Joe Pettini

Joseph Paul Pettini

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 165 lb.
• School Mercer University
• High School Brooke High School
• Debut July 10, 1980
• Final Game October 2, 1983
• Born January 26, 1955 in Wheeling, WV USA

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Biographical Information

Infielder Joe Pettini played for four seasons in the majors, from 1980 to 1983, all of them with the San Francisco Giants. He was never a regular, his busiest season being his first one, when he had 190 at-bats in 63 games after making his debut in July. He got off to a good start with the bat after his call-up, peaking at .291 after a four-hit game against the Chicago Cubs on August 2nd, but soon faded and ended up at .232 with an OPS+ of 62. For his career, he hit .203, with an OBP of .272 and a slugging percentage of .238 in 188 games, so it's fair to say that he was on the roster for his glove and not for his bat. He was in fact a prototypical utility infielder, appearing as a back-up at shortstop, second base and third base.

He was originally signed by the Montreal Expos as an undrafted free agent in 1977, out of Mercer University. He played in their system from 1977 to 1979 and was in the everyday line-up of the AA Memphis Chicks by 1978, even though he did not have a fixed position, hitting .235 in 113 games. In 1979, he hit .294 in 132 games as the everyday shortstop of the Denver Bears of the American Association. He was added to the Expos' 40-man roster after the season, but during spring training in 1980, he was traded to the Giants to complete a trade that had taken place the previous season, in which Montreal had acquired third-string catcher John Tamargo from San Francisco. He started that season back in AAA with the Phoenix Giants of the Pacific Coast League, where he hit .282 in 85 games before his mid-season call-up. He would return to Phoenix for parts of the 1981 and 1982 seasons also, and hit .325 in 80 games in 1982. He moved to the St. Louis Cardinals organization during the 1984 season and played for their AAA affiliate, the Louisville Redbirds, until 1986, but did not make it back to the majors.

After his playing career ended, Pettini was a coach for the Redbirds in 1987 and 1988. Then he was a manager in the Cardinals farm system for eight seasons. He piloted the 1988 Hamilton Redbirds, 1990 St. Petersburg Cardinals, 1991-1993 Arkansas Travelers and from 1994 to 1996 returned to Louisville, this time as the team's manager. Beginning in 2002, he was a Cardinals coach. In 2011, he took over as interim manager for the Cards for a few games in May while Tony LaRussa was recovering from shingles.

Pettini left the Cardinals' organization when LaRussa retired after winning the 2011 World Series and joined the Houston Astros to serve as bench coach for Brad Mills. Pettini and Mills had played together in the Expos' minor league system. He was considered a candidate to replace Mills when he was fired late in the 2012 season, but the job went to Bo Porter instead and Pettini left the team at the end of the season.

Year-By-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs
1988	Hamilton Redbirds	New York-Penn League	32-44	10th (t)	St. Louis Cardinals
1990	St. Petersburg Cardinals	Florida State League	60-74	10th	St. Louis Cardinals
1991	Arkansas Travelers	Texas League	49-87	8th	St. Louis Cardinals
1992	Arkansas Travelers	Texas League	59-73	8th	St. Louis Cardinals
1993	Arkansas Travelers	Texas League	67-69	5th	St. Louis Cardinals
1994	Louisville Redbirds	American Association	74-68	4th	St. Louis Cardinals	Lost in 1st round
1995	Louisville Redbirds	American Association	74-70	4th	St. Louis Cardinals	League Champs
1996	Louisville Redbirds	American Association	60-84	7th	St. Louis Cardinals