Retirements: Winter 2015-16

[Frayed Knot]

Barry Zito announced yesterday that he is joining his one-time running mate Tim Hudson into retirement (Mark Mulder beat them to it years ago although flirted with a comeback earlier this year).
That Zito had pitched in only three games since 2013 (and in very few good ones since about '08) probably made some think that he already had retired, but no. Claims now that he's going to put his energies into music.

Also previously announced (although still possible to rescind I guess) are AJ Burnett & Aramis Ramirez - both of whose seasons ended via the WC play-in loss to the Cubs.


Those are four very substantial careers that will disappear from the baseball landscape this winter.

Zito

Hudson

Burnett

Ramirez

[Edgy MD]

Pretty cool that the Giants and A's manipulated it during the last week of the season so that Zito and Mulder could lock up against each other as a sendoff.

Pretty telling that it ended up in a 14-10 game.

[Guest El Segundo Escupidor]

I wonder what the o/u was for that game.... 23.5?

[seawolf17]

Great careers all. But the 2022 Hall of Fame class continues to grow by zero, however.

[Guest themetfairy]

Edgy MD wrote: Pretty cool that the Giants and A's manipulated it during the last week of the season so that Zito and Mulder could lock up against each other as a sendoff. Pretty telling that it ended up in a 14-10 game.

Zito faced off against Hudson; Mulder was in the house announcing the game.

[Edgy MD]

Very true.

I was posting that from a meeting, if it makes my error less egregious.

[Frayed Knot]

Dan Haren ends a 13 year career which saw him spend a full season or more in 8 different uniforms (guy probably just got tired of moving around).
How many can you name? (answers below)

153-131 plus 2-0 in Post-Season
391 Games, 380 Starts
3 time all-Star
Placed 5th (2009) & 7th (2011) in CY voting.


























In order: StL (2 seasons), OAK (3), ARZ (2+), LAA (2+), WAS (1), LAD (1), MIA (1), CHC (1)
By innings pitched: OAK, ARZ, LAA, LAD, WAS, MIA, StL, CHC

[Edgy MD]

Torii Hunter, successor to Kirby Puckett as Twins centerfielder and baseball's Ambassador of Fun, calls it a career after 19 seasons.

Hopefully he has a better retirement than Kirby.

[Edgy MD]

Minor league home run king and former Met Mike Hessman packs it in.

[MFS62]

Deja vu, all over again.

Later

[Guest cooby classic]

Loved Torii Hunter

[Frayed Knot]

Minor league home run king and former Met Mike Hessman packs it in.

1st career HR comes vs the NYM, Aug 26, 2003 off Mike Stanton as a PH in the 9th inning -- http://www.leaptoad.com/mets/gamedetail.php?gameno=6705&tabno=D -- fortunately it was a game in which the Mets were up by 2 at the time and Stanton went on to preserve the save. He retired Vinny Castilla, Raffy Furcal & Gary Sheffield in that inning, just not Mike Hessman.

And his final career HR came as a NYM, Aug 6, 2010. This one also came as a PH (not surprising) also in the 9th inning and also left his team one run short. In this case he connected off the Phils' J.C. Romero with 2-on/2-out and the Mets down by 4 (thanks to a 6-run Philly 8th) -- http://www.leaptoad.com/mets/gamedetail.php?gameno=7827&tabno=D

In between those two he hit 12 other ML HRs in 223 ABs across pieces of 5 ML seasons.

On the final game of the 2010 season he was subbed in hit in the 9th slot and play 3rd following the 9th inning of a tie game in which the 83-loss Mets would lose 2-1 to the 93-loss Nats in the 14th (Ollie Perez walked in the winning run). Hessman wound up getting ABs in the 10th & 12th innings K-ing in both (the 2nd time w/the winning run on 2nd) and was on deck when Ruben Tejada flew out to end the game.
It was the 109th and final ML game of his career. -- http://www.leaptoad.com/mets/gamedetail.php?gameno=7880&tabno=D

[MFS62]

It seems like only yesterday that Jeff Manto was going to have the record:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.cgi?id=manto-001jef
But I'm not sure if he ever held it for even a brief period of time.

