The 2010-11 offseason for the New York Yankees has been to say the least, frustrating. From the tenuous Derek Jeter contract negotiations that incited so much argument amongst the parties involved and the fans, to losing out on Cliff Lee after offering more money and more years than the Phillies, to signing “reclamation project” pitchers like Bartolo Colon, and now the final nail in the coffin, the great Andy Pettitte has announced his retirement, it’s not exactly been a great time for the Yanks. To be sure, by all objective measures the Yankees are still in a great position to at least compete for a division title coming off a 95 win season, and their failures pale in comparison to say the Mets and their financial woes or the countless other small market teams who are resigned to being cellar dwellers another year, but this isn’t just any team, this is the Yankees, and the Yankees are supposed to compete. Now for pretty much any other team, those kinds of expectations are crazy, but especially for Yankee fans my age that’s the only reality we know. To put the Yankees dominance in perspective, just this last week a 42 year old relief pitcher named Russ Springer retired this last week after 18 seasons in the big leagues. The significance? That same relief pitcher was briefly on the 1992 New York Yankees in his rookie season, the last season the Yankees didn’t go at least .500, and Russ is the last active player to have played on a sub-.500 Yankee team. Think about that, there isn’t a player in the league who can say he’s been on a losing Yankee team, how did the Yankees accomplish such a feat? What have the Yankees done to defy the odds for so long and find ways to produce a winning product for a generation? The detractors out there will point to the Yankees’ unparalled resources to their success, but in truth much of the answer to this question lies with the contributions of Andy Pettitte. Although Andy would not actually start pitching until 1995, Andy his 16 seasons in the big leagues was a big reason why the Yankees have been so successful for all these years, and task of filling his shoes will be more challenging than we know.
If one were to look at Andy Pettitte simply by his numbers it can be difficult to truly encapsulate his value to the Yankees (and the Astros for three years) because by in large his statistics aren’t that fantastic. Indeed, in sixteen seasons, Andy complied 240 wins, a 3.88 ERA, 2,251 strikeouts to 962 walks (coming out to a 2.34 K/BB ratio) in the regular season, and none of those numbers really scream “Hall of Famer.” Even his much lauded postseason resume, where he holds the record for most postseason wins at 19, Andy’s numbers are really not as impressive when you consider the fact that he benefitted from being on the Yankees during a run they were always in the playoffs, as well as the introduction of the wild card in 1995. What’s more, his numbers for the postseason are pretty much in line with his career numbers with a 3.83ERA and a 2.40 K/BB ratio, so even on the biggest stage he’s had his ups and downs too. But in truth conventional statistics don’t really speak to Andy Pettitte’s greatness and why he was one of my favorite players. Emma Span at BronxBanterblog.com I think put it best today saying;
Even more so in his later years, when he relied less on stuff and more on control and, for lack of a better phrase, know-how. The stat-head in me hates using wishy washy phrases like that — he had grit! he was gutty! — but like I said, when it comes to Pettitte I really can’t help myself.
Much like Emma, I too hate having to rely on baseball clichés when talking about Andy, but there’s really no other way to describe how he did it. What I mean by that becomes clearer when you look at Andy’s seasons one by one, even his excellent ones, which shows that even though he didn’t blow anybody away, and he wasn’t exactly Greg Maddux with his control, at the end of the day Andy just got it done. Take for instance Andy’s 1996 season, where he was arguably the best pitcher on the team as a 21 year old and he complied a record of 21-8 to the tune of a 3.87ERA, but he gave up 229 hits in 221 innings, only struck out 162 while walking 72, and he gave up 23 home runs, 23! Keep in mind this is arguably Andy’s best season, and even then no one would confuse him for Sandy Koufax, but it didn’t matter because he won. I remember watching Andy that season as a fourth grader and just being amazed at this guy and how he did what he had to do to win games for the Yankees, and he kept doing it year after year. Whether it be the World Series, a big weekend at Boston, or even a forgettable Monday night game against Baltimore, Andy has always been a guy you felt like you had a chance to win with when he’s on the mound, and that’s more than you can say about most.
It’s hard to be angry at Pettitte for deciding that he had enough after sixteen seasons, but the selfish fan in me wishes he could’ve given us just a little more because I loved watching him so much. Even when he left town for Houston, or when he admitted to having used Human Growth Hormone, myself and the rest of Yankee fans always forgave him immediately because he was always seemed so gracious, so down to earth, and most of all a winner (I’m just full of baseball clichés today, Pettitte brings the worst out of me). I remember a story a friend told me about the 2009 World Series before the sixth and series clinching game, and he and his buddies were tailgating outside before the game. As they’re sitting in the Yankee Stadium parking lot they see Andy drive by and he saw them all freaking out cheering for him at the top of their lungs, and what does he do? He gets out fired up as hell and starts giving them high-fives telling them he’s going to “fuck shit up” and win this game; that’s the kind of guy his is. What made me love watching Andy so much was that even when he wasn’t feeling it or was getting knocked around a little he just seemed to want it more than the other guy, and when it mattered most in the big spots he wanted the ball and was going to give everything he’s got to beat the other man. Maybe that doesn’t make him a Hall of Famer, and maybe the less Yankee-friendly statheads will roll their collective eyes at my anecdotal evidence, but that’s enough for me because that’s all I can ask for as a fan. Thanks Andy.
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