It is certifiably insane to claim the Yankees needed to win last night's game.
Yep. Lunacy. Booga-booga. We know better. Any blogger or writer who says it was a "must" victory - send 'em down to Columbus!
That said, holy crap, did Andy Pettitte save our butts or what?
Someday, when the Hall of Fame voters look back on Pettitte's career, I hope they remember last night. (They won't, of course. A week from now, its significance will have faded like the white dot on a turned off Motorola TV.) But it was vintage Andy victory. Nobody hit for him. We already look like an anemic batting order, with a potential Knoblauch at SS (not last night, though!) and a statue of Vernon Wells in left field. But last night, it didn't matter. Andy saved our butts.
Can you imagine the psychic implications of three opening losses at home to the Redsocks - a team picked to finish below .500 - on the heels of a spring full of injuries and botched sky-dives? Apprehension in the Yankiverse - which runs thick as maple syrup - would be on verge of turning into disinterest. (Not in this blog, mind you; we're the Fourth Rail and the 12th Veil of Yankee outrage; we'll never stop screaming.)
It is certifiably insane to say the Yankees needed to win that game.
Some people claim it's just as crazy to argue that Andy belongs in Cooperstown. They point to two career numbers: 246 wins and 3.85 ERA.
Well, twenty wins would land him near 270. And the ERA must be factored with an entire career in the AL East at a time when it was by far the most pitcher punishing division in baseball.
What's sad is that we twice let him go - both times to his home. Damn. If he pitched in 2011 - let's say he wins 15. If he hadn't taken that line drive last summer, let's say he wins eight more. He could be looking to push 300 - the golden ticket to Cooperstown.
In the coming years, there will be sportswriters who want to discard Andy's name for Cooperstown because of statistics and the claim that the Yankees inflate win totals.
Let's remember last night.
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4 comments:
Andy Petitte is God. Gardner is still the over-evolved big-headed guy from the Outer Limits (played by NCIS' beloved David McCallum), but sainthood is imminent for him.
All hail.
Unfortunately, it is already clear that the only point to this season is for padding individual statistics for records, personal trophies and hall of fame credentials.
I am the only one who feels we are going to win it all.
Saint Andrew will be on the DL before he wins 8 games, let alone 20.
Old Yankees is Good Yankees. Let's go get a pizza.
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