Since 1995, Andy Pettitte has established himself as a big-game pitcher and one of the best the New York Yankees franchise has ever seen. He sits at or near the top in almost every single pitching category, and has the chance to make some history tonight.
Pettitte is six strikeouts away from tying Whitey Ford for the all-time Yankees strikeout mark with 1,956. Pettitte averages 7k’s/9 this season, so a pretty good start might bring him the record this evening. If Pettitte had stayed with New York instead of spending three years with the Astros, he would have passed Ford a while ago. Pettitte racked up 428 strikeouts from ’04-’06.
Pettitte ranks second in games started as a Yankee with 420 to Ford’s 438; third in innings pitched (2686) behind Red Ruffing (3168) and Ford (3170.1). He is also behind those men in career Yankee wins with 213, another record he would have broken if he didn’t go to Houston. Along with regular season success, Pettitte is statistically the best postseason pitcher of all-time, with 19 career wins and a 3.81 ERA in 44 starts.
