Andy Pettitte to retire
Andy Pettitte, the 38-year-old left hand pitcher, will announce his retirement today on 4 February, 2011 at 10:30 am E.T at Yankee Stadium. After contemplating for a few months, he has finally made his decision to spend more time at home and retire from
pitching.
Pettitte will arrange a news conference where he will declare his retirement from baseball. Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman and Manager Joe Girardi will also be attending the news conference.
Senior Vice President of the New York Yankees, Hank Steinbrenner had the following comments to say, "Andy played with a competitive spirit that brought out the best in the teams he played for, and he exemplified this franchise's commitment and will to win.
He was an anchor for the tremendous success our team has achieved since the mid-1990s.”
Pettitte is considered as a leader of postseason due to his outstanding average. His winning record is 19 wins, 42 starts and he pitched 263 innings. His overall seasons pitched are 16, out of which 13 are with the Yankees. He also won five World Series
titles for the Yankees.
In Major League History, he was the 13th man to achieve 240 wins in his career. He has such an exemplary record that his 203 victories put him on number three on the franchise history list. Whitey Ford was on first with 236 wins and Red Ruffing
on second with 231. Pettitte has 1823 strikeouts, second only to Ford.
Cashman, has said the following statement on Pettitte’s retirement issue, "He wants us to always win and be successful. He knows he'll always be a Yankee, but whether he decides to pitch again is what's at issue. He has, at this stage, decided not to pitch."
Yankees are pleased with the performance of Pettitte that they are thinking of his comeback as a pitcher again in spite of retirement.
In 2010, his pitching performance was at a respectable pace with a healthy average. He had a 1-3 Win-Loss record with a 3.28 ERA in 21 games. A left groin injury frustrated Pettitte, drastically affecting his pitching performance. After his recovery comeback,
he had an exemplary performance against the Minnesota Twins.
Pettitte joined the Yankees around the time when Derek Jeter was entering the team. Jeter stated, "It's been a pleasure to play with Andy for all these years, and the Yankees have been fortunate to have him representing the organization both on and off the
field.”
At the end of 2010, Pettitte ranked second in the record of active pitchers with 479 starts and third in innings pitched which were 3055 1/3 and third in strikeouts with 2251.
Pettitte’s overall performance will be memorable and will hold a special place in the hearts of all his fans.
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