Carl Pavano

Born in New Britain, Connecticut, Pavano graduated from Southington High School in Southington, Connecticut, the alma mater of former major league pitcher Rob Dibble. Pavano's retired jersey (14) still hangs (unretired as of 2011). At Southington, Pavano led the baseball team to a state championship in 1994. Pavano initially committed to play college baseball at Louisiana State.

Pavano was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 13th round of the 1994 amateur draft. In 1996, with the A level Michigan Battle Cats, he was 6–6 with a 3.44 ERA in 22 starts. This earned him a number of honors including Baseball America first team Minor League All-Star, Double-A All-Star, Eastern League All-Star & Pitcher of the Year and Red Sox minor league player of the year. In 1997, with the AA Trenton Thunder, he was 16–5 with a 2.63 ERA in 26 starts and was selected as a Triple-A All-Star.

In November 1997, he was sent to Montreal, along with pitcher Tony Armas, Jr., in a trade that brought Pedro Martínez to Boston. Pavano made his Major League debut on May 23, 1998 by starting and pitching seven strong innings against the Philadelphia Phillies. He allowed one run and struck out six while allowing no walks. He recorded his first win on June 2, 1998 when he pitched 7.1 innings, also against the Phillies. Pavano is well known for giving up Mark McGwire's 70th home run in the 1998 season. He pitched four and one-half seasons for the Expos, making 78 starts and had a record of 24–35 and an ERA of 4.83.

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.

Pavano followed up his playoff exploits with his best season to date in 2004, posting an 18–8 record and a 3.00 ERA.

Pavano became a free agent following the season and, despite receiving bigger offers from Boston, Detroit, and Cincinnati, chose to accept a four-year contract worth $39.95 million with the New York Yankees on December 20, 2004.

During his final season with the Yankees, following the spate of injuries that landed him repeatedly on the disabled list, Pavano came to be referred to derisively by the New York media as "American Idle." During his time with the Yankees, he pitched a combined 26 MLB games over four seasons, compared to 31 with the Marlins in 2004.

Pavano began the 2005 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, Pavano broke two ribs in an automobile accident after he hit another vehicle with his Porsche in West Palm Beach, Florida. Also involved in the wreck was Gia Allemand, who Pavano was dating at the time. However, he did not tell the Yankees about the incident 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 did not believe he was the only Yankee who felt 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 was going faster than expected and he might be available to pitch at the Major League level by mid-summer 2008.

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.

On January 6, 2009, Pavano signed a one-year deal with the Cleveland Indians worth $1.5 million with a possible $5.3 million in incentives.

On August 7, 2009, Pavano was traded to the Minnesota Twins, for whom he started the crucial third game against the Yankees in the 2009 American League Division Series (ALDS).

For 2010, Pavano was named the Twins' Pitcher of the Year, receiving the Joseph W. Haynes Award.

On January 19, 2011, Pavano agreed to a 2-year contract with the Twins. He was paid $8 million in 2011 and $8.5 million in 2012, along with up to $500,000 in incentives.

On May 1, 2011, after performing poorly against the Kansas City Royals, Pavano took a bat to a trashcan in the Minnesota Twins dugout after being removed in the sixth inning of a 10-3 loss. Pavano responded by saying "That's as frustrated as I can get. It actually felt pretty good. I just kept whaling away with it. The (bat) wouldn't break. I couldn't break a bat in the dugout and I couldn't break any out there (on the mound). It was embarrassing." Pavano's stats as of his May 8 start were 2–4 and an ERA of 6.64, the highest of any Twins pitcher at this point in the season. However, on May 13, 2011, Pavano threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings against the Blue Jays but got the no decision in the Twins 2–0 loss. His pitching continued to improve through late May and early June. Pavano recorded his 100th win in a complete game 2-run performance on June 3 against Kansas City, and he pitched another complete game win 12 days later against the White Sox. Pavano continued the season with mixed success. He finished with a 9–13 record and a 4.30 ERA, closing out the Twins' season with a shutout of Kansas City Royals. Of the five starting pitchers for the Twins in 2011, Pavano was the only one who remained in the rotation for the entire season. Francisco Liriano, Brian Duensing, Nick Blackburn, and Scott Baker all missed starts due to injuries.

Pavano was again the opening day starter for the Twins in 2012.

He announced his retirement from baseball on February 26, 2014.

Pavano served as an analyst for Fox Sports Florida for Miami Marlins pre- and postgame shows starting with the 2014 season. He was dropped in 2017.

Rangers Notes: Pavano, Beltre, Young

A few Rangers-related tidbits.. The Rangers aren't a player for Carl Pavano, sources tell Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports …