Andy Pettitte in 2006

[46andygirl]

My heart is breaking today. Last night Andy got another loss and he is now 6-8, era 5.75. I am concerned that he either has some injury/it's not being reported or he is just losing his stuff. I saw him here in LA a month ago and he really battled. Any thoughts as to reasons why he is struggling? The bad is outweighing the good right now for him and you can tell he is frustrated.

[ppa79]

I think he might be hurt.

[In Mo I Trust]

I think he's hurt too.

[fredgmuggs]

I guess the Yankees concerns about Pettitte's long term health were correct. Not that it completely exonerates them because they still threw big money at him.

edit: I corrected the spelling of Pettitte. From now on I will refer to him as Andy, it's safer that way. Happy now???

[DontHateOnNumber2]

My heart is breaking today. Last night Andy got another loss and he is now 6-8, era 5.75. I am concerned that he either has some injury/it's not being reported or he is just losing his stuff. I saw him here in LA a month ago and he really battled. Any thoughts as to reasons why he is struggling? The bad is outweighing the good right now for him and you can tell he is frustrated.

I got two words for you. Elbow problems. He's struggled a lot, but I haven't noticed whether his velocity has gone down. Hopefully it's nothing serious, or Houston may be out of the race sooner than they expect.

[yankeebot]

I guess the Yankees concerns about Petiite's long term health were correct. Not that it completely exonerates them because they still threw big money at him.

Unless you believe the rumors that his wife was leaving him if he did not leave NY so the FO made the offer just as an empty gesture to appease the fans knowing he wouldn't accept.

[ryanm1058123]

I wish Andy the best, but I find it funny the people that were pining for Andy are no longer here. He's always been an inconsistent pitcher for the Yankees, especially in the playoffs, as well.

[Mattpat11]

Oh well. Thats a shame.

[bobbymagee]

I wish Andy the best, but I find it funny the people that were pining for Andy are no longer here. He's always been an inconsistent pitcher for the Yankees, especially in the playoffs, as well.

Statistics are not omnipotent. He an overall quality starting pitcher who ate up innings. Why do you have such a pessimistic attitude towards Andy?

[fredgmuggs]

Unless you believe the rumors that his wife was leaving him if he did not leave NY so the FO made the offer just as an empty gesture to appease the fans knowing he wouldn't accept.

Frankly, I don't. Just because an unsubstantiated blind blurb appears in a tabloid about a New York athlete and then gets repeated often, that still doesn't make it true.

[Sam18]

Just Andy being Andy.

[YankeePride1967]

Turns out the Yanks had valid concern about his elbow or whatever might be ailing him. The same people blasting the Yanks for showing "disloyalty" to Andy for not giving him what he wanted would be the same fans today saying only the Yankee$ could afford to make a $54 million mistake for a pitcher that gave them one year for it.

[ChinMusic]

Turns out the Yanks had valid concern about his elbow or whatever might be ailing him. The same people blasting the Yanks for showing "disloyalty" to Andy for not giving him what he wanted would be the same fans today saying only the Yankee$ could afford to make a $54 million mistake for a pitcher that gave them one year for it.

Only the Yankees could afford 40 million for a pitcher that gave them no years.

[Jersey Yankee]

Only the Yankees could afford 40 million for a pitcher that gave them no years.

Which pitcher is that? Pavano?

[YankeePride1967]

Only the Yankees could afford 40 million for a pitcher that gave them no years.

So your argument is, "two wrongs make a right". Brilliant.

[DandyAndy46]

I wish Andy the best, but I find it funny the people that were pining for Andy are no longer here. He's always been an inconsistent pitcher for the Yankees, especially in the playoffs, as well.

Still kickin and screaming over here....I'd take him over most of the Yankees starting rotation right now....also...how many big games did this guy win as Yankee? It always makes me laugh when people look back and dismiss the great games he pitched in the postseason...sure he had some stinkers in the playoffs....the law of averages says you're going to. His highs were much higher than his lows were low.

[Mattpat11]

I think a lot of people forget that Andy wanted nothing to do with the Yankees after the 2003 season.

[DandyAndy46]

I think a lot of people forget that Andy wanted nothing to do with the Yankees after the 2003 season.

