Andy Pettitte – We will miss you

It’s been a tough off season for Yankees fans in the pitching arena. Yes, we resigned the greatest closer ever and signed a top notch closer to be the 8th inning guy.

But we didn’t get Cliff Lee and now Andy Pettitte has decided to retire. The former is a bigger loss for the future, but seeing Andy retire is a bit sad for me.

Not that I have any problems with his decision. He’s had a great career, has kids, presumably plenty of money, and four World Series rings. And as a fan he’s been everything you want in a player.

Is a Hall of Famer? Probably not. In my mind he falls into the “close, but not quite” category. He wasn’t a #1 starter, often #2 or #3. But in the playoffs every Yankee fan will tell you that Andy often would pitch the key win after a loss. We always felt confident when Pettitte was pitching. Always.

And he was a good guy. No media issues. Straight shooter. My wife loved him (not solely because of his pitching), generally referring to him as “my boyfriend”. Yes, he did HGH to get over injuries. These days I view that mainly as an “everyone was doing it” issue only to be judged on how they respond when caught. And Pettitte did what you should do. He fessed up, explained why and said sorry. You’d think it would be obvious, but why don’t most people do that? (it was B-12, honest).

Anyway, a great pitcher and a great Yankee.

Postseason series clinching wins:

• 1996 ALCS
• 1998 World Series
• 2000 World Series
• 2009 ALDS
• 2009 ALCS

And of course, the classic memory of Pettitte will always be the look to the plate. Cap brim pulled low, glove up high, only his eyes visible, focused on the target.

Thanks for the memories, Andy.