With concerns about how his back would hold up and whether he fully recuperated from a groin injury that sidelined him for two months, Andy Pettitte entered this postseason as one of the question marks in the New York Yankees starting rotation. But what makes Pettitte special is there’s only one thing he does when the calendar flips to October: win.
In seven innings of work against the Minnesota Twins in Game 2 of the American League Divisional Series, Pettitte surrendered only two runs on five hits to add to his record total of victories in the postseason (19). More importantly though, Pettitte’s solid outing propelled the Yankees to a commanding 2-0 lead over the Twins with the series heading back to Yankee Stadium for Game 3 Saturday evening.
So, in New York’s last five postseason appearances (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010), all Pettitte has done is go 9-2 with an ERA of 2.99 and 84 strikeouts in 102.5 innings pitched. This includes three series-clinching wins in last year’s postseason, to bring his record total to six, in the Yankees’ run to their 27th World Series Championship.
Detractors will certainly point to Pettitte’s playoff record totals in victories (19), series-clinching wins (6), starts (41) and innings pitched (256.0) resulting from his good fortune of being a member of the New York Yankees. However, this doesn’t change the fact that Pettitte consistently produces, when the stakes are the highest, without the velocity of an Aroldis Chapman or the dynamic stuff of a Stephen Strasburg.
What Pettitte has managed to do over the course of his postseason career is become a master of the ‘game within the game’; utilizing a combination of his brain, his heart and his will to continually confound lineup after lineup in spite of his advancing age and declination in athletic prowess.
For these reasons, whether it was in his prime or in his current twilight, Pettitte should be considered as vital to the Yankees’ recent championship runs (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2009) as Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera; arguably justifying Pettitte’s claim to the mantle of this generation’s Mr. October.
In addition, when his regular season and postseason numbers are laid out on the table, there should be little question that Pettitte is worthy of induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. After all, Hall of Fame hurlers such as Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax, and Whitey Ford amassed fewer victories than Pettitte has in the regular season (240) and their respective postseason resumés aren’t nearly as impressive. But Pettitte’s Hall of Fame worthiness is and will be a subject for another discussion.
For the time being, his quiet brilliance should be applauded and appreciated each time the venerable 38-year-old takes the mound because this could very well be the final go-around for Pettitte in pinstripes or any other baseball uniform for that matter.
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Yankees' Andy Pettitte Is This Generation's Mr. October
