The New York Yankees honored two members of the Core Four over the weekend. Pinstripe legends Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte had their numbers retired at Yankee Stadium and were enshrined at Monument Park.
Posada came first before Saturday's game against the Cleveland Indians. His No. 20 was retired during a pregame ceremony and he became the 19th player in Yankees' history to have his number retired. The former catcher was joined by Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams David Cone, Paul O'Neill, Hideki Matsui, Scott Brosius and Joe Torre on the memorable day.
"I can't believe I'm standing here right now," Posada said to the crowd, via Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News. "Trying to put into words the feelings and emotions of this day is tough. I was born passionate about baseball and the New York Yankees.
"Being here seems surreal."
Posada played 17 MLB seasons, all with the Yankees, and owns a career stat line of .273/.374/.474 with 900 runs scored, 275 home runs and 1,065 RBIs in 1,829 games.
Check out the full ceremony below:
Pettitte was honored at Yankee Stadium the following day and became the 20th player to have his No. 46 retired by New York. He was also joined by the former Yankee greats that were on hand for Posada's ceremony.
The left-hander holds nearly every postseason pitching record for the Yankees, including the most starts (42), wins (19) and innings pitched (276 2/3) in MLB history. He spent 18 years in the majors (15 with the Yankees) and amassed a career record of 256-153 with a 3.85 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and 2,448 strikeouts in 531 games (521 starts), totaling 3,316 innings. He never had a losing season with the Yankees.
However, Pettitte admitted to using HGH back in 2007 after being named in the Mitchell Report. He said he used the substance in 2002 to help expedite his recovery from an elbow injury (HGH was banned by the MLB in 2005). And of course, he was asked about it on Sunday in regards to how it felt to be honored even though he was associated with PEDs.
"I'm thankful," Pettitte said, via Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com. "I have always tried to be respectful. I had a man tell me a long time ago, 'You take care of your character, and God will take care of your reputation.' I have kind of carried that phrase with me for a long time."
Check out Pettitte's full ceremony in the video below:
