On June 21, I was pessimistic about Andy Pettitte's chances of getting 200 wins this season. Yes, it was possible, but his four wins in 15 starts to that point made it a challenge.
Well, here we are. Win #200, 12+ years after the first.
1. Who has more wins than Pettitte (200-112, 391 GS, 3.81 ERA) since the start of 1995?
Greg Maddux (212-122, 436 GS, 3.16 ERA) and Randy Johnson (203-88, 370 GS, 3.00 ERA). Mike Mussina is right behind him at 197. Roger Clemens is seventh with 182.
2. Where does Pettitte stack up among Yankees?
Out of pitchers who predominantly (or only) played for the Yankees, Whitey Ford and Red Ruffing are the tops. Ford won 236 games, all with the Yanks, and Ruffing won 231 for the Yanks and 42 for other teams. Pettitte, with 163 Yankee wins, is seventh, one behind Mel Stottlemyre.
3. How about with 20-win seasons?
Pettitte has two (1996 and 2003). Since Ron Guidry ('78, '83, '85) retired, no other Yankee has won 20 games more than once (David Cone in 1998, Clemens in 2001). And the last three (Andy, Guidry and Tommy John in 1979-80) were all lefties.
4. So how's he do among lefties?
He's the 27th to get to 200. Of those, only six have made the trek to 300, Tom Glavine being the last. Pettitte is 35 years, 3 months and 4 days. Glavine was 34 years, 4 months and 5 days when he hit 200 in a season in which he won 21. So the odds aren't great. What does Baseball-Reference say? His two most-similar pitchers through age 34 are Mike Mussina (not bad) and Dwight Gooden (disastrous). We'll see.
4. But he doesn't complete any games, right?
Nope, but who does anymore? Still, Pettitte has the fewest complete games of any 200-game winner in history, with six fewer than Jamie Moyer.
5. So where does he rank best among 200-game winners?
Well, postseason wins, where he and John Smoltz stand tall. Unfortunately, he does have the sixth-worst regular season ERA of any 200-game winner since 1957 (and probably ever), though guys below him include active pitchers David Wells, Kenny Rogers and Moyer.
Where Pettitte ranks best, and is something for which he'd acknowledge he is lucky, is in winning percentage. His .641 mark is behind only Clemens, Johnson and Martinez since 1957 (Ford, of course, posted a .690 mark).
We all know Pettitte's a very good pitcher who may be a borderline Hall of Fame case because of his affiliation with a Yankee dynasty and a great Houston Astros run. But somebody's gotta be on the mound to get all those wins, and Pettitte is still doing that, all these years later. It's a great day.
