Is Any Pettitte A Hall Of Famer?

February 4, 2011 will forever be a sad day in Yankees nation. The day Andy Pettitte officially would announce his retirement from the only game he's ever known. After 16 incredible years of playing baseball, Pettitte couldn’t find it in him to pitch another season in pinstripes.

The question now is whether or not Andy Pettitte deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Reflecting on his brilliant albeit controversial at times career, Pettitte certainly has an argument why he deserves to have his name placed amongst the greats at Cooperstown New York.

Let’s set aside the HGH controversy and focus just on the stats aspect of this argument. At 240 wins and 138 losses Pettitte surpasses some of great left handed pitchers in the Hall of Fame today. Notably Whitey Ford, Sandy Koufax, Hal Newhouser. Pettitte is also currently ranked 55th all-time in wins. Pettitte would have 20 plus wins twice and 19 wins once during his tenure.

His career ERA is 3.88 but one must take into account he pitched during the steroid era where it wasn’t uncommon to see a 2nd baseman belt 40 jacks a year. He still managed to have an ERA under 3.00 twice during his career. While he notched 2,251 strikeouts during his career, he never cracked 200 in any particular season. Pettitte was the standard of consistency as he would pitch over 200 innings ten times in 16 seasons.

Pettitte would be an all-star three times. His greatest claim to fame would be his 19 career post-season wins, which is currently first all-time. This stat is a bit skewed seeing that the playoffs have been expanded over generations, but still remarkable to say the least. He is a 5-time World Series winner and played in 8 total. Pettitte is also the all-time winningest pitcher of the 2000s. Combine this with the fact that he is the first pitcher since 1930 to win at least 12 games in his first nine season’s shows he has the accolades to be considered to the Hall of Fame.

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Andy Pettitte is considered to be a moral man amongst his peers and the media. This being said, his admittance to PED use will have a hindrance in him being elected to the Hall of Fame. Although, this may not keep him out due to the fact he claimed he only used it in 2002 when he was injured because he felt an obligation to return to his team quickly as possible.

This in conjunction with his accolades and stats may be enough to elect Pettitte. If he could have mustered up enough energy and passion to play one or two more seasons, he may have finished with over 260 wins and 2500 strikeouts thus propelling him to the Hall of Fame.

Unfortunately this may not be enough, add to the fact voters have said they will never vote for a PED user to the Hall of Fame, the road to Cooperstown is looking bleak for Andy Pettitte.

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