After 16 years in the major leagues, longtime Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte formally announced his retirement at a press conference at Yankee Stadium today. Though he said he was conflicted about the decision, ultimately, his heart wasn't in it to play for another year: “I’m ready to go pitch at spring training if I had to. My arm feels fine. My body feels fine. But my heart’s not where it needs to be...It just didn't feel right for me anymore. I didn't have the hunger, the drive I felt like I needed."
After the Yankees lost to the Texas Rangers in the ALCS last fall, Pettitte told Yankees GM Brian Cashman to assume he wasn't coming back, and look for pitching elsewhere. After the Cliff Lee fiasco though, Pettitte felt some pressure to return, and started training again: “When they didn’t get him, I felt a tremendous obligation. That’s when I started working out. I felt like I owed it to the organization. I felt like they wanted me before, but now they needed me. But this organization will continue to move forward, and I’m sure they will be great this year. But yes, I felt a tremendous amount of pressure.” He added that his involvement with the Roger Clemens performance-enhancing drugs trial did not affect his decision at all.
Pettitte pitched for the Yankees for all but three of his years in the majors; he finishes his career with a 240-138 record, a 3.88 ERA, and 2,251 strikeouts. He won five championships with the Yankees, and also set a major league record for postseason wins, going 19-10 with a 3.83 ERA. As the Times notes, Pettitte is the first of the four core Yankees players (Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada are the others) who led the team to five World Series championships to retire.
