New York Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte will retire at the end of the season, the lefty announced on Friday. Pettitte retired in 2010, but couldn't resist the Yankee lore and returned to pitch for the team that drafted him.
This time, however, Pettitte insists he's done for sure.
"I've reached the point where I know that I've left everything I have out there on that field," Pettitte said in the statement. "The time is right. I've exhausted myself, mentally and physically, and that's exactly how I want to leave this game."
Pettitte will retire along with fellow legend Mariano Rivera, though he's not trying to steal any thunder.
"One of the things I struggled with in making this announcement now was doing anything to take away from Mariano's day on Sunday," Pettitte said. "It is his day. He means so much to me, and has meant so much to my career that I would just hate to somehow take the attention away from him."
Still, that should be one hell of a reunion at Monument Park in a few years. It will be more interesting, however, to see whether Pettitte joins Rivera in the Hall as well. Pettitte is a fringe candidate anyway, and voters have been unkind to known PED users thus far.
