No More Pettitte. So What?
Andy Pettitte is gone. He has signed with the Houston Astros. leaving the Yankees and most of their fans upset. Pettitte won 21 games this past season and some think that he might have become the greatest of all Yankees left-handers. The 31-year-old Pettitte has won many important games for the Yankees, both in the regular season and in the post season and there is no reason to believe that losing him won’t result in the Yankees losing games they might have won. But it could result in the Yankees winning games they might have lost.
The day the Astros announced that they had signed Pettitte, The New York Daily News summarized Andy Pettitte’s “Five Dandies,” which represented his best performances in either the World Series or playoffs. New York’s “picture newspaper” selected Game 5 of the 1996 World Series in which Pettitte beat the Braves and John Smoltz, 1-0, as his greatest clutch pitching performance. Other clutch Pettitte starts include Game 4 of the 1998 World Series which clinched the Yankees' 24th World Championship, Game 2 of the first round of the 2000 playoffs against Oakland which evened the series, Game 2 against Boston this season which evened that series, and finally, Game 2 of this year’s World Series, which got the Yankees even with the Marlins. Andy Pettitte has pitched some great games for the Yankees but many overlook the fact that he has also turned in some horrible performances in vital situations.
In his first career playoff start against Seattle in 1995, Pettitte pitched 7 innings, giving up 4 runs, 9 hits, 3 walks, and striking out no one. Nursing a 3-2 lead in the seventh inning, he gave up a one out double to Joey Cora followed by a Vince Coleman infield single that sent Cora to third. Luis Sojo promptly singled to score Cora with the tying run. Ken Griffey Jr. then hit a fly ball to left fielder Gerald Williams. Coleman scored the lead run from third but Sojo was thrown out trying to go to second, ending the inning with Seattle ahead, 4-3.
Pettitte left the game trailing but three of the greatest clutch hitters in Yankees history would get the win for the Yankees. Paul O’Neill homered off lefty Norm Charlton in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game. Ken Griffey Jr. homered in the top of the twelfth to put Seattle ahead, but Ruben Sierra doubled in the bottom of the twelfth to score pinch runner Jorge Posada (you read that right) with the tying run. Finally, in the fifteenth inning, Jim Leyritz homered to win it for the Yankees.
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