Never forget your pinstripe glory

Andy Pettitte has RETIRED. And he did is last week?? And I didn't find out about it today?? What has the world come to.

Pitching is the key to baseball. And well frankly the Yankees haven't had great pitchers since David Cone, David Wells, Orlando Hernandez and Pettitte took the mound for the Bronx Bombers...back in 1998! Yes, we won the world series in 2009... but we did it on a three-man rotation! because we had no faith in our other two starters.

Pettitte celebrates after winning game 5 of the 1996 World Series ( right and left )

Now that Pettitte is gone, the Yankees face the tough challenge of finding his replacement. Having already lost out on Cliff Lee, Carl Pavano and Jorge De La Rosa, the prospects are dwindling... and pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report back to work in less then two weeks!

Pettitte's stats for the past three years are as followed:  has won 39 games with a 4.09 ERA in 527.2 innings while pitching in the AL East ( the toughest division in baseball).

Pettitte Pitching in the World Series 2009

Celebrating his 5th World Series Title in 2009

Besides his small run in with law after being caught using steroids, Pettitte is surely Hall of Fame worthy. And he will be missed.

As of now, all I can say is- it's going to be an interesting spring.

Tributes to Pettitte were displayed at Yankee Stadium the day after he announced his retirement