit Them And The Pitchers Who Served Them Up". Chattanoogan.com. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
2. Bryan Hoch (2007-03-09). "Pavano excused from Friday's start: Team announces right-hander left camp for personal reasons". New York Yankees Home Page. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
3. "Pavano tells agent he wants to be a Yankee". CBS. 2004-12-11. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
4. "Extent of Pavano's injury unknown". MLB.COM. 2006-08-30. Retrieved 2007-05-06. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help); Unknown parameter |Last= ignored (|last= suggested) (help)
5. "Pavano's desire questioned by Mussina". MLB.COM. 2006-08-30. Retrieved 2008-08-03. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help); Unknown parameter |Last= ignored (|last= suggested) (help)
6. "Yanks ask Pavano to go on minor league roster". Associated Press via ESPN. 2007-12-11. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
7. Bill Davis (2008-07-30). "Pavano and Hughes on Road to Recovery". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-07-30.
8. "Savior? Pavano Could Pitch For Yanks Saturday". WCBS-TV. 2008-08-18. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
9. Dave Skretta (2008-08-30). "Yankees get money's worth from Pavano". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2008-08-30.
10. "Pavano can't rehab his image". Newark Star Ledger. 2008-04-16. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
11. Mark Hale (2008-09-15). "PAVANO TOO HIP TO FINISH SIXTH". New York Post. Retrieved 2008-09-26.
12. Indians, Pavano reach one-year deal

External links

• Career statistics from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs

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