Pettitte reveals what happened last season
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Feb 13, 2009 
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
Andy Pettitte said today “he needed some help from the trainer” to make his final 10 starts last season. That’s baseball-player speak for cortisone shots.
He was 2-6 with a 5.43 ERA in those games.
“My shoulder, for whatever reason, just broke down,” Pettitte said. With the Yankees in contention, he kept taking the ball. That shows two things: Pettitte has a lot of guts and the Yankees didn’t have a lot of faith in anybody else.
Pettitte said he focused on strengthening his shoulder this winter and that several examinations revealed no structural damage. While he remains concerned something will happen, he knows he has done everything he can to prevent it.
Meanwhile …
— It would not be a surprise if Kevin Cash makes the team. The Yankees may need to carry three catchers for a few weeks if Jorge Posada is going to be brought along slowly.
— Dave Robertson’s older brother Connor is with the Mets. He’s a right-handed reliever, too. If they make the team, they’ll share a place in the city. “Two hillbillies in Manhattan,” said Robertson, who is from Alabama.
— The Yankees were going to have A-Rod met the press on Tuesday in the dugout to try and make it more informal. But expect a full-fledged press conference instead. The main reason? Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte want to attend. Having Those With Rings on hand will provide support, both real and symbolic.
The first workout is tomorrow. Check back then for more from Tampa.
There you go, another baseball post. Now it’ll be 10 seconds before Dave or somebody else rips the media or Selena Roberts or the union. Or all three.
You guys have fun, I’ll be back tomorrow morning.
Thanks for all of the info Pete.
I was home for most of the day and could keep up with the posts. (The work police have put a block, something called Barracuda, on the blog so I can’t check in during the workday; how rotten!)
Have a good dinner and evening, Pete.
“My shoulder, for whatever reason, just broke down,” Pettitte said. With the Yankees in contention, he kept taking the ball.
=========================================================
That’s what Andy learned from Pavano’s guts.
Why dave or somebody else?? I didnt realize i WAS the only one talking about this story. Quick call every major news outlet in NY and NJ and tell them that i AM THE only one who is supposed to be talking about this. It is you – pete who is spurning it on or whoever is telling you to talk to girardi about this thing for a half an hour in spring training. Or whoever is telling 1050 and wfan to talk about arod for 24/7. How you can spend a huge chunk of your time down there talking about the arod situation and then, expect us fans not to talk about it when the media talks about nothing else is ridiculous.
Sorry that you share the same profession as selena so you feel the need to defend her every move.Luckly, I have the freedom to think for myself and realize that the article was one thing but writing an entire book on the guy when he is already in the gutter just seems wrong to me. Maybe when your peers take a second to think instead of screaming at arod, they would actually come up with something intelligent to say. Arod destroyed the game of baseball is getting a little old, dont ya think??
I remember the Daily News or something had a story last season that Andy was injured and might miss a few starts. He didn’t miss any starts, but I guess the story regarding some sort of injury was correct.
Hopefully a better and healthier 2009 season for Andy and everyone with the Yankees
How is school going dave?
Having Those With Rings on hand will provide support, both real and symbolic.
Uh oh. Mid-Sentence Capitalization.
Kevin Cash can’t hit a lick. They cannot afford to have him make the team. If Cervelli is healthy, he’s a better option and he’s already on the 40.
Good luck to the Yanks with the A-Rod presser. There is not enough lipstick for that pig.
“Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte want to attend. Having Those With Rings on hand will provide support, both real and symbolic.”
I think if that’s the case, it’s pretty clear he’s a “real Yankee.” Jeter. Mo and those guys are a much better indicator of that than anything we as fans can say.
I hope Andy gets the opportunity to miss a couple of starts for health sake this season. I hope that he doesn’t have to be in the position to have to take the ball because there is literally no one left to do so.
Andy’s a gamer and always has been and it’s one of the reasons that I have always like him and am so glad they worked out their differences.
Re-post from the previous thread:
Andy for the last three months of 2008:
July: 6 starts, 38 innings, 4.74 ERA
August: 6 starts, 37 innings, 5.84 ERA
Sep/Oct: 4 starts, 22.2 innings, 4.76 ERA
dave, do you think Igawa or Kennedy would have been that good? I myself am dubious.
