Joe Pettini - Playing Career

Playing Career

Pettini attended Brooke High School in Wellsburg, West Virginia and Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. He played for the Mercer baseball team, starting 196 consecutive games, but was not selected in the MLB draft. Pettini signed as an undrafted free agent with the Montreal Expos in 1977 after graduating from Mercer. On March 15, 1980, Pettini was sent to the San Francisco Giants as the player to be named later in a 1979 trade where the Giants sent Montreal backup catcher John Tamargo. Pettini made his major-league debut for the Giants on July 10, 1980. He would go on to be a part-time player for the Giants for four seasons, 1980–1983, amassing a total of 344 big-league at-bats and hitting for a .203 average. One of the highlights of Pettini's playing career was his participation in a triple play that the Giants executed against the San Diego Padres on Oct. 3, 1980.

Pettini was an infielder, playing second base, third base and shortstop for the Giants. His final game as a big-league player was October 2, 1983. In 1984, Pettini would sign with the minor-league Louisville Redbirds, then an affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, beginning his long association with the organization. Pettini played for Louisville for three seasons.