Yesterday, The day after Andy Pettitte came within seven outs of a perfect game, Jon Heyman and Adam the Bull debated his Hall of Fame chances on WFAN. Jon said yes, Adam said no, so time for Mike Silva to weigh in.

Pitchers sometimes can be tricky when it comes to the Hall. I go back to my methodology of assessing a player based on production, consistency, and historic seasons. When you look at Pettitte’s body of work you come away with an interesting case and a very tough call.

You can’t question that Andy Pettitte has produced solid numbers throughout his career. He’s 94 games over .500, won ten or more games in 14 of 15 seasons, and, assuming he starts three more games this year, has only made less than 30 starts three times, one his rookie year where he didn’t start his first game until late May . He is a dependable, durable, and a consistent winner. You also have to factor his great postseason numbers, which included his huge performance in Game 5 of the 96′ World Series. Everything looks good until you start to put his numbers up historically against some of the best.

First question is regarding Pettitte’s dominance. His career ERA and WHIP doesn’t put him among the league’s elite. His ERA+ is solid, but only ’97, ’02, and ’05 indicate seasons that were Hall of Fame caliber. Having watched Pettitte his entire career he always seemed like a pitcher that found a way to win, but never struck you as an elite pitcher. He wasn’t even the best pitcher on many of the Yankees championship staffs. Just like the Yankee dynasty teams, Pettitte was one piece of a greater whole. It was about team and not individual performance. Don’t forget, Pettitte has never won a Cy Young Award, finishing second in 1996. His lack of personal accolades tells you many of the writers felt the same.

If he finishes 100 games over .500 can you penalize him? Many will say yes because of the caliber of teams he played for. Forget about comparing him to the greats, but rather look at his former teammate Mike Mussina. Moose, who some say is borderline, outperforms Andy in most categories. Pettitte is a gamer and the type of veteran you want on your staff, but I have to agree with Adam the Bull, Andy is a good, not great, pitcher and doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame.

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com

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Tags: Andy Pettitte, Hall of Fame, Mike Mussina, New York Yankees