Quote:
Originally Posted by barrysloate
I was looking at Pettitte's career stats and there was one number I found astonishing: in 18 seasons, encompassing 255 wins, he pitched....4 shutouts! Just shows you how the game has changed. He also had 25 complete games, which averages to less than one and a half per season. Those are amazingly miniscule totals.
But he was a terrific pitcher who had a wonderful career. Even at 41 he's pitched some really gritty games for a struggling team.
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Yeah, Pettite is certainly a curious case of a modern day workhorse or innings eater who never really completed games. I'm sure a majority of that had to do with the general Yankees philosophy throughout most of his career of just getting to the 7th or 8th inning and handing it over to a usually dominant bullpen.
Andy didn't like giving in to batters in close games either, so he would throw a lot of pitches during most at bats, trying to get guys to chase, nibbling at the corners, giving up lots of walks and singles. Probably a reason why his WHIP was never really an impressive number outside of that one great year with Houston.