Andy did what a tough, team player would do, he went out there and pitched because he thought the Yanks needed him. And IMO the Yanks did need him. And I am sure Andy thought every time he took the mound he would do OK, whatever the actual results turned out to be.
To me, that’s a guy I want on my team.
i am taking a break from studying but I think i got to get back to it. i HAD my first final today for the block and it was absolutely ridiculous. I hope i come out of the next three feeling a little more positive. Thanks for asking though.
I think Andy’s greatest sin in the eyes of some of his detractors is that he’s not Ben Sheets. Another sad, sad commentary.
i agree with dave.
Dave,
Stop walking away when I’m talking to you!
repost:
m
February 13th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
dave,
You just walked into your own trap. If you think the team was so far out of it, then what’s the harm of Andy pitching? He pitched until it they mathematically eliminated. Mo pitched until then, too. Did his MRI and still came back to pitch at old Yankee Stadium. Then it lined up so that Andy could pitch the last home game at old Yankee Stadium. He did well, and it was a beautiful, poignant night.
The problem, I believe, is that for many people there’s a disconnect between the stats and what players, managers, and GMs have to face on a daily basis. Baseball decisions, not math problems. It’s baseball, not a numbers game.
dave February 13th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
i am taking a break from studying but I think i got to get back to it. i HAD my first final today for the block and it was absolutely ridiculous. I hope i come out of the next three feeling a little more positive. Thanks for asking though.
========================================
Good luck on your finals. I’m sure you did fine on your first one today.
Gotta go.
dave, good luck on your exams, see the light on Andy and, for what it’s worth, as far as I’m concerned feel free to continue to post about steroids etc.
it says a lot of the yankees clubhouse if jeter mo posada and andy want to be with arod (the social outcast)…it should prove to be quite emotional
dave -
good luck on your finals. You’ve got all of us here pulling for you!
Wave,
I obviously cant say for sure what igawa would have done if called up but that era averages out to the mid 5s. And his record was awful. Pete, posted that he went 2-6 . I thought it was even worse than that down the stretch but maybe not.
But the thing is there is being brave and then, there is being stupid and often, people dont know when they have crossed that line. Sometimes, people think they will play no matter what because the alternative would be worse. And most of the time they are right – Igawa probably would have put up an era in the 6s and maybe won 0 games instead of 2.
But there is two things that i DONT know for sure but would want them to consider before deciding to go forward with this decision. One, how far out of the playoff hunt were they when pettitte was in real pain? I remember them being out for quite some time before the season actually ended but I dont recall an actual date. Pettitte’s last start of the season was sept 21 and he pretty much made one start ever five days from august 5 to september 21. I know for sure that we were not even capable of making the playoffs for part of that time – why did they risk it?
And that brings me to my second question – how severe was the injury? And what were the chances that pitching through it would result in serious structural damage. The last thing andy needs at the end of 2008 is major shoulder surgery. I mean he is already at the tail end of his career anyway so he has something like that, he is probably forced to just retire. And clearly the risk was not zero. Why would andy try to stretch himself out to september 21st facing that kind of risk when we werent even in a playoff race for some of that time. i JUST think that is being stupid right there- Andy, Joe, the trainers.
Two hillbillies in Manhattan is a great line. Hope they stay out of trouble.
The best line of the day must be one that Pete is saving for the paper – Pettitte apparently said that he never seriously entertained the thought of playing for another team, and “The running joke with some of my friends was that I was going to pay the Yankees to come back.”
http://weblogs.newsday.com/spo.....kees/blog/
Some perspective and a thought on all the sometimes lengthy posts- this is for Pete and the people who complain -
This is for some of us the only place to vent or rant or opine (sometimes excessively) about all that is Yankees. I have a wonderful husband, who is a Yankees fan, but even I can see that his eyes glaze over after a few minutes of what goes on here.
Let’s be kind to each other.
