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Pitching: 287 points League leaders: 5 points (wins) Postseason bonus: 10 points Greatest pickoff move ever: 15 points It was a balk: minus-5 points PED admission: minus-??? points Probably not the best lefty ever from Louisiana (Ron Guidry, Chuck Finley, Vida Blue): 0 points Hall of Fame Race to 400...
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Someone said something that makes a lot of sense to me: Mike Mussina is the pitcher Andy Pettitte’s fans think Pettitte was. He’s got this mythical, big game reputation built around him, but his posteason ERA is just okay (3.81) and in truth, there was usually someone better on the staff. (Cone, Clemens, Mussina, Sabathia, even El Duque and David Wells at times.)
Of course it was a balk
No one would be talking about Pettitte if he played for the Padres. He benefits from being on a team with a nickname.
People really don’t seem to get that a team full of borderline players, or high-peak-fell-off players, is better than a team with a many Hall of Famers and a bunch of scrubs. Those Yankees teams were loaded with Hall of Very Good players and that’s why they dominated. But we don’t like to hear that. We like individual heroes.
And on those teams, Cone > Pettitte. But Cone didn’t come up in the Yankee farm system and he doesn’t have the nickname, and he wasn’t someone sportswriters tried to make into a character narrative, so he was one and done.
“And on those teams, Cone > Pettitte. But Cone didn’t come up in the Yankee farm system and he doesn’t have the nickname, and he wasn’t someone sportswriters tried to make into a character narrative, so he was one and done.”
A fate that might very well befall Pettitte, considering the early results. Either way, he’s not earning even moderate HOF traction
Exactly. If Pettitte had played for anyone else, he’d be just another guy. One who balked a lot.
If I ever have discussions about pickoff moves, Pettitte’s name always comes up, and I invariably tell people that it was the most blatant balk, as he stepped about 2 feet towards home on every pick throw, and rarely got called.
So, I laughed when I read the “Best pickoff move – 15 points” / “It was a balk – minus 5” because it is perfect.
I wonder if Pettite ever encountered “Balk a Day” Bob Davidson. While he was in the National League for a while, after losing his job, he was on the MLB rotation. That would have been something. Davidson never saw a balk he didn’t like. Even balks that nobody else saw. It would kind of be like if an NBA ref made it his personal mission to call traveling according to the rules. That partially explains why Davidson was so unpopular with the players. That, and that he was confrontational “ass”.
Pettitte got called for all of 11 balks in his career, so I’m guessing not.
That might be the most amazing stat on the Andy Pettitte page. If you had told me that he balked 11 times a *season* on average I would have believed it.
It’s kind of funny that Oswalt and Pettitte are on the same day, since they are each roughly 1/2 of a hall-of-famer, and they are exact complements to each other. If you combine Oswalt’s peak and Pettitte’s longevity, you basically get Tom Glavine.
Considering that, because of my age, the first and defining thought I have when I think of “postseason baseball” is a zoomed-in shot of Andy Pettitte’s nostrils, I have a feeling that the postseason stuff is going to have a big impact, be it on the ballot or in the veterans’ committee in the near future.
I love this comment so much. Those Fox facial close-ups were absolutely absurd in that era.
I don’t understand why you are so dismissive of Mark Buehrle’s chances of getting into the Hall. I don’t know that it will happen, and he is borderline, but considering his accomplishments, I think he has a better shot than you acknowledge. Career record: 214-160, World Series champion, 5 All Stars, 4 Gold Gloves (which is probably too low given his fielding ability), a no-hitter and a perfect game, led the league in WHIP in 2001, led the league in complete games in 2015, led the league in IP twice, career b-WAR of 60.3. He didn’t have any Cy Young awards or MVP consideration which will hurt, but I never put much weight in that. Overall, he seems like the kind of guy who could spend a lot of time on the ballot and then eventually get voted in at the end of his time on the ballot.
Buehrle made a couple spectacular defensive plays against the Tribe . When he kept the ball in the yard, he was very tough. Not sure if he is a HOFer, but definitely worth talking about.
Here are the results of the four pitchers who appeared on a ballot in the last 15 years with a bWAR between 58-63:
Finley (58.1): one-and-done
Saberhagen (59): one-and-done
Pettitte: (60.3): Currently at 6.9% of the vote.
Cone (62.4): one-and-done