GaryMrMets
11-04-2003, 06:32 PM
http://www.yesnetwork.com/announcers/index.cfm?cont_id=212447&page_type=wide
Pep Talk: Pettitte's accomplishments a rarity now
http://www.yesnetwork.com/photos/pepes_small.jpgBy Phil Pepe
Special to YES Network Online
November 4, 2003
Andy Pettitte won 21 games for the Yankees this past season.
Big deal! Jack Chesbro won 20 games more than that for the Yankees (nee Highlanders) 99 seasons ago.
Pettitte won 20 games in a season twice in his Yankees career.
Bigger deal! Lefty Gomez, Red Ruffing and Bob Shawkey all won 20 games in a season four times for the Yankees.
But these days winning 20 games in one season and winning 20 games in a season twice in one's career is a bigger deal because times in baseball are changing, and nowhere are those changes more evident than in starting pitching.
The complete game, the four-man (even three-man) rotation, the 300-inning pitcher and yes, the 20-game winner, are all going the way of the dodo bird. With that in mind, Pettitte's pair of 20-win seasons in eight years is noteworthy. It's more than noteworthy. It's phenomenal.
Consider that in the first half-century of Yankees baseball, they had 36 20-game winners; in the next half century, they have had 21.
Consider that in the first 18 years of their existence, the Yankees (Highlanders) had 11 20-game winners. In the last 18 years, they have had four.
Let's take a look Chesbro, a phenomenon whose 41 wins for the Highlanders in 1904 is a record for wins by a pitcher in a single season; a record that is safe to say will never be broken.
Chesbro was a right-hander, 5-foot-9, 180 pounds, a spitball pitcher who came from Red Sox country, although not another of those Bostonians sold to the Yankees by theater impresario Harry Frazee. He was born in North Adams, Mass., in 1874, and died in Conway, Mass., 57 years later.
Chesbro was discovered by Ed Barrow, founder of the Atlantic League and later, as Yankees general manager, the architect of Murderer's Row. From the Atlantic League, Chesbro went to Pittsburgh and helped the Pirates win championships in 1901 and 1902, after which he jumped to the Highlanders (oh, yes, there was free agency in baseball a century ago).
Chesbro's fairy tale 1904 season with the Highlanders ended in ignominy when, on the final day of the season, his wild pitch allowed the winning run to score and cost the Highlanders the pennant. It was won, believe it or not, by Boston, which has been paying for that indignity ever since.
Chesbro finally got to play for the home team Red Sox at the end of his career. But (it serves them right), he never won a game for them. He retired to suburban Boston, prospered as the owner of a saw mill, and had a one-year stint as baseball coach at Amherst College.
Chesbro's 1904 season is mind-boggling, and not only for the 41 victories. He also lost 12 games, so he was involved in 53, or 35 percent, of his team's decisions. He started 51, or 34 percent, of the Highlanders games (what four-man rotation?), appeared in four other games in relief, pitched 48 complete games, logged a staggering 454.2 innings and had a winning percentage of .774.
By comparison, in winning 21 games this season, Pettitte had 29 (or 18 percent) of his team's decisions, started 33, or 20 percent, of the Yankees games, pitched one complete game and worked 208.1 innings, less than half of Chesbro's 1904 workload. Pettitte's winning percentage of .724 compares favorably to Chesbro's 1904 mark.
A decade after Chesbro, in 1916, Shawkey came along to post his first of four 20-win seasons for the Yankees with a record of 24-14. He pitched 276.2 innings in 53 appearances, only 27 of them starts. He won seven games in relief and his winning percentage was .632, almost 100 points below Pettitte's. Shawkey won 20 games in 1919, 1920 and 1922, but his winning percentage never topped .645 and his innings pitched never fell below 261.1.
Gomez and Ruffing each had their four 20-win seasons in the 30s, when sanity still had not filtered into the minds of managers and pitching coaches, and when closers still were not in vogue. Gomez completed at least 20 games in three of his four 20-win seasons, and never pitched fewer than 243 innings in any of the four. Ruffing won 20 games for four straight seasons, 1936-39, each time completing at least 22 games and throwing at least 233.1 innings.
So it should be clear that, considering the changing times and the reduced work load of today's pitchers, Pettitte stacks up favorably with the great Yankees pitchers of the past. He won 20 games for the Yankees as many times as Herb Pennock, Waite Hoyt, Spud Chandler, Whitey Ford, Tommy John and Ron Guidry, and more times than Allie Reynolds and Eddie Lopat.
And at age 31, he's younger than Ford, Ruffing and Chandler were when they won 20 for the first time.
All of which leads to the following indisputable conclusion: Sign this guy, no matter what it takes.
Acclaimed author and former Yankees beat writer Phil Pepe is a regular contributor to YES Network Online. His latest work is entitled "The Yankees: An Authorized History of the New York Yankees Centennial Edition," due to be released in November.
http://www.yesnetwork.com/photos/andypettitte_1104corb.jpg
At 31, Andy Pettitte has 149 career wins, good for ninth all-time on the Yankees list.
