Rivera and Pettitte: History in the Making

Savor the moments in history, Yankee fans.  Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera pitching in the same regular-season game since July 8, 2010.  You won't be seeing these two pitching together much longer, since Rivera announced his retirement after the 2013 season.  Pettitte's decision on retirement is still up in the air, but chanyear playing professional baseball, as well.


While starting pitcher Pettitte recorded his first win of the season against Boston; Rivera struck out a batter to earn his first save of the season.  Both pitchers suffered season-ending injuries last year, which is the main reason why Rivera chose to come back for the 2013 season.  After injuring his ACL while catching fly balls in the outfield during a pre-game, Rivera feels like has unfinished business to take care of, a.k.a. the World Series Championships.  As Pettitte stated, "It'll be special for me watching him this year and know that after this he won't be closing any games for us. I'll savor it as much as I can. But we have a lot of work to do, a task at hand that we have to focus on, also." (yankees.com) 

Apart from when Pettitte was traded to the Houston Astros for three seasons, the duo have been a constant force in the Yankees winning legacy.  Back in 1997 Rivera made his debut as a closer for the Yankees after struggling to find a place as a pitcher.  Fast forward to 2013 where Rivera has saved 69 of Pettitte's 246 wins.  Rivera has recorded at least one save in eighteen seasons,  another Major League record bringing his total to 609 wins all-time.

Here's are a few more accomplishments the duo have succeeded in together: 

1.  Five World Series Wins
2. Seven American League pennants
3. Pettitte has 19 wins in the post-season. (All-time Major League record)
4. Rivera has 42 saves in the post-season. (All-time Major League record)

It has been debated whether Pettitte belongs in the Hall of Fame. There is no doubt that Rivera belongs there, though.