Andy Pettitte Announces His Retirement

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Lefty hurler releases statement today

According to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte announced his retirement earlier today, effective at the end of this season. Joel Sherman of the New York Post had tweeted earlier today that a statement would be released by the team and added that he had a pair of sources indicate Pettitte was set to hang up the cleats.

In reading some of Sherman’s tweets after the statement was released, Pettitte cited being exhausted “mentally and physically”.

This all sets up in a peculiar way. Think about all of this. Pettitte’s last start in Yankee Stadium will now be the Yanks’ final home game of the season. THat happens to coincide with the “celebration” set for Mariano Rivera‘s retirement. Dare they set the table for two now? Pettitte addressed this:

"“One of the things I struggled with in making this announcement now was doing anything to take away from Mariano’s day on Sunday. It is his day. He means so much to me, and has meant so much to my career that I would just hate to somehow take the attention away from him.”"

Also of note is that Pettitte’s final start will take place at Minute Maid Park when the Yankees face the Astros, the only other team in which Pettitte has toed the slab. Add to the irony is that Pettitte played at Deer Park High School in Deer Park, Texas.

Pettitte was one of several players named in the Mitchell Report. The information on Pettitte was received from Brain McNamee, a former Yankee trainer. Pettitte verified McNamee’s claim by admitting to using HGH twice in 2002, saying he (Petitte) felt an obligation to return to the team as quickly as possible, but denied any further use.

Until February 13, 2008, that is. In an affidavit made public which was part of a hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Governmental Reform, Pettitte confessed to additional HGH injections twice in one day in 2004. Pettitte cited he obtained the HGH via prescription for his seriously ill father. Pettitte also recalled being told by former teammate Roger Clemens in 1999 or 2000 that Clemens also received injections of HGH, leading to the now infamous quote that Pettitte “misremembered”.

Pettitte is MLB’s postseason’s winningest pitcher, going 19-11 in the 44 postseason games he has started. He never took home a Cy Young Award, but did finish second in 1996. Pettitte has also never had a W-L record below .500 for any season in his career. In 2008, he finished with a record of 14-14 and is 10-10 this year.