Daily Baseball Update: 9/21

Historical Individual Seasons: Andy Pettitte 2005
Stat Line: 17-9, 2.39 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 171 K's. Age 33.
As Andy Pettitte prepares to retire for the second time, we look back at his magnificent 18 year career.  His best season, ironically, came during one of the three years that he wasn't in a Yankee uniform.  2005, the middle of his three seasons spent with his hometown Astros, turned out to be better than any year he ever pitched.  Taking the hill 33 times, he went 17-9 with a 2.39 ERA and 1.03 WHIP to lead the Astros to their first World Series berth ever.  He filled out one of the best trios in any rotation ever, as Pettitte, Roger Clemens (13-8, 1.87 ERA), and Roy Oswalt (20-12, 2.94 ERA) combined to go 50-29 with a 2.43 ERA in exactly 100 starts.  With a rotation like that, the Astros earned the Wild Card with an 89-73 record.  In the NLDS against the Braves, Pettitte earned a Game 1 win, tossing seven innings and giving up three earned runs.  In his Game 1 start against the Cardinals in the NLCS, he was roughed up to the tune of five earned runs in six innings.  He came back in Game 5 and tossed six and a third innings on two earned runs, but closer Brad Lidge spoiled his efforts by allowing three runs in the ninth.  When the Astros ultimately won, Pettitte reached the World Series for the seventh time (he would reach one more time in 2009) and earned a Game 2 start.  He held the White Sox to two runs in six innings, but again his efforts were spoiled by a late comeback, in which Paul Konerko knocked a grand slam off of Chad Qualls.  This concluded Pettitte's tenth postseason (out of an eventual 14), and he was 1-1 with a 4.26 ERA in four starts.  During the regular season, to go along with his 17-9 record, 2.39 ERA, and 1.03 WHIP, he allowed just 7.61 hits per nine innings and just 1.66 walks per nine innings.  Opponents posted an on-base percentage of just .268.   He tied for fifth in the NL Cy Young voting behind Chris Carpenter (21-5, 2.83 ERA), Dontrelle Willis (22-10, 2.63 ERA), Clemens, and Oswalt, and tied with Chad Cordero (1.82 ERA, 47 SV).  

News
The Nationals are five games behind the Reds and Pirates for the Wild Card with eight games remaining.
The Dodgers clinched the NL West title, while the Red Sox clinched the AL East title.
Yankees designated hitter Alex Rodriguez broke Lou Gehrig's all time record with his 24th career grand slam.
The Rays and Orioles played the second longest game in major league history at 6:54 while setting records for most pitchers used (21).
Nationals outfielder Denard Span saw his hitting streak snapped at 29 games, the longest in the majors this season.
Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer finally earned his 20th win.

Game Scores
Nationals (83-71) beat the Marlins (56-98) 8-0.
Red Sox (94-61) beat the Blue Jays (70-83) 6-3.
Yankees (81-73) beat the Giants (71-83) 5-1.
Mets (69-84) beat the Phillies (71-82) 6-4.
Rays (84-69) beat the Orioles (81-72) 5-4 (18 innings).
Padres (72-81) beat the Dodgers (88-66) 2-0.
Braves (91-62) beat the Cubs (64-90) 9-5.
Tigers (90-64) beat the White Sox (60-93) 12-5.
Top Scorer: Tigers beat the White Sox 12-5.

Standings (*clinched postseason, ** clinched division)
AL East: Red Sox** (94-61, .606 WPCT).  AL Central: Tigers (90-64, .584).  AL West: A's (91-63, .591).
NL East: Braves (91-62, .595).  NL Central: Cardinals (90-64, .584).  NL West: Dodgers** (88-66, .571).
AL Wild Cards: Rays (84-69, .549) and Indians (84-70, .545).  NL Wild Cards: Pirates and Reds (88-66, .571).
Bottom Team: Astros (51-103, .331).  Longest W Streak: Reds, 4 games.  Longest L Streak: Astros, 7 games.

League Leaders
Offensive: AVG: Miguel Cabrera (Tigers), .346 (184-532).  Home runs: Chris Davis (Orioles), 51.  RBI: Miguel Cabrera, 135.  Stolen bases: Jacoby Ellsbury (Red Sox), 52.
Pitching: Wins: Max Scherzer (Tigers), 20.  K's: Yu Darvish (Rangers), 260.  ERA: Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers), 1.94 (223 innings, 48 earned runs).  Saves: Craig Kimbrel (Braves), 48.

Top Performers
Offensive: Chris Johnson (Braves): 3-4, double, home run (11), 2 RBI, 2 runs, walk, AVG up .004 from .327 to .331, hitting streak to 2 games (4-7, .571 AVG).
Pitching: Jordan Zimmermann (Nationals): Win (19-8), 9 shutout innings, 2 hits, 1 walk, 9 K's (159), ERA drop: 0.15 runs from 3.33 to 3.18.
Worst Pitching Performance: Dylan Axelrod (White Sox): Loss (4-10), 2.2 innings, 7 earned runs, 10 hits, 2 walks, 3 K's (72), ERA jump: 0.39 runs from 5.33 to 5.72.

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Teams followed in this update: Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers
If your team is not included, please email me and I will add them.
HR: home runs.  RBI: runs batted in.  AVG: batting average.  SB: stolen bases.  ERA: earned run average. WHIP: walks/hits per innings pitched.  K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage
Zack Silverman