Andy Pettitte, who announced his retirement from baseball on Friday, pitched 15 seasons in the major leagues for the New York Yankees and Houston Astros. With New York, stints spread from 1995-2003 and 2007-2010, he won five World Series Championships. He has 19 postseason wins, most all-time. He finished with 240 regular-season wins, averaging 32 stars per season. But, despite his rings, clutch postseason play, and overall durability, he didn’t win a Cy Young award, was an All-Star only three times, and, most importantly, admitted to steroid use.
In 2007, Pettitte admitted to using Human Growth Hormone to recover from an elbow injury in 2002, during the heart of his prime. His admission, albeit five years after the fact, is to be applauded, considering Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds continue to deny usage when there is solid evidence against. But how long did Pettitte really take steroids? We may never know, but going from what is known it is difficult to put him in the Hall of Fame.
His postseason play, rings, and steroid usage aside, Pettitte’s numbers warrant a good look from the voters but he is by no means a shoe-in statistically. His 240 wins are nice, but he posted an ERA over four eight times and has a career-mark of 3.88. Still, he was always a pitcher who could be counted on. When he was on the hill in a big game, no matter if it took place deep into October or in the heart of summer, he tended to deliver. The 6’5″ lefthander, who covered his face with his glove as he looked in for the sign and who started his windup with a deceptive leg-kick, was good. But great? No.
The era in which he pitched is tainted. The only clean players worthy of being named to the Hall of Fame over the past 20 years are Chipper Jones, Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Ken Griffey Jr., Vladimir Guerrero, and, I would argue, Curt Schilling. That’s a solid list, but it could be a lot longer. Everyone else who would be enshrined based on statistical achievements have either admitted to steroid use or are under suspicion and deny resolving to the syringe.
There is so much surrounding Roger Clemens currently regarding his alleged steroid use that Pettitte’s can’t be overlooked. Just because he admitted using HGH doesn’t mean he should be forgiven. He looked for an unfair advantage. He didn’t play the game the right way. He says he only took it for two days. If this is the truth, that’s sad. But, even still, it attaches an asterisk next to accolades not good enough to get him in on their own merit.
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Author and owner of the Swamigp’s Sports Blog, Nick loves to write about his hometown Portland Trail Blazers as well as the Boston Red Sox. 
Agreed: Andy Pettitte is not a Hall of Famer, and it’s not even much of a discussion.
* He was a strong to terrific performer on eight pennant winning teams and five championship teams, but was the clear cut ace only in 1996.
* He produced arguably the best pitching stats on the 2000 and 2003 Yankees, and on the 2005 Astros, but on none of those teams was he the ace, or even the Most Feared Pitcher. (He was always behind Clemens, Mussina, Oswalt, and Sabathia, and in the early days, dead even with Cone and Wells.)
* He started Game 1 of the World Series twice: 1996 (lost 12-1 to Atlanta) and 2000 (no decision in a 4-3 extra innings win over the Mets).
* Won only one postseason award (2001 ALCS MVP)
* Strong postseason record (19-10, 3.83) but a mediocre WS record (5-4, 4.06)… better in the LCS than in the WS.
* Despite being on a team with the ASG manager eight times, he made only three All-Star Games.
* He was in serious Cy Young contention only once, when he finished second in ’96 to Pat Hentgen. * From 1997 to the end of his career, he was not in the discussion for top tier Greatest Pitcher Alive, always behind Clemens, Pedro, Unit, Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Kevin Brown, Wells, Mussina, and then later Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Halladay, Lincecum, Colon, Oswalt, Grienke, Webb.
* 55th all-time in wins, 48th all-time in K’s, and led his league in those stats only once (wins in ’96).
If Pettitte played his career on the Royals instead of the Yankees, we would not be having this discussion, and not for some flimsy reason like “Everyone kisses New York’s butt” or something, but because of visibility, talent, and team history. Andy Pettitte lived in our baseball conscious for 16 seasons, where he wore The Pinstripes and was surrounded by an incredible roster from position players to fellow starting pitchers to bullpen to manager to front office.