Later

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Frayed Knot wrote: On the final game of the 2010 season he was subbed in hit in the 9th slot and play 3rd following the 9th inning of a tie game in which the 83-loss Mets would lose 2-1 to the 93-loss Nats in the 14th (Ollie Perez walked in the winning run). Hessman wound up getting ABs in the 10th & 12th innings K-ing in both (the 2nd time w/the winning run on 2nd) and was on deck when Ruben Tejada flew out to end the game. It was the 109th and final ML game of his career. -- http://www.leaptoad.com/mets/gamedetail.php?gameno=7880&tabno=D

From the weather to the clutch-vacuum, there was so little about this game that DIDN'T suck.

Hessman's 12th inning K sent us to the exits (since YoungerPooper was tiny, sleeping and cold). Thanks for that, I guess, buddy-- go with God.

[Edgy MD]

Jae Seo sez, "See you in the Brogna thread."

[Centerfield]

I thought Jae Seo would have a better career than he did. I thought he could pitch 10 years, be a Bobby Jones type of guy.

I also kinda felt like Dillon Gee was a white Jae Seo.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Centerfield wrote: I thought Jae Seo would have a better career than he did. I thought he could pitch 10 years, be a Bobby Jones type of guy. I also kinda felt like Dillon Gee was a white Jae Seo.

IOW... a Bobby Jones?

Actually, in evaluating Gee, I'd go White Jae Seo in theory, White Masato Yoshii in practice.

[Frayed Knot]

Seo's problem was that he was a fastball/change-up pitcher who, after arm surgery, lost a bit off the fastball and therefore the difference in speed between the two pitches.
Given that, I'm actually surprised he was still pitching up until now with at least periods of success.

You also have to love statements like: "the right-hander said he wanted to open up more opportunities for younger players".
Sure he does.

[Frayed Knot]

Maicer Izturis announced his retirement today.
So why does this matter to me? you might say ... maybe right after you utter Who? and/or, Who Cares!!

Well because this leaves Bartolo Colon as officially the last Montreal Expo still active in MLB.
Izturis, a full seven years younger than Big Bart, played part of one season for the Expos in 2004 before going on to eight years with the Angels and the last two in Toronto. He again went to camp with the B-Jays this spring hoping to bounce back from recent injuries before announcing today that he's packing it in for good.
Izturis and Bartolo were never Expos teammates as Colon pitched in Quebec in back in 2002 in what was then already his 6th ML season.

There are still a few who served time in the Montreal farm system: Brandon Phillips & Ian Desmond among them, but none who ever wore the rouge, blanc et bleu of les Expos in a ML game or were able to call Stade Olympique their home park.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Well because this leaves Bartolo Colon as officially the last Montreal Expo still active in MLB.

QUIZ: Who was the last active major leaguer to have appeared in a game at Jarry Park as a member of the Expos?

[Edgy MD]

[fimg=500:n7e822h9]http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/simpsons/images/5/57/The_Crepes_of_Wrath_(310).jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130531195313[/fimg:n7e822h9]

[Edgy MD]

Well because this leaves Bartolo Colon as officially the last Montreal Expo still active in MLB. QUIZ: Who was the last active major leaguer to have appeared in a game at Jarry Park as a member of the Expos?

Gotta be Andre Dawson. He was still bringing it 20 years later.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Well because this leaves Bartolo Colon as officially the last Montreal Expo still active in MLB. QUIZ: Who was the last active major leaguer to have appeared in a game at Jarry Park as a member of the Expos? Gotta be Andre Dawson. He was still bringing it 20 years later.

It's Andre, who barely made the cut. Dawson debuted in mid-September, 1976, Jarry Park's last season as the home of the Expos.

Dawson outlasted the runner-up, Gary Carter, by about four years.