From july 26th to the end of the season, andy was 2 and 7. Fact is, we didnt know that number before hand and andy clearly felt like he could do better but that was not andy pitching down the stretch. That was injured andy who is worse than a lot of other mediocre pitchers. I am just wondering what day were we so far out of the playoffs that it didnt even matter? I thought it was a good while before the actual end of the season.
“there is being brave and then, there is being stupid and often, people dont know when they have crossed that line.”
That goes for posting on LoHud too!
Thanks everyone – I just saw most of your good luck posts – they are much appreciated!
Wave and M,
I dont think kei would have been quite as good but the difference would have been negligible. Andy put up a mid 5 the lat 10 starts or so. Kei would likely put up a low 6 or so. hE put up a 6.25 in 68 innings in 2007 so Im going to assume about a 6 with his work in AAA factored in. So andy was 5.5 and kei about 6. I know we are substituting a better pitcher for a worse one but you guys are completely ignoring the fact that pettitte may have gotten seriously injured – that is why you dont pitch with shoulder problems. i THINK what he did was brave and admirable but i also think it was a bit dangerous and probably stupid. But to be fair, i AM surprised girardi let him push through it and the trainers. The way he describes it now – about being relieved there was no actual structural damage it sounded like it was extremely painful.
Doreen,
You are definitely the nicest person who posts here.
And I agree, no need to be mean, especially since it’s so easy to just skip comments that are too long, or are from people who annoy you.
Clare -
That was nice of you to say -
You know – some days I am in the mood to read long posts and other days not. Who’s to know????? Right?
The more I hear about posada, the more i think the yanks would be wise to get a decent third catcher. iF POSADA cant start the season, we have molina starting and cash back him up. Cash is just not worth the roster spot IMO. I am sure there is some catcher they could look at who is reasonable defensively and could hit righties. Molina has a career 264 304 line against lefties and 235 262 against righties. He was strangely enough better against righties last year but really was terrible against everyone.
Its reasonable to expect him to do better against lefties and Im sure we could find a catcher out there with decent splits against right-handers. Then, we can mix and match on any given day or time. Instead of a backup and a backup of a backup, we should just have two backups with posada each having their own strengths and weaknesses. The team really got hurt with molina starting consistently last season and our midseason pickup ended up being worse than molina. I know this idea isnt fault proof but its better than starting with molina and cash. Or we could always kidnap weiters, drag him to NY blindfolded and hope nobody notices and weiters likes it so much he decides to stay. It could happen right?
did i write fault proof, I meant foolproof.
I’m curious: Other than legality, what’s the difference between Andy Pettitte taking cortisone, a steroid, to help him heal faster, and taking HGH, which has been pretty much demonstrated not to really have any performance-enhancing effects, to help him heal faster. And if the only difference is legality, then how is this any different from greenies, cocaine, or, dare I say it, alcohol consumption during Prohibition? I’m staring straight at you, George Herman.
I think that in the 3 catcher situation, Gardner starts the season at AAA. He has options, there are plenty of outfielders on the roster, and they won’t tax the bullpen this early in the season with starters not 100% conditioned.
anyone know what time the workout is tomorrow? might go check it out, I’m sure a couple of the position guys may be there for some BP
I’m new to this blog, so maybe I’m missing out on something, but why is everyone assuming Igawa would have taken Pettite’s place? At the point that Andy was running into shoulder trouble Hughes was making starts in Triple A again. Hughes was almost ready when Pavano got called up; he could have made a couple starts to give Andy some rest down the stretch, and probably would have pitched as well as or better than Igawa. Kennedy was pitching well in Triple A as well, and he did well down the stretch in 07, but I realize he had his 08 chances and he blew them… I just think Igawa would have at least come after Hughes.
