There has never been a player in my lifetime that proved the “know what you have until it's gone” mantra better than Andy Pettitte. See, for years, I was a lot like former owner George Steinbrenner, who never seemed all that enraptured by Pettitte. He was good, of course, but he wasn't “great,” and New York is about “great.” Pettitte was always somewhat of an afterthought. There was David Cone and David Wells pitching perfect games and coming up big in big games. There was the arrival of Roger Clemens, argueably one of the top five pitchers in the history of the game (until the whole steroids era was flushed out). There was El Duque, Orlando Hernandez, with his quirky delivery, his slow-motion breaking ball, and his ability to fool the best hitters in the biggest games.
Through it all was Andy, in the background, taking the mound every fifth day, getting hitters out.
Andy didn't strike a lot of guys out. He didn't pitch two-hitters. He didn't finish the season with eye-popping results. He just won.
Unfortunately, on a team that “just won,” his consistency seemed boring. There was no flash there, no pomp and circumstance that surrounded his game. He was just there, doing his job, and doing it at a very good clip.
Of course there was the Game 5 in the 1996 World Series, the duel with John Smoltz where Pettitte blanked the Braves to send the Yankees home with an improbable three games to two lead in a series where they had dropped the first two contests at home. It was his signature moment. In fact, it remains his signature moment. But, it wasn't enough to outshine all the stars and personalities that surrounded him.
After the 2003 season, the Yankees let Pettitte go. The details are sketchy. The Yankees and Brian Cashman insist that Andy wanted to return home to Houston and play closer to his family. Pettitte has made it clear he never felt wanted by the Yankees and didn't return because no offer was ever made. The Yankees state they made an offer. Who knows the truth. All we do know is that the Yankees, and George Steinbrenner, had the same view of Pettitte as I did: good but not good enough to break the bank over. If he left, no big deal.
Now, I didn't want Pettitte to go. I didn't understand why the Yankees weren't willing to offer one of their own a contract. But, if I am being honest, I wasn't devastated. This wasn't Derek Jeter or Mariano Rivera. This wasn't an iconic Yankee. This wasn't someone who was irreplaceable. I would have liked to have had Pettitte back, but life goes on.
Besides, the Yankees, before the 2004 season, made a bunch of splashy moves that had all Yankee fans, like me, admiring the shiny new toys in the Steinbrenner collection.
There was Kevin Brown, the veteran righty who broke bats with his devastating sinker. There was Javier Vazquez, one of the bright young pitching stars in the game, who had wallowed in obscurity in Montreal long enough. Then, of course, there was Alex Rodriguez, the $260 million man, considered the best player in the game at that time, who was coming over to play third base for the Bombers because no one was moving Jeter from his perch at short stop.
Pettitte was gone but, let's face it, who was gonna miss him?
If you're a Yankee fan, or (gulp) a Red Sox fan, you know what happened in 2004. The Yankees murdered the Red Sox in three straight games in the ALCS. Then, performed one of the most infamous choke jobs in the history of the sport, losing four straight, including a disasterous game 7 where the new and shiny Yankee toys, Kevin Brown, Javier Vazquez, and Alex Rodriguez, all helped in the collossal failure.
It was one of the most heartbreaking loses and Yankee history, one to this day I have a hard time believing happened, but it did, and when the final out was recorded, and the Sox celebrated their ALCS victory on the mound at Yankee Stadium, the first thing I thought was “this wouldn't have happened if Andy Pettitte were here.”
He returned in 2007 and played in Pinstripes four more years, winning another World Series, and never, not once, having to deal with a fanbase ungrateful for his efforts. We had seen life without Andy Pettitte. We had seen what a series, what a season, could look like without someone with grit, guts, a will to win, and an ability to just go out there and “get the job done.” What had seemed boring in his first go-around with the Yankees was suddenly an exilar for all that ailed a group that looked more like a fantasy team than a championship squad.
Between 1996 and 2003 I must have seen Pettitte pitch 20 times. It was just the way the schedule would work out. When my buddies and I would pick a game to attend, driving down from Connecticut for the day, it always seemed to fall on the day Pettitte was scheduled to take the mound. It became a running joke for our group.
“Who's pitching?” one would ask.
“I don't know, but good money is on Pettitte,” the other would respond.
“God, anyone but Pettitte.”
That's the way we felt.
Now, in 2011, I treasure having seen him as much as I did and wish, fervently, I had a few more opportunities before now.
Pettitte is officially retired. He is leaving the game the way most great players should, on his own terms and still in demand. At 38, the Yankees wanted him back. More than that, they needed him back. But Pettitte felt the pull of family more keenly now than he ever did before, and he decided to call it quits. Good for him.
Conversation has already begun about the Yankees' shaky rotation going into 2011 and columnists have already bantered around about Pettitte's Hall of Fame credentials. Those debates should be saved for another day. What this does to the Yankees now, and what chances Pettitte has of going to Cooperstown in five years, has no bearing on the days events.
Today, Yankee fans everywhere should simply say “thank you.” Pettitte conducted his life, and his career, with class. Even his poor decision to use steroids to help heal from an injury was handled with dignity and honesty, and true remorse, even though Pettitte was never accused of using the drug to enhance his own performance or change his body, the way so many of his contemporaries had done.
Pettitte was a big-game pitcher in a city that demands big-time performances. He was a top-flight pitcher and person.
For a Louisiana boy who called Texas home, Pettitte will forever be viewed as a New Yorker. He won over a city that is used to bright lights and big personalities with quiet consistency and grace. And he won, period.
So, from a very grateful Yankee fan, who never realized how important Pettitte was until he was gone, I say “thank you” and good luck in your retirement.
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