Andy Pettitte To Announce Retirement, Ending 16-Year Career With Yankees
February 3, 2011 · Doug Rush · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
The Yankees have finally gotten a decision from Andy Pettitte.
Unfortunately though, for many fans, it won’t be the one they were hoping for, because The Core Four will be down one member in 2011.
Pettitte will announce his retirement from Major League Baseball and from the New York Yankees on Friday at a press conference at Yankee Stadium.
The news was linked from YES and ESPN’s Michael Kay on his Twitter account.
Rumors have been running rampant about whether Pettitte would retire or play one more season in 2011. Pettitte had told Yankees GM Brian Cashman to “go on without him”, making it seem like Pettitte was headed towards retirement.
Lately, there were rumors about Pettitte possibly having a change of heart when he was working out near his home in Texas, and the fact that his family gave their blessing for him to pitch in 2011.
Plus, the Yankees were planning to offer Pettitte a contract for about $12 million to come back one last time for 2011.
They had signed Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia to minor league contracts, just in case Pettitte hadn’t made his mind up before Spring Training.
But, Pettitte is choosing to hang up the cleats and end his career.
Pettitte ends his 16-year career with a 240-138 record including two 20-game seasons in 1996 and 2003 with a 3.88 ERA, 2,251 strikeouts, three all-star appearances and 19 career postseason wins, the most for any pitcher all-time in baseball history.
Pettitte came up with the Yankees in 1995, going 12-9 and finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting. He was with the Yankees until 2003 before leaving for the Houston Astros in 2004 to be closer to his family.
Pettitte spent three years with the Astros until the Yankees called him back on December 8, 2006.
The Yankees and Pettitte went on four one-year deals from 2007-2010 because Pettitte has been mulling retirement for some time but always chose to come back to pitch for a championship in New York.
Pettitte did in fact win a fifth championship with the Yankees in 2009, going 4-0 and pitching the deciding games in the ALDS against the Twins, the ALCS against the Angels and the World Series against the Phillies.
In 2010, Pettitte went 11-3 with a 3.28 ERA and spent two months on the disabled list with a groin injury he suffered against the Tampa Bay Rays.
He returned against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards on September 19 and still looked as sharp as he did during the beginning of the season.
(I was in attendance in Baltimore and when Pettitte stepped onto the grass for the first time to take warm-ups, you thought it was the Bronx because of the thunderous ovation from the crowd.)
Pettitte went 1-1 in the 2010 postseason for the Yankees, pitching a great game against the Rangers and Cliff Lee. His only mistake was a two-run home run to Josh Hamilton in the first inning. When Pettitte left the game, the game was still 2-0, but because Lee shut down the Yankees over eight innings, Pettitte took the loss.
Pettitte will now return home to spend time with his wife and four kids in Deer Park, Texas.
Pettitte departs a Yankees legend, beloved by Yankees fans after earning 203 of his 240 career wins with the Yankees.
His competitiveness, never-say-die attitude and willingness to win at any cost were some of the biggest reasons why Yankee fans loved him and why he was respected by opposing players and fans.
Hopefully, the Yankees will not have anyone else wear the number 46 and put him in Monument Park along with the other Yankees legends, a place Pettitte belongs because of what he meant to the franchise.
Personally, this is an incredibly sad day because my favorite Yankee is calling it a career. I’ve grown up watching Pettitte since I was 11 years old, cheering him on every time he took the ball.
I got to watch him pitch several times including winning against the Red Sox in 2007 and I got to see him one last time in his return game from the DL back in September.
Although the Yankees could have desperately used Pettitte’s services for 2011, nobody can blame him for wanting to spend more time with his family.
Andy, many of us fans will miss you dearly. We wish you well in retirement, and we all thank you for the memories and great moments you gave us for 16 years. You were the epitome of what it was to be a Yankee.
It’s a sad day to see someone like Pettitte go. He will truly be missed by Yankees Universe.
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