Andy Pettitte and CC Sabathia donned Yankees uniforms last week as special spring coaches.
I bring this up — believe it or not — to discuss the Hall of Fame and ultimately Gerrit Cole’s trajectory toward Cooperstown.
Pettitte and Sabathia have remarkably similar career stats. If you want just a snapshot: In 531 regular-season games (521 starts), Pettitte had 60.2 Wins Above Replacement (Baseball Reference), a 256-153 record and a 116 ERA-plus. Sabathia was at 561 games (560 starts), 61.8 WAR, a 251-161 record and 117 ERA-plus.
Pettitte has been on the ballot for six years and never risen above 17 percent of the vote. Sabathia joins the writers’ ballot next offseason. Pettitte’s presence in the Mitchell Report clearly has hurt his candidacy. But there also is this: During Pettitte’s career, he was treated like a No. 2 starter in pay and stature. Sabathia was treated like an ace. The numbers might have ended up similar for the two lefties, but you can, for example, get to 12 by adding six and six or three and nine. The result does not describe the road.
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