trickywhiteguy
07-23-2006, 02:11 AM
Pettitte ponders his future
BY ROGER RUBIN
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Andy Pettitte
He has won 180 games, has two 20-win seasons and twice has been named to the All-Star team. His teams have always reached the postseason and he's played in seven World Series and been a champion four times. Andy Pettitte isn't through his 12th big league season and already he's had a career that almost anyone would envy.
Three years ago, when he left the Yankees to sign with his hometown Astros, Bombers fans couldn't imagine what their club would look like without him. Now that his contract is about to expire, Pettitte finds himself imagining life without baseball. "I can't say that I feel I'm 100% sure I want to play next year and I can't say I'm definitely not going to play," Pettitte said yesterday. "I have no idea. I really don't even know if I want to play.
"I don't know where I'm at on anything. I wish I had more answers," said Pettitte, who will not face the Mets this weekend. Playing his first nine seasons with the Yankees, Pettitte enjoyed plenty of success, albeit with a price. He has started more postseason games than any other pitcher. In 34 playoff starts he's thrown 212 innings - basically an entire extra season crammed into the 11 he'd already played - and is 14-9 with a 4.08 ERA.
"All my close friends that I talk to about it, it's exactly what they say: I don't think there's any way possible I'd feel like this if I didn't have all the success I had," said Pettitte, who will have made more than $75 million playing baseball by the end of the year. "I don't know that, but I wouldn't think I'd feel this way. I've been to seven World Series now. I definitely think that contributes. I had an opportunity to play a lot, every year in the postseason. I don't know if that has something to do with it, the wear and tear. I guess I just look at it different from a lot of other guys.
"I signed a three-year deal. I wanted to play three years. I didn't want to play longer than that when I signed."
All those playoff innings may have contributed to the injury he suffered early in 2004, a torn flexor tendon that ultimately halted his season in August and had to be repaired surgically. Pettitte, 34, came back last year to team with Roger Clemens and Roy Oswalt in a devastating rotation that carried Houston to its first postseason series victory and first World Series. He was - as he always was in pinstripes - the unsung hero. He was 17-9 with a 2.39 ERA that was the best of his career.
"When I left New York my whole goal in life was to try to help the Houston Astros first win a playoff series and then second, win a World Series or at least get to one," said Pettitte, who is 8-10 with a 5.08 ERA this season. "We were able to do that last year. I wish we were able to win it. So now my goal is to try to help this team win a World Series. That's what's keeping me going."
BY ROGER RUBIN
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Andy Pettitte
He has won 180 games, has two 20-win seasons and twice has been named to the All-Star team. His teams have always reached the postseason and he's played in seven World Series and been a champion four times. Andy Pettitte isn't through his 12th big league season and already he's had a career that almost anyone would envy.
Three years ago, when he left the Yankees to sign with his hometown Astros, Bombers fans couldn't imagine what their club would look like without him. Now that his contract is about to expire, Pettitte finds himself imagining life without baseball. "I can't say that I feel I'm 100% sure I want to play next year and I can't say I'm definitely not going to play," Pettitte said yesterday. "I have no idea. I really don't even know if I want to play.
"I don't know where I'm at on anything. I wish I had more answers," said Pettitte, who will not face the Mets this weekend. Playing his first nine seasons with the Yankees, Pettitte enjoyed plenty of success, albeit with a price. He has started more postseason games than any other pitcher. In 34 playoff starts he's thrown 212 innings - basically an entire extra season crammed into the 11 he'd already played - and is 14-9 with a 4.08 ERA.
"All my close friends that I talk to about it, it's exactly what they say: I don't think there's any way possible I'd feel like this if I didn't have all the success I had," said Pettitte, who will have made more than $75 million playing baseball by the end of the year. "I don't know that, but I wouldn't think I'd feel this way. I've been to seven World Series now. I definitely think that contributes. I had an opportunity to play a lot, every year in the postseason. I don't know if that has something to do with it, the wear and tear. I guess I just look at it different from a lot of other guys.
"I signed a three-year deal. I wanted to play three years. I didn't want to play longer than that when I signed."
All those playoff innings may have contributed to the injury he suffered early in 2004, a torn flexor tendon that ultimately halted his season in August and had to be repaired surgically. Pettitte, 34, came back last year to team with Roger Clemens and Roy Oswalt in a devastating rotation that carried Houston to its first postseason series victory and first World Series. He was - as he always was in pinstripes - the unsung hero. He was 17-9 with a 2.39 ERA that was the best of his career.
"When I left New York my whole goal in life was to try to help the Houston Astros first win a playoff series and then second, win a World Series or at least get to one," said Pettitte, who is 8-10 with a 5.08 ERA this season. "We were able to do that last year. I wish we were able to win it. So now my goal is to try to help this team win a World Series. That's what's keeping me going."