Yankees: Looking at Andy Pettitte’s Hall Of Fame Chances

With Mariano Rivera, Mike Mussina, and now Derek Jeter in the Hall of Fame, does fellow Yankee legend Andy Pettitte have a chance of joining his former teammates in Cooperstown someday?

When Andy Pettitte entered his first year of eligibility for Cooperstown, he proved to be an enigma. He only garnered 9.9% of the BBWAA voting, with other pitchers like former Yankees teammate Mike Mussina and the late Roy Halladay getting the call for the Hall.

More controversial pitchers like Rodger Clemens and Curt Schilling stole the headlines along with a good chunk of votes. Much like his playing career, Pettitte has been lowkey and overlooked yet always in the conversation. This year, he had a slight uptick in votes, earning 45 votes for 11.3% but this is not enough to suggest a rapid trend would happen any time soon.

Why is Pettitte overshadowed, even in a lighter ballot like this years? It’s hard to pinpoint but there are some aspects that are making voters think twice. The most obvious one is his brief connection to PEDs. He openly confessed to using HGH to rehab from injury in 2002 but remained clean thereafter. He also confessed quickly and honestly, plus HGH wasn’t banned until 2005.

These are big reasons why he’s never in the middle of the fire when it comes to the PED debate but it does rub some voters the wrong way. This is especially true if there are more obvious choices on the ballot.

The next is his ERA. An ERA of 3.85 is quite high for the Hall of Fame but it isn’t the end all be all it used to be. Tigers legend Jack Morris, who was inducted in 2018, has an ERA of 3.90, good for the “worst” in the Hall of Fame. Pettitte’s postseason ERA isn’t squeaky clean either, as he possesses a 3.81. Pettitte also doesn’t rank highly when it comes to JAWS (Jaffe Wins Above Replacement, an awesome abbreviation for a sabermetric by the way). The known Hall of Fame average is 61.8. Pettitte’s is 47.2. Voters have also noted that Pettitte had only 3 seasons with a WAR above 4.0. He never won the CY Young but always remained within contention.

It would seem everything is stacked against the southpaw legend but Pettitte has plenty going for him, especially when it comes to postseason records. Pettitte is well known for having the most wins (19), innings pitched (276 and 2/3) and games started (44) in postseason history.

Pettitte’s October accolades wipe the floor of some Hall of Fame pitchers. His 5 rings prove it. Pettitte’s ice-cold demeanor on the mound froze numerous bats in key situations. His moxie and intelligence during the 1996 World Series were immense, not to mention his ridiculous sinker in the 2009 World Series.

Among his fellow Yankee legends, Pettitte ranks 3rd in wins (219), 1st in strikeouts (2020), and tied for 1st with Whitey Ford in games started (438) to go alongside his postseason records. With the pick off becoming more and more common in the ’70s and ’80s, Pettitte became the most dominant user of this weapon in the late ’90s and 2000s. He recorded 98 pickoffs, which ranks among the best in baseball history (Steve Carlton takes the cake for first with 144 pickoffs).

With Mariano Rivera, Mike Mussina, and now Derek Jeter in the Hall of Fame, does fellow Yankee legend Andy Pettitte have a chance of joining his former teammates in Cooperstown someday?

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