Andy Pettitte IS a Hall of Famer
by Christina
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posted Feb 8 2011 7:17AM
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 New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte has decided to retire; the question is then asked, 'is he a Hall of Famer?' Let's for one second ignore the fact that I'm a Yankee homer and that Andy Pettitte's cleft chin has left not only opposing batters knees weak but mine as well. The simple fact is Andy Pettitte belongs in the Hall of Fame.
We judge athletes by the jewelry on their fingers and Andy Pettitte has a lot of bling. He has five championships rings. Five. We give Peyton Manning a pass after he won one. The amazing Brett Favre only has one of those rings as well. In the post-season, Pettitte was 19–10 (which is the most wins in post-season history) with a 3.83 ERA and 173 strikeouts. He also has the most starts (42) and innings pitched (263) in the post-season. He produced in the post-season, he wasn't a bum who sat on the bench.
And yes, there are more post-season games now then there were 40 years ago, there's nothing Pettitte or any other player can do about that. The numbers reflect the time and era they played.
Pettitte was no slum in the regular season either. He amassed 240 wins with only 138 losses. Sixty more wins would have looked nice to some of the voters but with a winning percentage of .635 that 300 would only be icing on the cake. He also has a 3.88 ERA (in the steroid era) with 2,251 strikeouts.
And then we come to the point that is the ONLY negative against him - steroids. In 2007, Pettitte admitted to using steroids. He said he did it to come back more quickly from an elbow injury. He has been tested for several years now since baseball implemented the new policy and has never been accused of any violation. He also hasn't deteriorated either. In 2009, he pitched on three days rest in Game 6 of the World Series and won. If the voters did the smart thing, and voted Pettitte in, he would be the first player inducted into the Hall who has openly admitted to steroids in the aptly named era. The numbers speak for themselves; he's a winner and when the Yankees needed a win they gave him the ball, if that doesn't say Hall of Famer, then I don't know what does.
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