I think a lot of people forget that the Yankees FO wanted little to nothing to do with Andy...

[DandyAndy46]

On a completely different note...why is it that after 11 years people still cannot spell Pettitte correctly??

[wexy]

On a completely different note...why is it that after 11 years people still cannot spell Pettitte correctly??

They're thinking dress sizes

[DandyAndy46]

They're thinking dress sizes

Evidently

[wexy]

Had he stayed, his number would've been in Monument Park.
He was moving his way up all the pitching categories.

[-tz]

On a completely different note...why is it that after 11 years people still cannot spell Pettitte correctly??

Just imagine how long it would have taken them to spell Lieber correctly!

[CharmedForever61]

I'd take him over most of the Yankees starting rotation right now.

I agree too. At least Pettitte knew how to win the big games when he was pitching in Pinstripes, unlike Jaret Wright whose more inconsistent, wins one game then loses the next one or two. Come on. Can't win championships with that kind of average pitching.

[Mattpat11]

I think a lot of people forget that the Yankees FO wanted little to nothing to do with Andy...

They offered him more money to stay. But they DARED ask about that elbow, and both Andy and was FLABERGASTED that they might think something was wrong with that picture of health he called an appendage.

I still say it all boiled down to Laura Pettitte frowning on Andy's...site seeing, and Andy trying to find an out by making the evil Stenbrenner the villain.

[Steven H]

I don't think he's injured. The thing with his elbow, the concerns were realized a couple of years ago. But last year he recovered to throw brilliantly and so far this year, his stuff actually look pretty good--he can ratchet it up to 90 when he wants and he's still got the looping curve, the biting cutter. His control has been off though, not necessarily really in terms of walks but more so in the refinement within the strike zone. Since he's not an overpowering pitcher, he's getting stung pretty good.

With a guy like Mulder who was throwing 86 mph before going on the DL, I think it's valid to assume injury but not really so with Pettitte.

[Nome]

I wish Andy the best, but I find it funny the people that were pining for Andy are no longer here. He's always been an inconsistent pitcher for the Yankees, especially in the playoffs, as well.

What gives you the idea that the people who were/are Pettitte fans are no longer here? We're still here and we still wish the Yankees had kept him. But the past is the past, and most of us are smart enough not to dwell on it. I do feel sorry for Andy and wish him well, but at this stage I am not one who would bring him back. I want our staff to be built from young pitchers. Andy is 34 and I'd like to see our staff average no more than 30 years old. We're starting with Wang.

Your comment smacks of lack of knowledge. I don't know how you are defining "inconsistant". Hell by some definitions, everyone is inconsistant. Mo is inconsistant and the Babe was too.

What do you want from the man?. He was.155-82 in regular season for the Yankees (178-99 including Houston) and 13-8 for the Yankees in the postseason (14-9 including Houston). What kind of record would you want from the man to match your standard of consistancy? Hell you are probably one of the posters that every year, after Mo blows a save or two, is right there with a post stating "is Mo losing it?".

Moose is having almost a career year this year. If Andy were a Yankee he would be our #2 man (I'd put Wang as #3 and the inconsistant RJ as #4).

Your post is really arrogant. What do you want us Pettitte fans to do?

Andy

[Nome]

Frankly, I don't. Just because an unsubstantiated blind blurb appears in a tabloid about a New York athlete and then gets repeated often, that still doesn't make it true.

Right on, my man. We have lots of tabloid fans here who are willing to believe any dirt they see in print

Andy

[Nome]

I think a lot of people forget that the Yankees FO wanted little to nothing to do with Andy...

And the FO is correctly spelled "Steinbrenner".

Most of the posters critical of Andy COMPLETELY forget that Andy was lobbying for a new contract his entire last year with the Yankees. He never got an offer from them until it was too late. They claimed, first that they didn't want to tender an offer during the regular season, then they said "not till after the post season". Then he became a free agent and was receiving offers from other teams, the most intriguing was from Houston. It was only then, in December after Pettitte fans were becoming vocal with the FO (GHS), that an offer was made. True it was for more money than Houston's was, but by then Andy was so hurt and he and his wife happy with returning to the Gulf Coast area of the South (He is from Baton Rouge, LA), that he rightfully turned down the Yankee offer.

