subject: Mlb Tickets- Surprise Player Comebacks Of The 2012 Season [print this page] Every season in Major League Baseball, there are multiple worthy candidates to be considered for baseball's Comeback Player of the Year. Eventually, age will catch up with every player, but there are always a few players who defy the odds. Here are a sampling of players who are turning the clock around and once again helping sell MLB tickets after an injury-filled or lackluster 2011 season.
1) Andy Pettitte - New York Yankees:
The Yankees' left-handed starter is a player that literally came back. After retiring following the conclusion of the 2010 season, Pettitte seemingly left the game on his own terms, especially since he was still performing exceptionally well for the Yankees. All it took was a visit to the Yankees' Spring Training site in Tampa early this year to show the veteran hurler that he still had the hunger and missed the camaraderie shared with his former Yankee teammates. Initially seen as a luxury in the Yankees' loaded rotation, due to some injuries and subpar performances from their starting pitchers, Pettitte has been key to the Yankees' fortunes, along with Yankees' ace starter CC Sabathia.
2) Adam Dunn - Chicago White Sox:
To put it bluntly, Adam Dunn's 2011 season was one that everybody wishes they could forget, including himself and the White Sox, who signed him to a lucrative free agent contract before the 2011 season began. In one of the worst seasons in Major League Baseball history, Dunn ended up "batting" a horrible .159 with only 11 home runs and 42 RBI - and a whopping 177 strikeouts. Just one year into his four-year contract, it appeared it was going to be a long, painful relationship for Dunn and the White Sox. However, after an offseason to rest, reflect and forget about his year in 2011, Dunn has returned mostly to form. The player that had at least 38 home runs in eight consecutive seasons before 2011 is once again destroying the baseball, which is one of the reasons why the White Sox feel they can contend with the Detroit Tigers in the American League Central division.
3) Johan Santana - New York Mets:
Like the previously-mentioned Pettitte, Santana is also making a literal comeback. However, in his case he was out in 2011 due to an injury and not retirement as was the case in Pettitte's departure. Santana's comeback has been one of the highlights of the Mets' season. After critics beginning to question if Santana was on the decline and had anything left after he missed the 2011 season, Santana has rebounded to lead the Mets' pitching rotation along with knuckleball pitcher R.A. Dickey. The highlight of Santana and the Mets' season so far has been him pitching the first no-hitter in Mets team history. With all of the successful pitchers the Mets have had in what's nearly a half century of existence, none of them pitched a no-hitter for the Mets before Santana did on June 1, blanking the St. Louis Cardinals in the process and putting an exclamation point on his comeback, letting people know he still has the ability to pitch at the top of his game.
