PETTITTE, GIAMBI & THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH

I love when older players still play this great game.  It's hard when players don't know when to say when (Read CALLING IT QUITS: WHEN IS ENOUGH ENOUGH?), but for the guys that keep plugging away, like Andy Pettitte and Jason Giambi... you have to respect that.  I love it actually.

Wally Matthews has a piece on Andy Pettitte where he talks about still loving and playing this great game and coming back to baseball: "I’m loving being back... I’m excited about the season and this organization and trying to help us win another championship. If I stay healthy, I feel like I can pitch for a long time. It doesn’t mean I want to, but I feel like I could."  Read Matthews HERE.

Now in fairness to Ken Davidoff, Wally wasn't the one that first reported this story, Ken Davidoff did and he did a terrific piece from March 1st titled Retirement not obsession of Yankees' Pettitte anymore. Read it, it's brilliantly done, especially the way Davidoff sets it up, writing: "The “Yankeeography” footage looks ancient, with Andy Pettitte strenuously working out alongside two men — Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee — whose association with the franchise has been wiped out. 'I can’t wait,' The Rocket tells his left-handed protégé, 'to come back and do this with you when you’re 40.'

Cut to a close-up of Pettitte, dated March 30, 2003, at the then SkyDome in Toronto, with these words: 'When I’m 40, I don’t think I’ll still be playing baseball. I’m not quite that inspired.'

And yet here we were yesterday morning at George M. Steinbrenner Field, a 40-year-old Pettitte preparing for his 18th major league season and smiling upon hearing his words from nearly 10 years ago. Acknowledging his 2011 leave of absence has dramatically changed his career outlook."

I knew I read Wally's story before... Kudos to Ken Davidoff... and Andy Pettitte of course.

And there's more... Jason Giambi is kicking ass in Cleveland Indians camp and he has a very good shot of making their club at the ripe age of 42.  The Plain Dealer's Bud Shaw (HERE) writes of Terry Francona liking Giambi around, "He sounds almost that cheery every time Giambi’s name is mentioned. The way Francona talks about him, Giambi would have to accidentally get run over by a Vespa peloton not to make the Indians’ roster out of spring training. 'He has a presence about him,' Francona said when asked about Giambi’s at-bats in camp. 'He doesn’t swing at bad pitches ever. He’ll take a walk. He still has his bat speed. I’ve been very impressed.'"

I love it. You have to appreciate these guys, you really do. 

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