George was in the wrong on this one. The Yanks cited the arm problems (true there were some) as an excuse to their fans to justify thier mistakes.


Andy

[21ONeill21]

I really like Andy and wish he was still here. Also, are people forgetting the Astros' lack of offense? Andy's not pitching great, but he's losing a lot of games he would be winning if he were still on the Yankees, with some run support.

[flymick24]

What gives you the idea that the people who were/are Pettitte fans are no longer here? We're still here and we still wish the Yankees had kept him. But the past is the past, and most of us are smart enough not to dwell on it. I do feel sorry for Andy and wish him well, but at this stage I am not one who would bring him back. I want our staff to be built from young pitchers. Andy is 34 and I'd like to see our staff average no more than 30 years old. We're starting with Wang.

Your comment smacks of lack of knowledge. I don't know how you are defining "inconsistant". Hell by some definitions, everyone is inconsistant. Mo is inconsistant and the Babe was too.

What do you want from the man?. He was.155-82 in regular season for the Yankees (178-99 including Houston) and 13-8 for the Yankees in the postseason (14-9 including Houston). What kind of record would you want from the man to match your standard of consistancy? Hell you are probably one of the posters that every year, after Mo blows a save or two, is right there with a post stating "is Mo losing it?".

Moose is having almost a career year this year. If Andy were a Yankee he would be our #2 man (I'd put Wang as #3 and the inconsistant RJ as #4).

Your post is really arrogant. What do you want us Pettitte fans to do?

Andy

i can understand your support for andy pettitte, but citing his W-L record as a reason why he is a good pitcher is a weak argument... for much of his yankee career, the man benefited from a huge amount of run support, and in spite of his penchant to give up a lot of hits and walks, he was able to rack up the wins. generally speaking, he actually was very inconsistent, because for every "game 5 of the 1996 world series" that he pitched, there were also always those "game 6 of the 2001 world series" type games as well, so in the end, he was always brought back to the mean. on this current staff, he would be our 4th best pitcher (moose being the ace, wang being our number 2, and randy being our 3.)

i do, however, agree with your point that if steinbrenner wanted him, he would probably still be in pinstripes, but given his checkered injury history and his pedestrian numbers, i don't think he would have been worth it. plus, none of us know to what extent he wanted to pitch at home... for all we know, that desire could have been just as strong as his desire to stay in NY.

[krystl]

While I don't necessarily believe the tabloid rumors, I do believe Andy's wife had a lot to do with his wanting to get out of NY and go to Texas.

[jimmyclark]

And the FO is correctly spelled "Steinbrenner".

Most of the posters critical of Andy COMPLETELY forget that Andy was lobbying for a new contract his entire last year with the Yankees. He never got an offer from them until it was too late. They claimed, first that they didn't want to tender an offer during the regular season, then they said "not till after the post season". Then he became a free agent and was receiving offers from other teams, the most intriguing was from Houston. It was only then, in December after Pettitte fans were becoming vocal with the FO (GHS), that an offer was made. True it was for more money than Houston's was, but by then Andy was so hurt and he and his wife happy with returning to the Gulf Coast area of the South (He is from Baton Rouge, LA), that he rightfully turned down the Yankee offer.

George was in the wrong on this one. The Yanks cited the arm problems (true there were some) as an excuse to their fans to justify thier mistakes.


Andy

I don't want to absolve Steinbrenner from the decision. He does own the team, he is ultimately responsible for the decisions made, whether by him or by his subordinates/flunkies. But Brian Cashman did tell Francesa and Russo that all 11 people were in agreement on this decision (Cashman did say Torre was not one of the 11 decision makers). Unlike M&MD I will assume that Cashman is a honest man. I thought at the time it was a mistake. They should have been trying to resign him during the 10 day "club exclusive" window to a three year deal. Certainly there were stories on how "his elbow is hanging on by a thread" from people like Newsday writer/Bobby Valentine apologist Jon Heyman. But since pitchers are always in danger of breaking down because of the nature of their jobs, it is best to show loyalty to those who come up thru your system and never hurt the organization in public.
Here's hoping Pettitte will turn it around real quick!

