Pettitte to announce retirement

[nevadaO]

Per Rosenthal:

Andy Pettitte will announce retirement Friday, according to @kayshowESPN (Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay). #MLB

and Heyman:

Pettitte has informed the yankees he's calling it quits

All from Michael Kay apparently. Hopefully this sinks the Yankees even further!

[Don Quixote]

This would be great.

[BaltimoreTerp]

Andy Pettitte Appreciation Thread! :clap3:

I'll miss getting a close-up of his boogers every October.

[sakata_catching]

Andy Pettitte Appreciation Thread! :clap3:

I'll miss getting a close-up of his boogers every October.

I can only hate the guy so much after he rolled over on Clemens.

[beaner]

Man, did he own the Orioles or what? Won't be too upset not seeing him face us anymore..

Good luck to him, seemed like a decent guy for the most part.

[BaltimoreTerp]

Hardballtalk brought up an interesting question today in asking whether he's a Hall-of-Famer: How many of the same writers making insinuations about Jeff Bagwell and others will completely ignore Pettitte's admitted PED use when it comes to voting in five years?

[beaner]

Hardballtalk brought up an interesting question today in asking whether he's a Hall-of-Famer: How many of the same writers making insinuations about Jeff Bagwell and others will completely ignore Pettitte's admitted PED use when it comes to voting in five years?

Great point, though the players who have come forward (even though they were basically forced to) have been pretty much been forgiven (with the exception of Rodriguez). Interesting call.

[BaltimoreTerp]

Great point, though the players who have come forward (even though they were basically forced to) have been pretty much been forgiven (with the exception of Rodriguez). Interesting call.

And McGwire.

But if the point of those writers is to keep PEDs out, to the point of accusing those with little-to-no evidence and refusing them votes, they would destroy their credibility.

[beaner]

And McGwire.

But if the point of those writers is to keep PEDs out, to the point of accusing those with little-to-no evidence and refusing them votes, they would destroy their credibility.

Mcgwire too, though him saying he didn't think steroids helped him probably didn't help his cause.

Agree with every word of your second point.

[ShaneDawg85]

As an Orioles fan, I'm certainly happy to see him go and not have to face him anymore. As a baseball fan, he was a good, at times great pitcher in an offensive era. I'm still not sure in my mind if he's a Hall of Famer, but that's neither here nor there. He was a good one.

[Blizzard1090]

YES!!! Goodbye Yankees!!!

[MurphDogg]

Hardballtalk brought up an interesting question today in asking whether he's a Hall-of-Famer: How many of the same writers making insinuations about Jeff Bagwell and others will completely ignore Pettitte's admitted PED use when it comes to voting in five years?

Except Pettitte isn't a slam dunk HOF like Bagwell is (or should be). Pettitte is borderline in that he didn't compile enough numbers to get in on that alone nor was he ever a can't miss pitcher who had an incredible peak of 3-5 seasons. He was a very good pitcher who had 3 great seasons. If I had a vote Pettitte wouldn't get it, and I don't consider PED use at all in judging Hall of Famers. The best that you can say about Pettitte is that he was about three quarters as good as Mike Mussina but he won a bunch of rings. I don't think that is enough to get him into the Hall.

Edit: Even the posters at NYYFans don't think he is a Hall of Famer, here is their take on it: http://forums.nyyfans.com/showthread.php/126348-Pettitte-Hall-of-Famer

[Frobby]

Andy Pettitte was overrated, but still a classy guy and a good competitor.

He had an undeserved reputation as a great big-game pitcher. His postseason ERA was 3.83, and 4.06 in the World Series. Mike Mussina, who somehow got the reputation of being "not clutch," had a 3.42 postseason ERA, 3.00 in the World Series. But, Mussina had poor playoff run support while Pettitte's was excellent, so Pettitte's 19-10 postseason W-L outshines Mussina's 7-8. That's the way the cookie crumbles.

Nonetheless, Pettitte was a very solid no. 2 starter on an excellent team for a really long time. He carried himself with class and dignity. And boy, did he dominate the Orioles, to the tune of 27-6, 3.52 ERA.

Yankees fans willl miss him, deservedly so. Orioles fans, not so much.

[Palmoripken]

He was one of the few Yankees I didn't really hate. Yeah he beat us a lot over the years but he never bothered me the way their merc players did. This makes me feel old though since I remember when Pettite came up as a rookie in the 1995 season.

[Blizzard1090]

I can only hate the guy so much after he rolled over on Clemens.

I don't view it as rolling over on him so much as refusing to go to jail for someone else. There is nothing backstabbing or dishonorable about that.

While I hate Pettitte for kicking our butts, I won't fault him for putting his welfare first.