One in a series
Box-Toppers’ Stick-A-Fork-In-Them series looks at 14 players whose careers are done or may be done. Included is a look at how they have fared in Box-Toppers points over their careers, reflecting their impact on the game over time. This is the ninth of the series:
9. Andy Pettitte
Andy Pettitte, who was among his league’s top 10 pitchers in Box-Toppers points five different seasons, retired at the end of 2013 at the age of 41.
Pettitte had 138.4 Box-Toppers points for his career, ranking 19th among all players and 13th among all pitchers (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995, Pettitte’s rookie year).
Andy Pettitte
Here are Andy Pettitte's Box-Toppers statistics. The third column shows his Box-Toppers points (BTP) per season. The final column shows his All-Star Selections, his Box-Toppers key season rankings and his standing in key postseason awards voting.| Year | Team | BTP | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | nyy al | 7.7 | RoY-3 |
| 1996 | nyy al | 9.4 | AS, BTP-54, BTP-AL pi-8, CYA-2, MVP-14 |
| 1997 | nyy al | 9.7 | BTP-53, BTP-AL pi-10, CYA-5 |
| 1998 | nyy al | 7.7 | |
| 1999 | nyy al | 5.0 | |
| 2000 | nyy al | 7.7 | BTP-96, BTP-AL pi-12, CYA-4 |
| 2001 | nyy al | 5.0 | AS |
| 2002 | nyy al | 11.7 | BTP-30, BTP-AL pi-8 |
| 2003 | nyy al | 11.1 | BTP-31, BTP-AL pi-9, CYA-6 |
| 2004 | hou nl | 6.0 | |
| 2005 | hou nl | 12.7 | BTP-21, BTP-NL pi-8, CYA-5, MVP-24 |
| 2006 | hou nl | 9.4 | |
| 2007 | nyy al | 6.0 | |
| 2008 | nyy al | 8.7 | |
| 2009 | nyy al | 9.0 | |
| 2010 | nyy al | 4.7 | AS |
| 2011 | retired | 0.0 | |
| 2012 | nyy al | 3.0 | |
| 2013 | nyy al | 4.0 | |
| Total | 138.5 | BTP-19, BTP-pi-13 |
AS All-star selection
BTP Finish among all players in Box-Toppers points
BTP-AL pi Finish among all AL pitchers in BTP
BTP-NL pi Finish among all NL pitchers in BTP
CYA Finish in league Cy Young Award voting
MVP Finish in league Most Valuable Player Award voting
RoY Finish in Rookie of the Year voting
Source: Information for player awards comes from Baseball-Reference.com
Pettitte pitched for the Yankees from 1995 to 2003 before moving to the Astros from 2004 to 2006. He rejoined the Yankees from 2007 to 2010 and was retired for the 2011 season before returning to the Yankees for 2012 and 2013.
Some career highlights:
• In 1996, he had 9.4 Box-Toppers points, eighth among American League pitchers and 54th among all players. He finished second in Cy Young Award voting (his highest finish). Pat Hentgen of the Blue Jays won the award—he had 10.0 Box-Toppers points that season, fifth among AL pitchers.
• In 1997, he had 9.7 Box-Toppers points, 10th among AL pitchers and 53rd among all players. He finished fifth in Cy Young voting. Roger Clemens of the Blue Jays won the AL Cy Young. He had 27.4 Box-Toppers points that season, the most of any player.
• In 2000, he had 7.7 Box-Toppers points, 12th among AL pitchers and 96th among all players. He finished fourth in Cy Young voting. Pedro Martinez of the Red Sox won the Cy Young. Martinez had 33.5 Box-Toppers points, the most of any AL pitcher.
• In 2002, he had 11.7 Box-Toppers points, eighth among AL pitchers and 30th among all players. He received no Cy Young votes.
• In 2003, he had 11.1 Box-Toppers points, ninth among AL pitchers and 31st among all players. He finished sixth in Cy Young voting. Roy Halladay of the Blue Jays won the Cy Young. Halladay had 14.1 Box-Toppers points, fifth among AL pitchers.
• In 2005, with the Astros, Pettitte had 12.7 Box-Toppers points, a career-high for a season. He finished eighth among National League pitchers and 21st among all players and was fifth in NL Cy Young voting. Chris Carpenter of the Cardinals won the NL Cy Young and had the most Box-Toppers points of any NL pitcher, 21.0.
Pettitte had three seasons with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. He came close in four other seasons when he had 9.0 or more points. He scored at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 16 straight seasons (the streak ended when he retired the first time in 2011) and scored at least 1.0 point in each of the 18 seasons in which he was active.
Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. Players earn Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Coming next in the series: Todd Helton
Previously in the series: Alex Rodriguez, Roy Halladay, Manny Ramirez, Johan Santana, Jim Thome, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Roy Oswalt