[Nome]

i can understand your support for andy pettitte, but citing his W-L record as a reason why he is a good pitcher is a weak argument... for much of his yankee career, the man benefited from a huge amount of run support, and in spite of his penchant to give up a lot of hits and walks, he was able to rack up the wins. generally speaking, he actually was very inconsistent, because for every "game 5 of the 1996 world series" that he pitched, there were also always those "game 6 of the 2001 world series" type games as well, so in the end, he was always brought back to the mean. on this current staff, he would be our 4th best pitcher (moose being the ace, wang being our number 2, and randy being our 3.)

i do, however, agree with your point that if steinbrenner wanted him, he would probably still be in pinstripes, but given his checkered injury history and his pedestrian numbers, i don't think he would have been worth it. plus, none of us know to what extent he wanted to pitch at home... for all we know, that desire could have been just as strong as his desire to stay in NY.

If he only won those games because the Yankees scored lots of runs during his career, than how come other pitchers on our team didn't have a better record than he did.??????

I honestly don't know what you mean by him giving up a lot of hits and walks.

Andy gave up an average of 1.03 hits an inning, considered fairly good by today's standards. He only walked an average of 2.8 batters/ 9 inning game, a pretty decent mark; he also struck out an average of 6.6 batters a game. I totally disagree with your assessment

We will continue to disagree on all aspects of your post. I agree that he would be behind Moose on our staff but I certainly put Wang as our #3 pitcher and RJ as #4. RJ has been one of our most inconsistant pitchers this year; great when he's on and horrible when he's off, and he's been off more than he's been on.

Andy was a hell of a pitcher for us. I wouldn't want him back, only because we moved on and because of his age. I want us younger.

I guess you will continue to dis him.

Andy

[Nome]

I wish Andy the best, but I find it funny the people that were pining for Andy are no longer here. He's always been an inconsistent pitcher for the Yankees, especially in the playoffs, as well.

I guess many of the posts in this thread have shown you that Andy's fans haven't gone away. They are still around, and most of us would violenty dispute your inconsistant label.

And not to belabor the point but you were only eight years old (based on your public profile) when Andy came up to the Yankees. I'm not sure I personally think you have the experience to judge his abilities.

Andy

[Mattpat11]

While I don't necessarily believe the tabloid rumors, I do believe Andy's wife had a lot to do with his wanting to get out of NY and go to Texas.

She wanted him to leave the team he spent nine years with and won four world championships with just because?

[Hitman23]

wow, it's been a while since this has come up. The bastardization of his name throughout this thread amazes me. 9 years as a Yankee and 4 rings people still can't get it right.

P-E-T-T-I-T-T-E

[Sam18]

I think Petite was a good pitcher for us.

[Nome]

I think Petite was a good pitcher for us.

No, you dummy, it's Petit



Andy

[krystl]

She wanted him to leave the team he spent nine years with and won four world championships with just because?

Well, I believe she and the children still lived in Texas (didn't move to NY), so unless he was in Texas for a game, he was probably not home much. Same with Roger's family. The kids were very young and I would imagine it's very difficult not having a hubby around most of the time.

[yankeebot]

Well, I believe she and the children still lived in Texas (didn't move to NY), so unless he was in Texas for a game, he was probably not home much. Same with Roger's family. The kids were very young and I would imagine it's very difficult not having a hubby around most of the time.

Oh, Karen, that is just crazy talk. Baseball wives are not like the rest of us. They prefer to rarely see their spouses and raise their children alone for 8 months of the year.

[krystl]

Oh, Karen, that is just crazy talk. Baseball wives are not like the rest of us. They prefer to rarely see their spouses and raise their children alone for 8 months of the year.

(I think you were kidding...)

[ZIM 2002]

I'll proudly join the Pettitte supporters who have posted in this thread. I was devastated to lose Andy, and I agree with those who would even prefer him now to Wright. Probably some of us fans would want him back now more than he would want to come back.

[donniesrecordholdsup]

so lets see, 2 out of 3 years of the contract, pettitte is a negative. cant say im not slighlty happy after the smear campaign done on the yankees after pettitte left. and pettitte was perfectly happy letting everyone think the yanks were the bad guy. its funny but if pettitte ever left the red sox in the same way, the stories about him having a mistress would probbaly be the previaling thought instead of the yanks insulting pettitte because george didnt go on a date with him.

