On Feb. 3, the end of an era began to dawn on the New York Yankees, when 38-year-old pitcher Andy Pettitte retired. Pettitte was the first of the so-called “core four,” which includes pinstripe veterans Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, and Derek Jeter, to hang up his cleats.
Although I understand his decision, the news left me and many other Yankee fans worried about the upcoming season. The rotation was already shallow, and now the team is supposed to fill the void left by one of the greatest pitchers in franchise history (Pettitte is third on the Yankees’ all-time wins list.) I haven’t always thought of Pettitte this way, however. In fact I took the southpaw for granted for most of his career.
But such was Pettitte’s nature. He played for the Yankees every year since I became a baseball fan in 1996, save for a three-year stint with the Astros. But he was never my favorite player on the team—he was probably never in my top three for that matter. There was nothing spectacular that he did to draw me to him. He did win 21 games in only his second season in 1996 and was a big reason the Yankees won the World Series later on that year, but he didn’t have the aura of Derek Jeter or the presence of Mariano Rivera, who overshadow him as lifelong Yankees. Still, Pettitte didn’t possess the raw power of Roger Clemens (which maybe wasn’t so raw after all), the timely home runs of Tino Martinez, or the warrior-like temper of Paul O’Neill.
Maybe it’s because his two best qualities, reliability and competitiveness, are things that fans value, but don’t praise. Every time he stepped on the field, you knew he would pitch as well as he could. Even if he wasn’t feeling good, he’d grind it out and just try to keep his team in the game. Although he only had 240 wins—which still puts him in an elite class, but far below the hallowed 300-win threshold—his winning percentage (63 percent) is exceptional. His career ERA of 3.88 doesn’t do him justice, because he excelled at his one primary objective—putting his team in a position to win. That is why Pettitte has five rings.
Many critics point to the fact that Pettitte had it easy with the Yankees’ potent offense supporting him, but that couldn’t be more wrong. Many pitchers have wilted under the pressure and bright lights of Yankee Stadium, including future hall-of-famer Randy Johnson, Kevin Brown and Javier Vasquez—twice. Pettitte also posted some of his best seasons while with the Astros, a team he led to its only World Series appearance.
The debate about whether Pettitte will be a hall-of-famer began even before the news of his retirement broke. Based on his regular season stats, his body of work may fall short of a Cooperstown calling. But when you take into account his postseason performances, the decision becomes more difficult. He has the most postseason wins in history, showing that he had always been able to raise his game when it mattered most. In the 2010 postseason, Pettitte won the clinching game of each series for the Yankees, winning his final championship ring after pitching a gem on three days’ rest in Game 6 of the World Series. That performance was the epitome of Andy Pettitte. At the time, I doubted that the veteran would have enough left to pitch the Yankees to their 27th title. Ever since then, I never took him for granted. I cherished every start he made until the last time he walked off the mound this past season in Texas.
Even if he is not selected for the hall of fame, those who watched him pitch every fifth day know the impact he made and the void he has now left. I am convinced the Yankees will never have another one like him.
Nick, Pettite was middling at best and really didn’t do much except look ugly. His candidacy for the HoF is sentimental if anything, and you’d do well to remember that the Yankees are much prettier as a team without him, which is kind of like saying that the Nazi Party was slightly less fascist in 1942.