Finally – Pitchers & Catchers Report

Dust off your Yankees cap. Pull out your glove. And rejoice. For baseball, is finally back.

Today, Yankees pitchers and catchers will report to George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida, to begin the 2011 baseball season. I know, it’s not Opening Day, and games don’t start for a couple weeks, but this does mark the return of the American past time.

Now that baseball is back and I am pumped up, make sure to stay tuned for continuous updates, projections, and more right here on Yankees Kid Talk. Also check out my YouTube page, where I will make a ton of videos about the Yankees all-year-round.

In the northeast, it may not seem like it, but baseball is indeed here. And not a second too late. Go Yankees!

First Spring Game: 2/26 – Phillies @ Yankees, 1:05pm
ONLY ON YES!!!!

Lucky Number 7…

With the NFL season concluding with last night’s Super Bowl, baseball is closer than ever. Only a week, or 7 days, away from pitchers and catchers reporting to Tampa.

Now That Andy Retired, What About Bernie Williams?

Yes, I’m serious. Bernie Williams hasn’t retired yet.

Yesterday at Andy Pettitte’s press conference, Bernie talked about when he may call it quits, even though he hasn’t played in over four years.

“I think one of these days I’m going to make it official,” Williams said. “It’s redundant, but after five years, I think I’m pretty much done.”

The former center fielder played his entire career (1991-2006) with the Yankees, hitting 287 home runs. He was named to five All-Star teams, and was a four-time Gold Glove winner. Bernie was one of the best players in Baseball during the 90′s and into the 2000s, but slowed down around 2003, where a streak of a .300 batting average for 8 straight seasons was snapped. In ’06, his final year, Bernie was able to show what he had one more time, as injuries to Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield made him an everyday player again down the stretch. He hit .281, his best average since 2002, but come Spring Training of ’07, the Yankees didn’t think he was worthy of a guaranteed roster spot. They offered him a minor league contract with a non-roster invite to Tampa. But Bernie, rightfully so, refused to accept.

It was a very non-classy move by the Yankees, and because they didn’t offer him a MLB contract, Bernie didn’t play in 2007. Or 2008. Or 2009. Or 2010. There was always a sliver of hope he’d come back, more than ever in ’09 when he played for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic. But that was just one last hurrah for Bernie, for as you saw at the top of the post, he’s going to announce his retirement soon. And soon after that, it looks like #51 will finally be able to call Monument Park home, because the Yankees have been hinting at retiring his number for a while.

So, um, happy almost retirement Bernie Williams! I guess?

Andy Talks About Walking Away

Today, in front of a crowd that included Bernie Williams and Joe Girardi, Andy Pettitte, along with his wife Laura, said goodbye to baseball as he announced his retirement after 16 MLB seasons.

After going 11-3 with a 3.28 ERA in 2010, Pettitte said that as soon as he left the Ballpark In Arlington, he was definitely going to call it quits. He continued thinking this for the majority of the winter, but actually about a month ago, he wanted to come back. Like, almost close to calling Cashman and saying he’s in.

“I’m going to play,” he remembered thinking. “The fans, the Yankees need me to play. I’m going to play. My wife supports it. My kids support it.”

And, well, he definitely was thinking straight. The Yankees lost out on Cliff Lee, and Zack Grienke, so there was a “tremendous obligation” on Andy’s part to return. But soon after thinking about a return, he realized that the fire and intensity to compete that fueled Pettitte year after year just wasn’t there anymore. And he said he didn’t want to pitch if he knew his heart wasn’t in it.

“I just feel like that my heart is not fully, completely sold out to do this again, and to do what I feel like I need to do as a player on the New York Yankees,” he said. “It just didn’t feel right for me anymore, didn’t have the hunger, the drive that I felt like I needed.”

So on Tuesday night, he called up Brian Cashman and told him he would be retiring. I didn’t watch the whole press conference, and I plan to watch the re-run of it tonight, but I found this piece about Andy on MLB.com:

Pettitte stated “100 percent” that he will not be pitching this year. And when asked if there was a possibility of him coming back for 2012, he said, “I don’t think I am,” but he added, “I guess you can never say never.”

“If my stomach was just churning once Opening Day started and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve made a huge mistake,’ and I felt like that the whole season, I can’t say that I wouldn’t consider maybe doing it again,” he said. “But I can tell you right now I’d be embarrassed, because I’ve done what I’ve done right now.”

