The ballpark was colder than Pettitte had been accustomed to, perhaps, but the painted blue line still led to the Yankees' clubhouse; the photo on the scoreboard, an image of the left-hander donning his old "NY" cap, seemed just right.

"I definitely missed it," Pettitte said on Thursday, as he was officially reintroduced as a Yankee. "It's just a special place to play and to pitch. Now just thinking about it, this is where it all started for me.

"I feel like I've said it a thousand times -- it's extremely special. I'm hoping that we can have a whole lot of special memories in the future here."

Trying on a pinstriped jersey in the Stadium Club, Pettitte quipped, "It fits," before asking, "Is it [No.] 46?"

It was, of course. But as recently as three months ago, the 34-year-old Pettitte believed that New York -- where he recorded 148 of his 186 career victories, earned selection as a two-time All-Star and celebrated four World Series championships -- would continue to be his past, not his present and future.

"I got so comfortable down in Houston," Pettitte said. "Everyone was there -- all my family, all of my friends. I've become a little bit more of a cowboy at heart and was able to do some of the stuff outdoors that I like to do, and do it in the course of a baseball season. It was just an ideal situation."

Any pining Pettitte once felt for New York had faded, just as quickly as his desire to check up on Derek Jeter's batting average or Mariano Rivera's ERA. The Pettittes sold their home in Westchester, N.Y., and were enjoying life as fully-fledged Texans, with Andy moonlighting as an amateur rancher away from the ballpark.

"I was just so locked into my way of life down there and the things that I had going on," Pettitte said. "It's almost like, 'Why would you leave?'"

The answer arrived when Pettitte reunited with his 1996 teammates at Joe Torre's charity dinner in November.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman speculates that the emotions and memories of playing in New York started to tug at Pettitte around that evening, surrounded by numerous trusted voices that urged him to consider coming back.

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In the weeks to come, it was the team's turn to sell that nostalgic viewpoint; three years after it seemed the Yankees were lagging behind in any efforts to re-sign their homegrown southpaw, the Yankees' pursuit of Pettitte was now deadly serious.

"They really wanted me," Pettitte said. "They're trying to do something here and wanted me to be a big part of it."

But Pettitte said that without his wife's support, a New York return could not have appeared on the table. Pettitte even went so far as to assume that his next turn wearing pinstripes might come at an Old Timer's Day event -- "If they invited me," he smiled.

His left elbow, while surgically repaired and now productive to the tune of a 14-13 record, a 4.20 ERA and 214 1/3 innings pitched in 2006, was likely to remain a question mark for the rest of his career. He had contemplated just two options for 2007: return to the Astros or retire.

One option appeared to leave when Pettitte cranked up his pitching arm in offseason workouts, discovering that he had enough to shelve thoughts of staying home.

And when his family came around, with his wife Laura offering to uproot the children and move back to the New York area, it was official -- the Yankees were in play.

Pettitte's deal with the Yankees eventually worked out to a one-year contract for $16 million, with a player option for the 2008 season. Pettitte said that the arrangement, which was officially announced on Dec. 21, gives him the flexibility he desires for his future.

In fact, Pettitte said that if the one-year contract setup works out as he hopes it will, he might just continue to seek one-year deals for the rest of his career -- much the same way Paul O'Neill did in his final seasons.

"I know me, and I didn't want somebody to have that kind of money on the table and feel like I had to kill myself to commit to it," Pettitte said. "I just figured, if I can have an option, and if I felt like mentally and physically I could do what I needed to do for another year, it [would be] perfect and I didn't have to worry about being a free agent."

Pettitte said that he finds his situation curious in that he will become one of the trusted veteran arms to guide young pitchers. It wasn't so long ago that Pettitte was one of the pupils in those classes, and now he will be one of the instructors for players like young right-hander Philip Hughes.

"We definitely utilize players like Andy, who have come through our system and come to New York and played in big games," Cashman said. "... We will make sure we use that opportunity."

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.