Ron Guidry – Keefe To The City

Oct 15, 2013

Goodbye, Andy Pettitte

I knew I would eventually have to write about Andy Pettitte’s retirement and say goodbye, so here is my farewell to “Number 46 … Andy Pettitte … Number 46.”

“I will not pitch this season. I can assure you of that. And I do not plan on pitching again.”

That’s what Andy Pettitte said on Feb. 4, 2011. And here’s what I said on Feb. 4, 2011:

When Andy Pettitte left his May 5, 2010 start against the Orioles in the sixth inning after throwing just 77 pitches and allowing one earned run on six hits, I knew something was wrong, I just didn’t know how wrong.

I was sitting in Section 203 in the right-field bleachers checking my phone for updates on Pettitte, but no one had any. When the game ended, it sounded like I might have watched Pettitte walk off a major league mound for the last time. But those reports were premature and 10 days later he shut out the Twins at Yankee Stadium over 6 1/3 innings to improve to 5-0.

Now Andy Pettitte is really done. All offseason there was certainly a chance that he would retire after a year in which he was an All-Star and pitched to a 3.28 ERA in 21 regular season starts and a 2.57 ERA in two postseason starts, but I didn’t think he would really walk away. At least I didn’t want to believe he would really walk away.

OK, so now Pettitte is really, really done (we think), but this isn’t as sad and heartbreaking and devastating as the goodbye for Number 42 is or the someday goodbye for Number 2 that I hope never happens. I got used to life without Andy Pettitte after the 2010 season when he left me wondering whether the 2011 season would even be one worth watching.

The last time Pettitte left the Yankees, which was the second time, I was devastated. The Yankees had lost out on Cliff Lee in December and would have to turn to either an unproven Ivan Nova, AAAA starter Sergio Mitre, Freddy Garcia 2.0 or the ultimate unknown in Bartolo Colon. I had gone into that offseason thinking the Yankees rotation could be CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Andy Pettitte, A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughes, but instead it ended up being CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Phil Hughes, Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon at the start of the year. It worked out as the Yankees won 97 games, but the loss of Pettitte became even more devastating in October when the Yankees let Freddy Garcia start and lose Game 2 of the ALDS. The Game 2 Andy Pettitte always started.

Back in February 2011, I didn’t know why Pettitte waited so long to make his decision to retire and if he was willing to leave the game with so much in the tank, why was he leaving then? Why didn’t he leave after the 2009 season (aside from money, which shouldn’t have been an issue) when he pitched the clinching game for the AL East, the clinching game of the ALDS, the clinching game of the ALCS and the clinching game of the World Series? It didn’t make sense that Pettitte would retire since he could still pitch and the timing couldn’t have been worse after Lee had left the Yankees at the altar. I was upset at Pettitte for selfish reasons for leaving, the way I had been after the 2003 season when he went to Houston with Roger Clemens and left the Yankees with Mike Mussina, Jon Lieber, an even older El Duque, Kevin Brown and Javier Vazquez to try to beat the Red Sox. I mean hypothetically speaking when it comes to the 2004 season since there wasn’t a season in 2004 because of the strike, which means there wasn’t a postseason either. What, you don’t remember the strike of 2004? Yes, Pettitte had his reasons to retire after the 2010 season the way he had his reasons to leave the Yankees for the Astros after the 2003 season, but that didn’t mean I had to accept them and I didn’t.

Sure, I was immature about his “retirement” almost three years ago and sure I said the following:

I never wrote a Goodbye piece for Andy Pettitte when he “retired” after the 2010 season, and thankfully I didn’t (mainly because it would have been a waste of time and words given his comeback) since I’m not good at saying goodbye, especially to members of the Core Four. Now I’m just happy Pettitte isn’t good at saying goodbye either.

I’m not any better at goodbyes now than I was when I said it to Jorge Posada or when Pettitte first retired two years, eight months and 11 days ago. But it’s been 16 days since Pettitte last pitched for the last time and I’m ready to say goodbye now.