[donniesrecordholdsup]

by the way, comparing mo and pettitte's "incosistency" is laughable. out of all the starters we had during the dynasty, (excluding rogers and neagle of course), you would probbally chose pettitte last in who you would want to pitch a big game. anybody would take wells,duque and cone before pettitte. and check out those guys postseason numbers. thet didnt have nearly as many inconsistencies. clemens would be the only debatable one. not to mention they he almost single handidly lost us 2 postseason series. 97 alds and 01 world series. he was downright mediocre in 98 and 99. though i'll be fair he did win the biggest game of the year in 99. it wasnt a must win but by default it was the biggest game because it was the game after the only loss we had all postseason. but other then that he was mediocre those 2 years. now of course he had his great years and won his big games. and we all like that he was a homegrown yankee but he was not the 2nd coming of koufax, he was far from automatic in the postseason and he let the smear campaign against the yankees go on w/o coming out and just saying he didnt want to be a yankee anymore.

i hate when people act like all our problems would be solved right now if we had just signed pettitte. even though hes been a negative for 2 of the 3 years of his contract. i dont beleive pettitte was going to resign here even if george started dating him and then offered him the supposed ridicoulous contract that the red sox offered him.

[In Mo I Trust]

I'll proudly join the Pettitte supporters who have posted in this thread. I was devastated to lose Andy, and I agree with those who would even prefer him now to Wright. Probably some of us fans would want him back now more than he would want to come back.

I agree. I'd rather take my chances with Andy and cash over Wright and Pavano.

[YankeePride1967]

And the FO is correctly spelled "Steinbrenner".

Most of the posters critical of Andy COMPLETELY forget that Andy was lobbying for a new contract his entire last year with the Yankees. He never got an offer from them until it was too late. They claimed, first that they didn't want to tender an offer during the regular season, then they said "not till after the post season". Then he became a free agent and was receiving offers from other teams, the most intriguing was from Houston. It was only then, in December after Pettitte fans were becoming vocal with the FO (GHS), that an offer was made. True it was for more money than Houston's was, but by then Andy was so hurt and he and his wife happy with returning to the Gulf Coast area of the South (He is from Baton Rouge, LA), that he rightfully turned down the Yankee offer.

George was in the wrong on this one. The Yanks cited the arm problems (true there were some) as an excuse to their fans to justify thier mistakes.


Andy

You call not giving a guy who has either been hurt or flat out sucked 2 of the 3 years since leaving a 4 year/$54 million contract a "mistake"? I call it a blessing. Some arm problems? He missed almost all of 2004 because of one!

[YankeePride1967]

I'll proudly join the Pettitte supporters who have posted in this thread. I was devastated to lose Andy, and I agree with those who would even prefer him now to Wright. Probably some of us fans would want him back now more than he would want to come back.

I'd prefer him to Wright or even Chacon at this point, but the contract he got in Houston is a bad one. He is getting ace money for a number 4 starter.

[Nome]

so lets see, 2 out of 3 years of the contract, pettitte is a negative. cant say im not slighlty happy after the smear campaign done on the yankees after pettitte left. and pettitte was perfectly happy letting everyone think the yanks were the bad guy. its funny but if pettitte ever left the red sox in the same way, the stories about him having a mistress would probbaly be the previaling thought instead of the yanks insulting pettitte because george didnt go on a date with him.

If there was a smear campaign it was by George. I wouldn't doubt that George planted the stories about Andy's wife demanding to go to Houston. Those of old enough to remember Dave Winfield, remembers George hired Howard Spira a known crook to discredite Winfields charity so George wouldn't have to contribute as per contract.

Andy

[jlw1980]

Well, I believe she and the children still lived in Texas (didn't move to NY), so unless he was in Texas for a game, he was probably not home much. Same with Roger's family. The kids were very young and I would imagine it's very difficult not having a hubby around most of the time.

It's called moving to the place where the breadwinner, uh, wins the bread. If I were a stay-at-home spouse/parent, I'd expect to move where my spouse who earned the money had the job that allowed me to stay home. Bottom line.

I hated to see him go; I was so sad about it for a long time. However, once he chose to leave, I lost a lot of love for him.