You’re always going to notice the players who hold the most space in your mind — New York Yankees do so for all of us, as do the guys in our own city. Compare Pettitte’s credentials to Mark Buehrle’s, for instance, another left hander. Buehrle has been to one more ASG in five fewer seasons. He has been the ace of the Sox staff since 2001 despite not really being an ace — only when Jose Contreras started outpitching him in 2005 was he able to settle into the #2 hole where he belongs. Buehrle has two Career Great Games — a no-hitter in 2007 and a perfecto in 2009. Pettitte has neither. Buehrle threw 27 regular season complete games in 334 starts, including one in the postseason; Pettitte threw 25 in 479, with none in the postseason. Buehrle has a Singular Postseason Moment, when, in the ’05 WS, he came in relief in the 14th inning of Game 3 to bag the save two nights after pitching seven innings in Game 2, (where, incidentally, he outpitched Pettitte, who threw six innings); Pettitte has no such Singular Postseason Moment. His ERA is just a bit better than Pettitte’s, and his win % is significantly worse, but that has a lot to do with teammates. Make Mark Buehrle a 24-year-old second-year-pitcher on the 1996 Yankees and give him Pettitte’s teammates for 16 seasons, and the title of this post is “Is Mark Buehrle a Hall of Famer? No.”
Both Pettitte and Buehrle are terrific ballplayers, the glue guys needed to help the HOFers win championships. But that does not make them HOFers themselves.
(And one last note: Frank Thomas should be included on your list of Great Players From the Steroid Era Who Did Not Use Steroids. Dude was just as big at Auburn as he was in his final seasons with the A’s and Blue Jays.)
Agreed: Andy Pettitte is not a Hall of Famer, and it’s not even much of a discussion.
* He was a strong to terrific performer on eight pennant winning teams and five championship teams, but was the clear cut ace only in 1996.
* He produced arguably the best pitching stats on the 2000 and 2003 Yankees, and on the 2005 Astros, but on none of those teams was he the ace, the Game 1 starter, or even the Most Feared Pitcher. (He was always behind Clemens, Mussina, Oswalt, and Sabathia, and in the early days, dead even with Cone and Wells.)
* He started Game 1 of the World Series twice: 1996 (lost 12-1 to Atlanta) and 2000 (no decision in a 4-3 extra innings win over the Mets).
* Won only one postseason award (2001 ALCS MVP)
* Strong postseason record (19-10, 3.83) but a mediocre WS record (5-4, 4.06)… better in the LCS than in the WS.
* Despite being on a team with the ASG manager eight times, he made only three All-Star Games.
* He was in serious Cy Young contention only once, when he finished second in ’96 to Pat Hentgen. * From 1997 to the end of his career, he was not in the discussion for top tier Greatest Pitcher Alive, always behind Clemens, Pedro, Unit, Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Kevin Brown, Wells, Mussina, and then later Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Halladay, Lincecum, Colon, Oswalt, Grienke, Webb.
* 55th all-time in wins, 48th all-time in K’s, and led his league in those stats only once (wins in ’96).
If Pettitte played his career on the Royals instead of the Yankees, we would not be having this discussion, and not for some flimsy reason like “Everyone kisses New York’s butt” or something, but because of visibility, talent, and team history. Andy Pettitte lived in our baseball conscious for 16 seasons, where he wore The Pinstripes and was surrounded by an incredible roster from position players to fellow starting pitchers to bullpen to manager to front office.
You’re always going to notice the players who hold the most space in your mind — New York Yankees do so for all of us, as do the guys in our own city. Compare Pettitte’s credentials to Mark Buehrle’s, for instance, another left hander. Buehrle has been to one more ASG in five fewer seasons. He has been the ace of the Sox staff since 2001 despite not really being an ace — only when Jose Contreras started outpitching him in 2005 was he able to settle into the #2 hole where he belongs. Buehrle has two Career Great Games — a no-hitter in 2007 and a perfecto in 2009. Pettitte has neither. Buehrle threw 27 regular season complete games in 334 starts, including one in the postseason; Pettitte threw 25 in 479, with none in the postseason. Buehrle has a Singular Postseason Moment, when, in the ’05 WS, he came in relief in the 14th inning of Game 3 to bag the save two nights after pitching seven innings in Game 2, (where, incidentally, he outpitched Pettitte, who threw six innings); Pettitte has no such Singular Postseason Moment. His ERA is just a bit better than Pettitte’s, and his win % is significantly worse, but that has a lot to do with teammates. Make Mark Buehrle a 24-year-old second-year-pitcher on the 1996 Yankees and give him Pettitte’s teammates for 16 seasons, and the title of this post is “Is Mark Buehrle a Hall of Famer? No.”
Both Pettitte and Buehrle are terrific ballplayers, the glue guys needed to help the HOFers win championships. But that does not make them HOFers themselves.
(And one last note: Frank Thomas should be included on your list of Great Players From the Steroid Era Who Did Not Use Steroids. Dude was just as big at Auburn as he was in his final seasons with the A’s and Blue Jays.)
Even with guys like Jim Rice in the hall, I agree that Andy is not HOF caliber. He’s Hall of Very Good, but the bar is going to have to be lowered another notch or two before he gets in without paid admission.