I was eight years old when Andy Pettitte made his first appearance as a Yankee, 19 Aprils ago. I will be 27 for the start of the 2014 season, the fifth season without Andy Pettitte on the roster since I was in fourth grade and the first season without him leaving a chance to return.

“I feel like he was the greatest left-handed pitcher I ever saw pitch at Yankee Stadium. I never had the chance to see Whitey (Ford) pitch, so the first person I think of is Andy.” – Ron Guidry

Imagine Ron Guidry thinking you’re a better left-hander than Ron Guidry?!?! I’m pretty sure that’s the best compliment any left-hander could ever receive, no? I mean it’s coming from the guy who had the 25-3, 1.74 season in 1978. The guy who had a 1.69 ERA in four World Series starts. The guy who won the one-game playoff in Boston on three days rest in 1978. It’s Ron Guidry! The Effing Gator! Louisiana Effing Lightning!

Pettitte went 95-42 with a 3.70 ERA at on the original side of River Ave. and 21-13 with a 3.98 ERA on this side of River Ave, so Guidry does have a case.

“I think the impact he had on the teams we had in the mid-to-late 1990′s was enormous even though he was never the guy in the spotlight. He liked the fact that he wasn’t the No. 1 guy even though I trusted him like a No. 1 guy. – Joe Torre

Pettitte became known as the No. 2 starter in the postseason and became a staple of Game 2 of the ALDS (the same Game 2 that Freddy Garcia started that Ivan Nova was originally going to start in 2011). Pettitte pitched for the Yankees for 15 seasons. Out of those 15 seasons, the Yankees went to the postseason 13 times. Out of those 13 postseasons, Pettitte started Game 2 of the ALDS 12 times. (The only time he didn’t was in 2009 when he started, and won, Game 3 of the ALDS in the sweep of the Twins.) The Yankees won nine of the 12 ALDS.

There was a point in my life where I just figured Andy Pettitte would start Game 2 of the ALDS forever and Jorge Posada would catch him and Derek Jeter would be at shortstop and Mariano Rivera would come in to close the game as if they would were ageless and their lives were timeless. Eventually I realized this wasn’t possible and by eventually I mean in 2012 when Jorge Posada said goodbye before the 2012 season.

“A person and player the caliber of Andy Pettitte does not come around often.” – Hal Steinbrenner

After the hype and the near no-hitter in 2007 and the setup season in 2009 and the 18 wins in 2010, we thought Phil Hughes would be the most recent starter the Yankees drafted and developed and kept around like Pettitte, but that didn’t work out. Before Hughes there were pitchers like Tyler Clippard and Brad Halsey and Ted Lilly and Brandon Claussen as Yankees fans waited for one non-Andy Pettitte home-grown talent to either stay with the organization or pan out and neither has happened. Pettitte became the example of what Brian Cashman and his team look to draft every year and they have yet to even come close to doing so.

“Since I’ve been retired, I’m always asked, ‘Who would you have pitch a World Series Game 7?’ And I always say, ‘Andy Pettitte.’” – Tino Martinez

Pettitte didn’t have the left-handed arsenal of CC Sabathia or the combination of velocity, a devastating slider and intimidation of Randy Johnson. He wasn’t going to go out there and pitch a perfect game or always have clean innings. But he was going to battle and grind through a start even without his best stuff. Andy Pettitte knew how to “pitch,” he knew how to win and he knew how to win when it was for everything.

“He was a fighter and all about winning, and he was respected by every person in the clubhouse.” – Mariano Rivera

The last Sunday at the Stadium in 2013 was supposed to be all about Number 42, but of course he wanted to share it with Pettitte the way they shared 72 games that Pettitte started and Rivera saved.

“Andy has been a wonderful pitcher, one of the tops the Yankees ever had. He’s always a guy you always depend on and we’re gonna miss him.” – Yogi Berra

When the guy with one World Series ring for each finger calls you “tops” and says he’ll miss you, there’s not much else to add.

“I wanted to play for the New York Yankees. That was the bottom line.” – Andy Pettitte

I will remember Andy Pettitte for shutting out the Braves for 8 1/3 innings in Game 5 of the 1996 World Series (8.1 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K).