Pep Talk: Pettitte's accomplishments a rarity now
http://www.yesnetwork.com/photos/pepes_small.jpgBy Phil Pepe
Special to YES Network Online
November 4, 2003
Andy Pettitte won 21 games for the Yankees this past season.
Big deal! Jack Chesbro won 20 games more than that for the Yankees (nee Highlanders) 99 seasons ago.
Pettitte won 20 games in a season twice in his Yankees career.
Bigger deal! Lefty Gomez, Red Ruffing and Bob Shawkey all won 20 games in a season four times for the Yankees.
But these days winning 20 games in one season and winning 20 games in a season twice in one's career is a bigger deal because times in baseball are changing, and nowhere are those changes more evident than in starting pitching.
The complete game, the four-man (even three-man) rotation, the 300-inning pitcher and yes, the 20-game winner, are all going the way of the dodo bird. With that in mind, Pettitte's pair of 20-win seasons in eight years is noteworthy. It's more than noteworthy. It's phenomenal.
Consider that in the first half-century of Yankees baseball, they had 36 20-game winners; in the next half century, they have had 21.
Consider that in the first 18 years of their existence, the Yankees (Highlanders) had 11 20-game winners. In the last 18 years, they have had four.
Let's take a look Chesbro, a phenomenon whose 41 wins for the Highlanders in 1904 is a record for wins by a pitcher in a single season; a record that is safe to say will never be broken.
Chesbro was a right-hander, 5-foot-9, 180 pounds, a spitball pitcher who came from Red Sox country, although not another of those Bostonians sold to the Yankees by theater impresario Harry Frazee. He was born in North Adams, Mass., in 1874, and died in Conway, Mass., 57 years later.
Chesbro was discovered by Ed Barrow, founder of the Atlantic League and later, as Yankees general manager, the architect of Murderer's Row. From the Atlantic League, Chesbro went to Pittsburgh and helped the Pirates win championships in 1901 and 1902, after which he jumped to the Highlanders (oh, yes, there was free agency in baseball a century ago).
Chesbro's fairy tale 1904 season with the Highlanders ended in ignominy when, on the final day of the season, his wild pitch allowed the winning run to score and cost the Highlanders the pennant. It was won, believe it or not, by Boston, which has been paying for that indignity ever since.
Chesbro finally got to play for the home team Red Sox at the end of his career. But (it serves them right), he never won a game for them. He retired to suburban Boston, prospered as the owner of a saw mill, and had a one-year stint as baseball coach at Amherst College.
Chesbro's 1904 season is mind-boggling, and not only for the 41 victories. He also lost 12 games, so he was involved in 53, or 35 percent, of his team's decisions. He started 51, or 34 percent, of the Highlanders games (what four-man rotation?), appeared in four other games in relief, pitched 48 complete games, logged a staggering 454.2 innings and had a winning percentage of .774.
By comparison, in winning 21 games this season, Pettitte had 29 (or 18 percent) of his team's decisions, started 33, or 20 percent, of the Yankees games, pitched one complete game and worked 208.1 innings, less than half of Chesbro's 1904 workload. Pettitte's winning percentage of .724 compares favorably to Chesbro's 1904 mark.
A decade after Chesbro, in 1916, Shawkey came along to post his first of four 20-win seasons for the Yankees with a record of 24-14. He pitched 276.2 innings in 53 appearances, only 27 of them starts. He won seven games in relief and his winning percentage was .632, almost 100 points below Pettitte's. Shawkey won 20 games in 1919, 1920 and 1922, but his winning percentage never topped .645 and his innings pitched never fell below 261.1.
Gomez and Ruffing each had their four 20-win seasons in the 30s, when sanity still had not filtered into the minds of managers and pitching coaches, and when closers still were not in vogue. Gomez completed at least 20 games in three of his four 20-win seasons, and never pitched fewer than 243 innings in any of the four. Ruffing won 20 games for four straight seasons, 1936-39, each time completing at least 22 games and throwing at least 233.1 innings.
So it should be clear that, considering the changing times and the reduced work load of today's pitchers, Pettitte stacks up favorably with the great Yankees pitchers of the past. He won 20 games for the Yankees as many times as Herb Pennock, Waite Hoyt, Spud Chandler, Whitey Ford, Tommy John and Ron Guidry, and more times than Allie Reynolds and Eddie Lopat.
And at age 31, he's younger than Ford, Ruffing and Chandler were when they won 20 for the first time.
All of which leads to the following indisputable conclusion: Sign this guy, no matter what it takes.
Acclaimed author and former Yankees beat writer Phil Pepe is a regular contributor to YES Network Online. His latest work is entitled "The Yankees: An Authorized History of the New York Yankees Centennial Edition," due to be released in November.
http://www.yesnetwork.com/photos/andypettitte_1104corb.jpg
At 31, Andy Pettitte has 149 career wins, good for ninth all-time on the Yankees list.