NY Daily News comments about Andy Pettitte 8/26/07 don't check out

Extremely powerful columnist Bob Raissman's item is titled, "Doubletalk."

• "What Andy Pettitte said: "I love him (Joe Torre) to death. He is like a dad to me. He is a great manager and great to play for."
• What Andy Pettitte meant to say: "I love him to death. But remember, that didn't stop me from leaving him to go to Houston for more cash.""

First, the Astros' offer was $7.5 million LESS than the Yankee offer, per ESPN.com, 12/12/03

• "Pettitte took $7.5 million less to sign with the Astros -- the Yankees' last offer was for $39 million over three years."

Second, the Boston Red Sox offered Pettitte much more than Houston or the Yankees, $52 million over 4 years, and Pettitte turned it down.

• Widely reported including by Jack Curry, NY Times, 2/25/07, (posted on this blog 2/24/07)***

• ***UPDATE 3/28/08: The reference to Andy Pettitte's offer from the Red Sox has been deleted in the Jack Curry NY Times article of 2/25/07. I noted this on a 3/19/08 update of a 2/19/08 post referencing this erroneous characterization by the NY Daily News. The Red Sox offer to Pettitte is referenced in 3 other sources including here on ESPN.com on 12/12/03.***

Third, it was Torre's superiors in 2003 who called the shots--not Torre.

• The Yankees left Pettitte no choice when they failed to make a simple phone call to the pitcher in the exlusive window allowed them after the 2003 post season. Andy had spent his entire career in the Yankee organization, had pitched very well for them especially in the post season just passed, didn't get in bar fights or pitch drunk. He was rumored to have an elbow problem, but the Yankees could have addressed the issue in a phone call if that had been their concern. Their were open rumors that Steinbrenner wasn't big on Andy and had tried to trade him over a long period of time, at one point to the Phillies. Andy had no reason to think the Yankees wanted him so of course looked at an offer from his home town.

Perhaps the Yankees need to do more in terms of media relations, so misunderstandings like this don't occur in the future. Bob Raissman is an extremely powerful sports media columnist and his words about Andy Pettitte have now gone all around the world.

• Item from NY Daily News by Bob Raissman, end of column, 8/26/07, "Tiki's Rip of Eli Creates Rush of Coverage"

P.S. According to the website, RegrettheError.com, the New York Daily News does not have an online 'Corrections' page (nor an ombudsman of any kind). Therefore, if at any time it's concluded an error has occurred, it may be noted in the paper version but not the online version. So far, there's at least a difference in facts reported among media.

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