I will remember Andy Pettitte for leaving Grady Sizemore at third following a leadoff triple with the heart of the Indians’ order coming up and the and the Yankees holding a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth in Game 2 of the 2007 ALDS.

I will remember Andy Pettitte for winning Games 1 and 5 in the 2001 ALCS (14.1 IP, 11 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 8 K) and winning the 2001 ALCS MVP.

I will remember Andy Pettitte for the 447 games, the 438 starts, the two 21-win seasons, the 219 wins and 2,020 strikeouts.

I will remember Andy Pettitte for the 44 postseason starts, the 19 postseason wins, the six ALDS wins, the seven ALCS wins and the five World Series wins.

I will remember Andy Pettitte for the stare that became an October staple for the last two decades.

I will remember Andy Pettitte for doing everything he could down the stretch in 2013 to try to extend the Yankees’ season past Game 162 by pitching to a 1.94 ERA over his last 10 starts despite being out of gas.

I will remember Andy Pettitte for being part of five championships, for building the team into what it is today and for being a major reason why I enjoy baseball and like the Yankees as much as I do today.

I’m going to miss, “Number 46 … Andy Pettitte … Number 46.”

Blogs • Yankees

Mar 31, 2010

Opening Day Butterflies

The Yankees will no longer be world champions on Sunday night They will be defending world champions. And the only thing harder than winning a championship is winning back-to-back championships.

This column was originally published on WFAN.com on March 31, 2010.

Something about this spring training coming to an end just doesn’t feel right. This spring has that feeling you get when you leave your house and feel like you forgot something, but you convince yourself you didn’t, and then when you are too far away from your house to go back, you remember what you forgot. I have figured out what has been missing from this spring training, and it’s the distress of the last eight springs.

From 2001-2008, no matter what situation the Yankees faced, I believed they would prevail in the end. But that was me being spoiled and stupid as a Yankees fan, trying to hold onto the magic from 1996-2000. Up until Luis Gonzalez fought off a cutter into shallow right field, I honestly thought the Yankees would never lose again. Winning had become routine and losing wasn’t even considered an option anymore. It’s hard for anyone who is not a Yankees fan to understand this, and trying to explain the concept to non-Yankees fans is like Ron Washington trying to explain to the Rangers front office why he failed a drug test. However, it wasn’t until they hit rock bottom in 2004 that I was able to admit that I was unsure of the next time the Yankees would be world champions.

In 2004, I didn’t even care that the Red Sox won Game 4 because I knew the series would end in Game 5. But when I left Fenway devastated after having wasted nearly all my spending money for the semester on a ticket to Game 5 with my friend Jim, thinking we were going to see the Yankees clinch the pennant in Boston, I still believed the Yankees would finish the Red Sox off in Game 6. And if not, they would certainly get the job done in Game 7.

The Yankees failed in every imaginable way from 2001-2008, and with each year removed from 2000, the offseasons lasted longer and the anxiety for another title grew larger. The Yankees slowly evolved into what the Patriots have become in the NFL, and it wasn’t until November that they were able to rid themselves of their fading image.

Every spring for the last eight springs, I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out where the holes on the team were and how Brian Cashman could fill them in order to bring the team back to glory. But this season, there are virtually no holes. The No. 4 starter had a 2.87 ERA in the National League in 2009, and the No. 7 hitter hit 30 home runs a year ago. The only thing to complain about right now is why the Yankees are opening and closing the season in Fenway Park. Aside from that, the team has an answer for everything, or at least it appears that way.

There might not be much to worry about with this team, but there is always something to worry about with every team. Any fan who is completely content with their team is lying to you and lying to themselves. To me, there are two crucial components to the success of the 2010 Yankees. While I’m not all that worried about them, there is still a cause for concern since the margin for error in the AL East is zero, and the difference between these two things working out and not working out is the difference between championship No. 28 and a third-place finish.

1. The production from 2, 20 and 42
The same way I don’t want to believe that Eric Taylor of Friday Night Lights isn’t really a high school football coach at East Dillon, I don’t want to believe that Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera will one day be bad at baseball.

Jeter is going to be 36 in June, Jorge will be 39 in August and Mariano turned 40 in November. At some point these three won’t be the same players they are going to be remembered as being. Let’s hope that never happens, but more importantly, let’s hope it doesn’t happen this year.

The Yankees are in a position in which the success of these three will likely dictate the success of the team. Since 1996, the team has made the playoffs in 13 of a possible 14 seasons. The only season they didn’t was the year when Posada appeared in only 51 games. When they are healthy the Yankees win, and it’s as simple as that.

Eventually Father Time is going to catch up with the trio, but their demise has been falsely predicted each season for the last few seasons. This year, many analysts and “experts” are jumping on the bandwagons of the Red Sox and Rays, banking on old age finally catching up with the old guard. But the “experts” have been wrong before and will likely be wrong again.

I don’t think we are at the end of the road with these three, but eventually we will be and no one knows for sure when that will be. Not only does that deeply sadden me, but it also scares me since a decline in production from Jeter, Posada and Rivera will mean the end of an era and a year without postseason baseball.

2. The bridge to Mariano
The first time I saw Joba Chamberlain fail in person was May 6, 2008. Aside from the midges in Cleveland, it was the first time Joba had every failed in the majors. Joba allowed a go-ahead three-run home run to David Dellucci at the Stadium, and then leaned over on the mound in disbelief, appearing as though he was going to throw up on his spikes after what happened. The entire stadium felt the same way. Joba had been untouchable in his career up to that point, and seeing him blow a lead was like seeing Brian Bruney hold a lead.

In 2007, the only run he allowed in the regular season was a solo home run to Mike Lowell. When Ron Guidry went to the mound to check on him following the homer, Joba reversed roles with the pitching coach. Joba patted the Gator on the back and sent him back to the dugout, assuring him that he was fine and that it wouldn’t happen again. That was the personality of Joba Chamberlain before he became a starter and before the Joba Rules were created.

Joba wants to be a starting pitcher, and he has made that very clear. Why wouldn’t he want to? That is where the glory and glamour is, and the big money as well. But will knowing that he lost his starting spot after the team tinkered with his career and arm for a year and a half cause him to be a different reliever than we know him to be? Will he still possess the personality that meant a 1-2-3 inning and an emotional outburst?

When Joba returned to the bullpen during the postseason, the aura from 2007 and the beginning of 2008 was back, and so was his fastball. It was like watching the guy get the girl at the end of a movie. Everything was the way it was supposed to be, and the result was a happy ending in the form of a championship.

The world now knows two Jobas: Reliever Joba and Starter Joba. Joba might be a reliever now, but that doesn’t necessarily make him Reliever Joba. No one knows what to expect from him as he returns to his original role with the team.

This offseason seemed to go by a lot faster than years past, which is partially due to the Yankees playing until Nov. 4 and partially due to not longing for another championship. Eight springs as the hunter and not as the hunted have made me value championships more than I did the last time the Yankees won, when I took the Subway Series win for granted.

Fans of the other 29 teams will credit the 2009 World Series to the Yankees spending $429 million last offseason, but that was just part of the process. The thousands of breaks, the vast amount of luck and the tens of injuries the team dodged made up for more than half of the pieces to the 2009 World Series puzzle.

If CC Sabathia had actually been hurt when he left in the second inning of a game against the Marlins on June 21, the new Yankee Stadium would have opened the same way the old one closed. If Phil Cuzzi doesn’t call Joe Mauer’s ground-rule double foul in Game 2 of the ALDS, and if Mike Scioscia intentionally walks A-Rod in the bottom of the ninth in Game 2 of the ALCS, maybe the Canyon of Heroes goes unused for another fall.

I have tried to cherish the 2009 season as much and as long as possible because after Josh Beckett delivers his first pitch to Derek Jeter on Sunday night, the Yankees will no longer be world champions. They will be defending world champions. And the only thing harder than winning a championship is winning back-to-back championships.

Tag: Ron Guidry

Goodbye, Andy Pettitte

Opening Day Butterflies