Nick,
I just saw that post you made. To my credit and i know I dont deserve any with ben going under the knife but my whole point from the beginning was that I wanted the yanks to re-sign andy more but i didnt think it was ever going to happen. I also thought the yanks would never get andy for less than 12 plus mil and never dreamed he would take a salary this low so I would have been for andy even more than I already was. i KNOW i pulled hard to get ben but i also pulled hard for the yanks to bring back andy and for the yanks to look into a harang trade. What i really wanted was one last starter who could put up better than league average numbers. Those were the only three i thought the yanks could really get at that point. So i pushed hard for ben all the while thinking andy would never work out. When he did sign,
I was thrilled and never talked about ben sheets again until he was gong to have surgery and someone brought up the yanks trying to sign him for league minimum. And who wouldnt want to do that? Also, if you remember correctly, people were constantly arguing with me about sheets so I was forced to defend him far more then what would reflect how much I actually wanted him and i saiid that a few times at the end of those ben sheets post. Sometimes people push you so hard into an argument that you argue like you are debating some basic human right instead of a pitcher. i dont deny that I wanted sheets – i definitely did but i also wanted andy back more and when he came back, I was finished talking about sheets. I was even getting pretty sick of it.
It seems to me that it’s all about public perception of what it does for you. Namely, would it make you bigger and seem like you’d hit or throw harder.
Making you heal faster isn’t sexy and our knee jerk response isn’t ‘oh, it’s gonna threaten the sexy homerun record!’
Nor do amphetamines’ stimulant effect for that matter. Just not much furor about it.
Has anyone signed Ben Sheets?
I’m glad those 4 want to be at the press conference with A-Rod – shows a lot and that they care for A-Rod, at least as a teammate
A healthy Andy Pettite will win 18 games in 09…..Nick in SF,,,I’m suffering from a UCLA hang over…..ASU is going to be tough….Maybe we get 3 PAC 10 teams into the Sweet 16….
Well, that makes you worry a little about Andy this season, of course, but I like AJ’s comment about the back end of the rotation not really being a back end.
kevin – I tried to make the same point yesterday.
“Having Those With Rings on hand will provide support, both real and symbolic.”
Haha, Pete. TWR – You crack me up. That was some good use of random capitalization there.
I can’t believe how skinny Bruney is!!
http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20090.....lgp120.jpg
Jennifer =
He lost a person!
Good for him.
Heh, I love to tease Dave about his lengthy posts, but its true – if I don’t feel like reading them. I can skip over them. He’ll never know that I did if I don’t say anything to him. And he still gets to have his say.
Besides, I think his obvious passion for the Yankees is a good thing, even if he’s not concise about it.
Wow, you’re right Jennifer – he’s looking really good.
Good for him, he’ll be someone to get behind this year. Gotta admire that.
I think he lost more than half a person! Totally insane!
All I have to say about “that” book’s release date being moved up, is that it might be a good thing.
The less time the metaphorical Sword of Damocles is hanging over A-Rod and therefore the team, the better.
Being girly… can say that I like those jeans?
Angel- It is also released 2 days before the opening of the new stadium :angry:
Angel -
You can say it, I don’t know if I agree with you, but you can say it!
About “the book,” I just have so much dread. You’re right. The sooner the better – I just hope it’s not the sooner the worse.
LOL, well they’re kinda grungy, I don’t know, they just suit him.
I’m trying to look on the good side of the book, I have the same dread as you though.
I really have a lot more I *could* say, but its just not fit for typing on here. Suffice to say, I’m not surprised but, quite a few aspects of this make me *not* a happy camper.
“Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte want to attend. Having Those With Rings on hand will provide support, both real and symbolic.”
Haha thats a great line Pete. The Triumvirate Bearing Rings. Jeter will probably be in the corner texting Minka Kelly while A-rod is busy with the media.
Angel,
Saw your post re: the Hawaiian alphabet. Mahalo!
@ Phil Parcells:
Sheets has not signed with anyone. He failed a physical with Texas and seems to have decided on surgery which could cost him the whole season.
“The Yankees were going to have A-Rod met the press on Tuesday in the dugout to try and make it more informal.”
So they think, yea just a couple of boys having a few beers hanging out in the dugout. It will be more like 100 sharks circling around the dugout smelling blood and going in for the kill.
Too bad it’s not going to be a one day event, this media frenzy will probably last everyday of the season.
This is why we should’ve signed Lowe instead of Pettitte, and Pettitte instead of Burnett.
Wow, thanks for clearing that phrase up PA. I’m pretty sure that is “common-sense”, not “baseball-player speak”. But again, we appreciate it.