Corey Sipkin/New York Daily News
Andy Pettitte, 41, is set to walk away from Yankees after pitching through injury-plaqued season.
Now it’s down to a Core One.
Veteran lefthander Andy Pettitte planned to announce his retirement Friday night. The event comes amid a lavish good-bye party for another of the Core Four Yankee players, Mariano Rivera, and leaves Derek Jeter as the only one left in the exclusive group. (Jorge Posada left in 2011).
Brian Bahr/Getty Images
Andy Pettitte is 10-10 this season for the Yankees and is scheduled to make two more starts.
Pettitte is expected to put out a press release between 12:00 and 1:00 Friday afternoon signaling his intentions.
Pettitte, who already went through the retirement process once before, after the 2010 season, is scheduled to address the media Friday at the Stadium and announce he is retiring (for good?) again.
sipkin, corey, New York Daily News
Andy Pettitte helps the Yankees win five World Series titles during his two-stints in pinstripes.
His agent, Jim Murray, confirmed to the Daily News that Pettitte will speak to the media.
The 41-year-old has battled injuries this season, and more recently has been dragged again into the legal battles between his former teammate, Roger Clemens, and the former trainer for both pitchers, Brian McNamee. Pettitte is scheduled to be deposed as soon as next week in conjunction with McNamee’s defamation suit against the Rocket.
Cataffo, Linda/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Andy Pettitte will wave goodbye to the Yankees faithful one more time after career that includes 218 regular season wins for the team and 19 more in the postseason.
Mariano Rivera, 43, who already announced his retirement before the start of the 2013 season, is being feted at the Stadium Sunday to celebrate his impending retirement, and Pettitte is scheduled to start that game against the Giants. After Sunday’s tilt, Pettitte, who is 10-10 this season, is scheduled to make one more start in Houston, where the southpaw defected for three seasons (2004-06) sandwiched in between his two stints with the Yankees. The club finishes its 2013 season in Houston.
The Pettitte announcement is the end of an era for two of the pitchers who were together in 1996, the first of five modern-day World Series titles for the Bombers. Pettitte was the winning pitcher in Game 6 of the most recent championship, in 2009 against the Phillies.
Last week in Baltimore, when asked about Rivera retiring, Pettitte put the closer’s future and his in perspective.
“Yeah, you don’t know what else there is to do, really. For me it never did, to tell you the truth. It was more just about, ‘Do I want to do this?’ I don’t want to be tied to this. I’ve never wanted to be tied to baseball, and I’m not. Most important thing to me is my family. I feel very blessed to know that I don’t have to go out and find another job, as far as having to make money,” Pettitte said. “But again, it doesn’t really matter, because as a man, I think you just are built to work. The year I was retired, I didn’t want to go work anywhere, because I just wanted to pour into my kids (?). I go to my Pony League fields, and my baseball fields and work all day long – cut the grass, fix the lines and get the fields ready. I just got to have something to do being aside.
“I was planning on waiting until after the season, but there’s no doubt I’ve been thinking about it and trying to figure out what I want to do. Just not real sure. Trying to focus all my energy on this (playoff) race right now, and my starts. I’m trying to not even think about that. For me, I can’t see that and…they don’t balance out real well. If I figure something out before the season’s over, believe me, I’ll let everybody know.”
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