Pettitte should stay put in pinstripes

Alan Draper

Sports Editor

November 28 2008 3 min read

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Squawker Jon and I are thankful for all of our great readers. And I’m also thankful that my Texas Longhorns carved Texas A&M up like a holiday turkey last night. Hook ’em Horns!

One thing I was thankful for last year was Andy Pettitte returning to the Yankee fold. But this year, there is a troubling story that he might not be back as a Bomber. Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports is reporting that Pettitte has been talking to Joe Torre about becoming a Dodger.

Pettitte was my favorite Yankee of the dynasty era. But when he left for Houston after the 2003 season, I infamously proclaimed that he was dead to me. When he rejoined the Yanks for the 2007 season, Pettitte became undead to me, the first time I had ever removed anybody from my list! I brought out my Pettitte autographed photo, which had been in mothballs for three years, and restored it to a place of honor. And I bought a new #46 t-shirt in honor of him (my previous Andy shirt ended up in the trash after 2003.)

But Andy’s in danger of becoming dead to me again, and his shirt entering the dumpster for the second time. If the Yanks make him an offer he does refuse, and he moves out to L.A. (or any other team, for that matter), he will be dead to me forever. And that autographed photo will be sleeping with the fishes.

Granted, it’s possible the Yankees might pass on signing him again, in which case I can’t blame Andy for going elsewhere. But if the Yanks do pursue Pettitte, he owes it to them to stay in pinstripes.

It’s not just that he had such a lousy second half last year. And it’s not just that he looks ridiculous in anything other than Yankee pinstripes (I still have nightmares about him wearing that horrid Houston uniform.)

It’s that the Yanks stuck by Pettitte through the whole Mitchell Report debacle – the report, the testimony before Congress, and the spring training controversy. Remember when he spoke to the media last spring, and his Yankee teammates showed up at the press conference in a show of solidarity? Well, it’s time for him to repay that loyalty, and return to the Yanks.

True, Pettitte is not the pitcher he once was. But I still want to see him as a Yankee. If that makes me a sentimental old fool, so be it!

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One other thing I am thankful for this year:

That A&E is sponsoring this terrific DVD giveaway contest to kick off our new blog location. Click here, or scroll down on the page, to read the details, and to enter the contest.

What do you think of Andy Pettitte? Tell us about it!

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