MLB Player Outlook: New York Yankees’ Andy Pettitte bids farewell
There are some players whose very presence on the field fills you with an inexpressible delight. It is more of a fascination to see them rendering the rival players virtually helpless and go for a strike. This fascination evinces itself in the form of enchanting
silence or deafening applause while the players unleash their intimidating weapon with phenomenal dexterity. While the tribute is paid in such glowing terms, you unsurprisingly wonder who that player is.
Andy Pettitte, the ace left-arm pitcher representing the New York Yankees long enough to have his name juxtaposed wherever the team was mentioned. Pettitte is a tremendous pitcher with enormous talent and skill. He has put in consistent performances for
the Yankees over the years. However it seems that his time in Major League Baseball has come to an end, as he announced his retirement from baseball.
The baseball world first saw this player on the April 29 in 1995 when he signed an agreement with the New York Yankees. He subsequently made his way through in the American League in 1996. It was the same year that bestowed upon him the prestigious American
League All-star, an award he deservingly got in 2001 and 2010 with ALCS Most Valuable Player of the Year in 2001. His name is associated with all types of awards and accolades befitting a player of his enormous talent.
He had an array of pitching styles from fastball to a cutter, from a curveball to a sinker, a changeup to a slider, and – impressively, a 12-6 curveball. His out, a cutter at 85-88 mph, pitch led to the collapse of several teams with a lot of ground ball
outs and double plays. His career had its prominence with a 240-138 win-loss record, with a major 3.88 ERA and 2,251 strike-outs in just over 3,055 innings.
He was an eminent part of seven American League pennant-winning teams, a pennant-winning National League team and an impressive five World Series Championship teams. His other achievements include and are not limited to, most wins in post-season history
with an astounding 19. Pettitte remains the only pitcher since 1930 to have won 12 games in each of his first seasons. Importantly, he did not have any losing season in MLB.
Pettitte also had his fair share of controversy in 2006 when his name came out in the Mitchell Report of athletes that possibly used performance enhancing drugs. He verified it by admitting to having used HGH on a couple of occasions in 2001 to help heal
his injury and not for enhancing his performance. Nevertheless, like a genuine athlete, he tendered an apology for his conduct.
Like all his contemporaries, Pettitte earned quite a bit of money which totaled into the millions of dollars. On December 2009, he re-signed with his team, the Yankees, for a staggering $11.7 million.
Many rumours about Pettitte retiring would come up from time to time, however it seems that this time it is the real deal. In 2010 Pettitte finally called it a day from baseball and made the following comment.
“I just feel like that my heart is not fully, completely sold out to do this again, and to do what I feel like I need to do as a player on the New York Yankees,” he said. “It just didn’t feel right for me anymore, didn’t have the hunger, the drive that I
felt like I needed.”
Whatever the reasons that culminated with his departure, he added immense talent and a competitive spirit second to none during his time in baseball. Pettitte’s retirement from baseball will leave a big empty space for all his fans, it can only be hoped
that one day a player with his talent emerges.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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