[Edgy MD]

With regard to the ultimate Expo, I have this strange and totally insupportable suspicion that Milton Bradley, after getting out of jail, is planning on pulling a Julio Franco and making a comeback in his 40s.

[Frayed Knot]

Adam LaRoche says he's going to take another day or two to think about it, but he sounds like a guy who's already made up his mind to hang 'em up (or maybe to negotiate a portion of his final contract year a la Cuddyer).

The now 36 y/o had himself a nice 12 year career [255 HRs, 340 2Bs; 798 OPS] but did for six teams (plus two separate stints w/the Braves) and had a lousy year in 2015 after signing as a FA with the ChiSox. Not bad for a 29th round draft pick (Braves in 2000) out of a community college in Kansas who wasn't even considered the best prospect in his family; brother Andy was thought of as the better bet but he pretty much failed miserably. Also famously the son of a ML'er, pitcher Dave.
While playing for Washington he was known for always having his son around the team including in the clubhouse where the kid would pal around with Bryce Harper who was closer in age to the kid than he was to the father.

[G-Fafif]

If LaRoche had retired sooner, Mets would be working on their umpteenth consecutive division title. (Yeah, umpteenth.)

The other day, Skip Schumaker hung 'em up. Very much a "seems like yesterday he was just coming up" player. Even more recently, was a defensive star in a losing cause in the suspended game completion that preceded Steven Matz's instantly legendary debut.

He was 36. Still is, I suppose.

[MFS62]

G-Fafif wrote: If LaRoche had retired sooner, Mets would be working on their umpteenth consecutive division title. (Yeah, umpteenth.)

If necessary, I'll personally drive him to the airport and load his luggage on the plane.

Later

[Edgy MD]

Adam LaRoche ... was known for always having his son around the team including in the clubhouse where the kid would pal around with Bryce Harper who was closer in age to the kid than he was to the father.

Shmoly shmap! Ken Rosenthal is reporting that LaRoche retired as a matter of principle when management told him to stop bringing his kid around so much.

Just talked to ‪#‎White‬ Sox president Ken Williams. Here is what he told me about LaRoche: "There has been no policy change with regards to allowance of kids in the clubhouse, on the field, the back fields during spring training. This young man that we're talking about, Drake, everyone loves this young man. In no way do I want this to be about him. "I asked Adam, said, 'Listen, our focus, our interest, our desire this year is to make sure we give ourselves every opportunity to focus on a daily basis on getting better. All I'm asking you to do with regard to bringing your kid to the ballpark is dial it back.' "I don't think he should be here 100 percent of the time - and he has been here 100 percent, every day, in the clubhouse. I said that I don't even think he should be here 50 percent of the time. Figure it out, somewhere in between. "We all think his kid is a great young man. I just felt it should not be every day, that's all. You tell me, where in this country can you bring your child to work every day? "I respect the man and his decision. I can't disagree with what (Blaine Boyer) said about Adam as a person. But I take exception to the 'evil' part." Boyer said of LaRoche earlier: "He is an unbelievable husband, an unbelievable father, a friend you can only dream of. "I honestly think this is between good and evil. I know which side Adam lives on. I'm thankful to see the way he's acting. It's an unbelievable test of who he is, the husband he is, the father he is."

How mortifying. And way to keep a family matter private, Ken Williams.

This could get stinkier before it gets better.

[Ceetar]

LaRoche wrote: “We’re not big on school. I told my wife, ‘He’s going to learn a lot more useful information in the clubhouse than he will in the classroom, as far as life lessons.' "

Yeah, maybe a teenager shouldn't be spending all of his time in a major league clubhouse and should actually attend school.

And on top of that, I can only imagine what the clubhouse would look like if EVERYONE started bringing their kids in every day. "Why does Adam's kid get a whole locker and get to shag fly balls and mine doesn't?"

[ashie62]

LaRoche's kid has his own locker next to Adam. That has to be annoying to many with the kid there 100%

Pass