Hall of Fame Poll: Andy Pettitte

I was never a big fan of Andy Pettitte. For one, he was a Yankee. And I always thought he was overrated. Plus I could never remember how many Ts there were in his name.

But he did have a pretty nice career. 18 seasons. 256-153 record with a 3.85 ERA. 531 games, 521 starts. He is 40th all time in games started. He had a 60.7 bWAR, good for 60th all-time among pitchers.

He was 3rd in Rookie of the Year voting in 1995. The next year he went 21-8 with a 3.87 ERA coming in second in Cy Young voting (Pat Hentgen won it that year, in a very close vote). He would win 21 games again in 2003.

Pettitte pitched 9 seasons with the Yankees and then signed with the Astros as a free agent. After three years there he went back to the Yankees. He played there 5 years, and then ‘retired’. After sitting out the 2011 season, he went back to the Yankees for 2 more seasons. In 2013 he went 11-11 with a 3.74 ERA in 30 starts at age 41. After that he retired for good.

Andy won 5 World Series rings, 4 with the Yankees and 1 with the Astros. He holds MLB playoff records for wins (19), starts (44) and innings (276.2).

And, of course, there was some controversy. Pettitte admitted to using human growth hormones to “help recover from elbow surgery”. He said Roger Clemen’s trainer got it for him. He also said that Clemons used PEDs.

I’m curious if that effects his vote total from the Writers. He played into his 40s, which suggests he may have had more help than just recovering from elbow surgery. I wonder if he’ll be held to the same standard as Barry Bond and Clemens or if his reputation as a ‘good guy’ will win out.

Most similar careers: Dennis Eckersley is an almost exact doppelganger for Pettitee’s career. As is Mark Buehrle in fact (not included on the chart as he’s yet to go on the ballot). But all the next most comparable are not inducted — Billy Pierce, Luis Tiant, Chuck Finley, Rick Reuschel.