The New York Yankees are going to have to start using triple-digit numbers soon enough. The Yankees announced on Sunday that they will honor popular left-handed pitcher Andy Pettitte in its storied Monument Park this August. The team will honor Pettitte with a plaque and retire No. 46.
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But not all of his former teammates are happy that Pettitte is being honored by the team. Former Yankees second baseman Chuck Knoblauch blasted the move on Twitter after the news was announced.
Congrats to 46. Yankees retiring his number. Hopefully they don't retire it like his HGH testimony.
— Chuck Knoblauch (@chuckknoblauch) February 16, 2015
Knoblauch, like Pettitte, was named in the Mitchell Report. Pettitte eventually admitted to using HGH.
Pettitte played 15 seasons with the Yankees, going 219-127 with a 3.94 ERA. He's the all-time leader in strikeouts in franchise history with 2,020. He was a huge part in five World Series championships (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2009).
Pettitte was a part of the Yankees' "Core Four," which included Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and him. Rivera's No. 42 is already retired, inevitably Jeter's No. 2 will, Posada's No. 20 most likely will and now Pettitte's No. 46 will enter Yankees immortality.
His former teammate, Bernie Williams, also has a chance to have his No. 51 retired by team.
With the addition of Pettitte, New York has retired 18 numbers, though two of them are duplicates. Here's the list:
1 - Billy Martin
3 - Babe Ruth
4 - Lou Gehrig
5 - Joe DiMaggio
6 - Joe Torre
7 - Mickey Mantle
8 - Yogi Berra and Billy Dickey
9 - Roger Maris
10 - Phil Rizzuto
15 - Thurman Munson
16 - Whitey Ford
23 - Don Mattingly
32 - Elston Howard
37 - Casey Stengel
42 - Mariano Rivera (and Jackie Robinson)
44 - Reggie Jackson
49 - Ron Guidry
