Andy Pettitte: Big Buck Hunter

Andy Pettitte makes a stronger case for a future induction into the Hall of Fame with every post season start he makes. He has a major league record 19 career playoff wins, winning his last 5 playoff decisions. Beating Cliff Lee for number 20 in the ALCS will make it harder for detractors to doubt his case for the Hall. His pitching opponent for tonight is Rangers ace Cliff Lee, who surrendered one run on 2 hits over 8 innings with 5 strikeouts and 3 walks in his last start against the Yankees on September 8th.

Cliff Lee remarked of Pettitte in a report on MLB.com: "In my opinion he's probably the best postseason pitcher of all time just by the number of wins and the number of rings he's got."

The runnin' Rangers love to throw up the deer antlers when they steal bases and score runs, being able to do it against the pitcher with arguably the best pickoff move in baseball history is going to be a tough task. Stopping their running game tonight would be more than the equivalent of the 14 point buck Josh Hamilton has hanging in the Rangers club house in Arlington.

The Rangers were 7th in the major leagues with 123 stolen bases this season, led by Elvis Andrus 32 swipes. Andy Pettite, with over 100 career pickoffs, is by far the career leader since the start started to be tracked in 1974. The Rangers team on base percentage was .338, good for 7th in the Major Leagues and below the Yankees major league leading .350. Aside from Brett Gardner, who tied the Tampa Bay Rays Carl Crawford for 4th in the majors with 47 stolen bases, the Yankees do not have nearly the speed of the Rangers, that is what sets both these teams apart.

This game is a must win for Texas because losing a game with your ace on the hill on going down 2-1, where only 4 teams have clawed back from in an LCS, would be a bigger problem than they are ready to admit. For his part, Yankees manager Joe Girardi has repeatedly stated "we're on rotation" when asked to comment on whether AJ Burnett would pitch if the Yankees lost game 3 tonight. On the flip side it is a must win for the Yanks because being down 2-1 with AJ Burnett on the mound and the possibility of him having a Rick Ankiel-like meltdown to put his team down 3-1 is something most Yankee fans would rather avoid.

Says Pettitte of Lee in a report on MLB.com: "You see everything that you want to see in a starting pitcher to be successful. He throws strikes. He throws quality strikes. He gets ahead. He changes speeds. And, you know, I think what is separating him from any other pitcher right now is really his cutter, how late it is."

They both can knock the laces off the ball. They both have proven clutch pitchers on the hill tonight. This should be a hell of a match up. The Yankees need to see if Pettitte has another great post season run in him. Pettitte has the Rangers' antlers in his sights, just beyond them Cooperstown awaits.

The hunt begins after Tino Martinez throws out the ceremonial first pitch tonight.