Although he is in contention for his first Cy Young award, for now, Andy Pettitte will have to be content with his third All-Star selection.
Pettitte will replace Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list. The New York Yankees lefty is not one to wish bad on anyone, but he was obviously thrilled to know for sure that he made the team. It means a lot to Pettitte, mostly because it means a lot to his kids, who were too young to fully enjoy their dad's last All-Star selection in 2001, but will be able to revel in the experience this time around.
It also gets manager Joe Girardi off the hook. I wasn't happy about the way Girardi manipulated the new rule to get CC Sabathia on the All-Star team. Pettitte was far more deserving of an outright selection and shouldn't have had to wait for an injury or to replace a Sunday starter. It was a good rule change by Major League Baseball to allow starters who pitch the Sunday before the All-Star game to be selected on the team and then replaced rather than just excluding them from consideration simply because their turn in the rotation was that day. But Girardi used the new rule in a way that it was not meant to be used: to get another one of his guys on the team. Goes to show that people will figure out the best way to manipulate the rules to their benefit, no matter what the rules are.
But all is right in the Yankees universe now that Pettitte has officially made the team. It's a well-deserved honor. Congrats, Andy!
Pettitte will replace Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list. The New York Yankees lefty is not one to wish bad on anyone, but he was obviously thrilled to know for sure that he made the team. It means a lot to Pettitte, mostly because it means a lot to his kids, who were too young to fully enjoy their dad's last All-Star selection in 2001, but will be able to revel in the experience this time around.
It also gets manager Joe Girardi off the hook. I wasn't happy about the way Girardi manipulated the new rule to get CC Sabathia on the All-Star team. Pettitte was far more deserving of an outright selection and shouldn't have had to wait for an injury or to replace a Sunday starter. It was a good rule change by Major League Baseball to allow starters who pitch the Sunday before the All-Star game to be selected on the team and then replaced rather than just excluding them from consideration simply because their turn in the rotation was that day. But Girardi used the new rule in a way that it was not meant to be used: to get another one of his guys on the team. Goes to show that people will figure out the best way to manipulate the rules to their benefit, no matter what the rules are.
But all is right in the Yankees universe now that Pettitte has officially made the team. It's a well-deserved honor. Congrats, Andy!
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