Andy Pettitte: Hall of Famer?

Andy Pettitte announced his retirement today after 16 years in the league. He spent a total of thirteen years with the Yankees, which were interrupted with three in Houston. His first year playing for his hometown Astros, 2004, was almost completely wasted with injuries as he only started 15 games to compile a record of (6-4).

Later in his career, Pettitte admit to using steroids during this year saying that he basically didn't want to let his hometown fans down, and to avoid doing so, he needed to help his body heal itself quicker by using PED's. From a fan's perspective, I tend to believe Pettitte when he says that he did not take these drugs to strictly get a boost in his performance. Pettitte was a dominant pitcher from his rookie year in 1995. In 1996, he likely should have won the AL Cy Young Award after going (21-8) with a 3.87 ERA and 162 strikeouts. The award was won that year by a guy I've never even heard of, Pat Hentgen, who was (20-10) with a 3.22 ERA and 177 strikeouts. Don't be surprised that I haven't heard of him, I was only in the 5th grade. :)

SEASON▲	TEAM▲	W▼	L▼	ERA▼	G▼	GS▼	CG▼	▲	▲	▲	▲	▲
1995	NYY	12	9	4.17	31	26	3	147
1996	NYY	21	8	3.87	35	34	2	147
1997	NYY	18	7	2.88	35	35	4	147
1998	NYY	16	11	4.24	33	32	5	147
1999	NYY	14	11	4.70	31	31	0	147
2000	NYY	19	9	4.35	32	32	3	147
2001	NYY	15	10	3.99	31	31	2	147
2002	NYY	13	5	3.27	22	22	3	147
2003	NYY	21	8	4.02	33	33	1	147
2004	HOU	6	4	3.90	15	15	0	117
2005	HOU	17	9	2.39	33	33	0	117
2006	HOU	14	13	4.20	36	35	2	117
2007	NYY	15	9	4.05	36	34	0	147
2008	NYY	14	14	4.54	33	33	0	147
2009	NYY	14	8	4.16	32	32	0	147
2010	NYY	11	3	3.28	21	21	0	147
CAREER		240	138	3.88	489	479	25

Here, I've posted Pettitte's career stats. A couple of things to point out when talking about Pettitte's Hall of Fame Credentials:

• After his admitted steroid usage, his best season was the next year, 2005, when he posted a career low ERA and had 17 wins.
• He never ended a season with a losing record. Only in 2008 did he end up at .500.
  
• His 2,251 strikeouts only puts him at 47th all-time.
• His 240 wins is ahead of Hall of Famers Catfish Hunter (224), and Whitey Ford (236), but still is only good enough for 52nd place on the all-time list.

Now, all though some of these numbers are ahead of Hall of Fame pitchers, they aren't necessarily mind blowing. But, what made Pettitte great was his postseason performance. He compiled an overall postseason record of (19-10), including (14-6) in the division and league championship series'.


Some notes about Pettitte's postseason numbers:

• He is in 2nd on the all-time list for World Series games started (13). Only behind Whitey Ford (22)
• His 19 career postseason wins puts him on top of that list.

So, in the regular season, Pettitte was great, maybe not Hall of Fame worthy. And like I've heard said before, "The museum in Cooperstown is not called the 'Hall of the Great'". But, when you include his postseason heroics, the debate becomes "When", not "If" Pettitte will get in.

Do you think he's a 'First Ballot' Hall of Famer? Ask me again in five years!

Peace Out,
Luke