The Yankees have had two very impactful players who went to small colleges

Most of the time MLB players are either drafted out of high school or drafted out of Division One colleges known for their facilities and baseball programs.

Two of the best and most impactful Yankees in the last 30 years went to lesser known colleges at levels that are not known for producing MLB players. One of those is lefty pitcher Andy Pettitte and the other is Tino Martinez.

Pettitte was drafted by the Yankees out of Deer Park High School (Texas) in the 22nd round of 1990 but then went to San Jacinto Junior College in Texas for one year. This allowed the Yankees to control his rights under the now defunct draft-and-follow rule.

Pettitte’s area scout Joe Robison signed him for $85,000 in May of 1991. He would go onto become a three-time All-Star who won 256 games in addition to winning five World Series with the Yankees. Pettitte spent all but three seasons (2004–2006) of his 18 season career with the Yankees.

Another way that Pettitte’s career stands out is that he had a very successful and long career as a premier lefty after being drafted in the 22nd round. It is rare for a player drafted in the 20th round or lower to have such an impactful baseball career.

Pettite was one of the best lefties of his era, and his stare at the batter with his hat pulled down low made him an intimidating pitcher. He also had one of the premier pick off moves to first base.

The tall 6–5 lefty had a quick ascent through the team’s minor league system. In his first full season and second season overall in the minors he had an impressive 2.20 ERA at Single A Greensboro. In 1993, while pitching mostly at High-A and finishing the year at Double-A Albany, he had a solid 3.06 ERA and then in 1994, he split the season between Albany and Triple-A Columbus and had another impressive ERA of 2.86.

He made his way through the minors much faster than many 22nd round draft picks. However, it is possible that if he would have been drafted out of San Jacinto he would have been selected a number of rounds higher.

Pettitte finished with an ERA of 3.85 in his 18 seasons while pitching through the heart of the steroid era. He also had a 256–153 record (it’s rare that a pitcher is more than 100 games above .500), 26 complete games, a FIP of 3.74, 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings and 2,448 strikeouts. He had an ERA of 4.05 or below in 11 of his 18 seasons.

He was third in Rookie of the Year voting in 1995 when he had a 4.17 ERA in 31 games (26 starts) helping the Yankees make the playoffs for the first time since 1981. Left fielder Garret Anderson and left fielder Marty Cordova finished ahead of him in the voting.

Pettitte was an All-Star in 1996, 2001 and 2010 and finished in the top five of Cy Young voting four times but did not win the award once. The first time was when he had a 3.87 ERA and 21 wins in 1996, the second time was when he had a 2.88 ERA and 18 wins (35 starts in a career high 240.1 innings) in 1997, the third time was when he had a 4.35 ERA and 19 wins in 2001 and the fourth time was when he an excellent 2.39 ERA, (best full season ERA of his career) 17 wins and a 1.030 WHIP in 2005. The 2005 season was his second of three pitching for his hometown Astros.

The Texan was a primetime playoff performer that the Yankees could always depend on to pitch well and lead them to a win when they needed one. He had a 3.81 ERA, which is just below his regular season ERA, across 14 years (32 playoff series). He had a record of 19–11 in the playoffs and was the MVP of the 2001 ALCS when he had a 2.51 ERA in two starts.

HIs 19 wins in the playoffs are four more all time than any other pitcher and his 276.2 innings pitched in the playoffs are also most in MLB history. The 19 wins are due to how well he pitched in the playoffs and also a function of the amount of times that the Yankees were in the playoffs during his career giving him so many more chances.

Pettitte is one of the five true cornerstone players that the Yankees developed through their system that formed the core of their late 1990s and early 2000s dynasty. The others were Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Bernie Williams.

Martinez is the other true impact small school player that the Yankees have had in the last thirty years. He is a Tampa, Florida native who went to the University of Tampa, which is a Division Two school.

The Florida native was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the first round of the 1988 draft after a stellar career at the University of Tampa. He varies from Pettitte since he was drafted in the first round and was not drafted by the Yankees.

Martinez was originally drafted in the third round out of Jefferson High in Tampa but went to college and was drafted 14th overall in 1988. After being drafted, he made his Major League debut only two years later on August 20, 1990 when he went 2–4 against the Texas Rangers.

He played in a limited amount of games in 1990 and 1991 and then took over at first base in 1992. He had his first of nine career 20 homer seasons in 1994 (20 homers, 21 doubles and 61 RBI) and then in 1995 he was an All Star for the first time when he established himself as a premier first baseman with 31 homers, 35 doubles and 111 RBI.

Martinez was a big factor in the Mariners defeating the Yankees in the ALDS in five games in 1995 in Don Mattingly’s final season. This made him somewhat of a controversial player to takeover first base from Donnie Baseball because he was respected and had just finished his Hall of Fame career and the Mariners had prevented the team from advancing to the ALCS.

His trade from the Mariners was one that the Yankees won in a landslide. The Yankees sent Russ Davis and Sterling Hitchcock to the Mariners and the Mariners dealt Jim Mecir and Jeff Nelson to the Yankees along with Martinez. Nelson was a key relief pitcher for the Yankees in the late 90s helping them win four World Series titles and Hitchcock had a 5.35 ERA for the Mariners in 1996 before joining the Padres.

Martinez was a Yankee from 1996 through 2001 and then in the last season of his career (2005). He brought lots of power production at first base and was a big part of the 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000 World Championship teams and the 2001 team that went to the World Series.

The Yankees lost in the ALDS in five games to the Cleveland Indians in 1997. The Indians would advance to the World Series but lose to the surprising Florida Marlins who had only been in existence for five years.

However, in 1997, Martinez made his second and final All-Star team when he had 44 homers, 31 doubles, 141 RBI and a .296 average. In 1997, he won his only Silver Slugger award and finished second in MVP voting to Ken Griffey Jr., who has the best swing of all time.

Martinez hit at least 25 homers and drove in at least 105 runs in every season from 1996 through 1999. His best season besides 1997 in that stretch was when he had 28 homers, 33 doubles and 123 RBI in 1998. He had a bit of a down year in 2000 but in 2001 he had 34 homers and 113 RBI in his last 100 plus RBI season of his career.

He had a moment that will forever be remembered with Yankee fans as well as Padres fans in Game One of the 1998 World Series. Martinez hit .385 with a homer and four RBI in the Yankees’ four game sweep over the Padres.

In the 7th inning of Game One, with the score tied at five, Martinez hit a thrilling grand slam to the upper deck in right field that drove in Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams and Chili Davis and caused the fans to jump out of their seats and be the loudest they had been that season.

The Yankees would not look back as that home run gave them momentum that they needed. They would win that game 9–5 and go onto win the next three games of the series.

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He performed very well in the 2000 playoffs as well hitting .421 in the ALDS, .320 in the ALCS and .364 in the 4–1 World Series win over the Mets.

Martinez did all of this after going to Division Two University of Tampa. That school is known for their baseball program, but it is rare for Division Two or Division Three schools to have players drafted.

Legend has it that Babe Ruth hit a homer that traveled 630 feet at the former Florida State Fair grounds, which is located on the University of Tampa campus. Former Yankee and longtime MLB coach Lou Piniella also went to the University of Tampa.