So, what could this mean? Could he really turn into Brett Favre and comeback? To me, I hope so. But, realistically, that’s probably what he’ll feel regardless. And unfortunately, I do think this is the end for Andy Pettitte. Then again, a gay pubescent boy named Justin Bieber once said,”Never, Say, Never”.

Once again, congrats on an amazing career Andy Pettitte. And, if you do want to come back, make sure to call Cash immediately. Please?

Andy Pettitte Retires

The Yankees have announced that Andy Pettitte has decided to retire, and a press conference tomorrow morning will officially close the book on the left hander’s illustrious career.

In his last season, Pettitte arguably was having the best year of his career, going 11-2 with a 2.70 ERA in the first half. His performance earned him a spot on the AL All-Star team, and it looked like Pettitte could actually win 20-22 games. It wasn’t out of the question at the time. But unfortunately, (maybe the reason he did ultimately decide to hang ‘em up), Pettitte suffered a groin injury in late July that sidelined him all the way up to mid-September. His final 2010 stats – 11-3, 3.28 ERA, 101 strikeouts. Who knows? Maybe if he stays healthy and wins around 19 games, he returns in 2011. But of course, that didn’t happen. And Andy Pettitte is now a former Yankee.

Andy Pettitte finishes his career with a record of 240-138 with an ERA of 3.88. His 203 wins with the Yankees (1995-2003, ’07-10) is good for third-most in Yankee history. Andy also holds the record for most-postseason wins all-time. By anyone. His 19, concluding with an ALDS Game 2 win this past fall, is certainly a statistic that can not be overlooked. Regular season, he was amazing. Postseason, he was even better.

I, being too young to remember the Yankees’ late-90′s dynasty, never got to really see Pettitte in his prime. Of course when I was old enough to start liking baseball, Pettitte was in Houston. But when he returned in 2007, I started learning about him. Watching Yankee Classics, looking up stats, etc. I found out he was a pretty kick-ass pitcher. And I hoped maybe I could see him pitch in the World Series one day. And of course, that day came last year.

I saw him give it his all in 5 2/3 innings of 3-run ball in Game 6 of the 2009 World Series. On three-days rest, the then 37-year old proved everyone wrong and was once again the winning pitcher in the clinching game of a series (he won Game 3 of ALDS, and Game 6 of ALCS). I finally was able to say I saw Andy Pettitte pitch a great game in the World Series. And I had never liked him more at that point.

Since doing my research and just overall watching him the past few years, Pettitte evolved into arguably my favorite Yankee of all-time. Just the way he was so clutch when the Yanks needed him the most, the way he handled the media, he was just a true great baseball player. Of course this applies to Derek Jeter as well, but there’s just something about Pettitte that I’ve always liked. I don’t know exactly what that is though, oddly enough.

Now of course with every retirement comes the question everyone asks – is this player worthy of the Hall of Fame? And Andy Pettitte, should be, a first ballot HOF’er. No doubt. I mean, he’s the most successful postseason pitcher of all time! 19 wins!!! The stats prove it. I know, the HGH story will probably come back to bite him, but apparently it was only for a short period of time, to help him recover from an injury in 2002. That’s no excuse, but still. He has 240 regular season wins, and yes, maybe staying for a couple more years and getting up to 270 maybe might have give him an even better shot. But, what are you gonna do. I think his resume is definitely worthy of a call to Cooperstown. And I think, he will eventually get there.

Oh, god. Here it comes. The time to make my final thoughts on Andy Pettitte. I was dreading this day, but it has come. And I think, Andy Pettitte is just a prime example of success. A five-time World Series champion, the most postseason wins, consistent all the time; he was the complete package. It will be tough not seeing #46 on the mound, but I’m sure in a little while, you’ll see that number again, in Monument Park. And that face, on a plaque, hanging, in Cooperstown, New York.

Thank you Mr. Pettitte for bringing great success to the New York Yankees organization. I, personally, will miss you a lot.

 

Co-dy Ran-som CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP

Can I get a little love for Cody Ransom? He held up the fort at third base in April of 2009 while A-Rod was recovering from surgery. And in Baltimore during the Opening Day Series, he signed an autograph for me. So hooray for Cody Ransom!

12 Days until pitchers and catchers report….

13 Days…

A-Rod’s ready for Spring Training. And so am I. 13 Days until pitchers and catchers report to Tampa, Florida.