Yankees’ Mark Teixeira will retire at season’s end
Mark Teixeira knew this would be difficult. Twenty seconds after he started to speak, his voice cracked.
“That didn’t take long, did it?” he said.
A three-time All-Star first baseman whose career has been interrupted by injuries for much of the last five years, Teixeira announced during a tear-filled news conference Friday at Yankee Stadium that he plans to retire at the end of this season.
“I gave you everything I had,” he said to Yankees fans during the televised announcement, then stopping for 15 seconds to regain his composure. “It wasn’t always enough.”
The 36-year-old is batting .198 with 10 homers and 27 RBIs, and his 404 home runs are fifth among switch-hitters, trailing only Mickey Mantle (536), Eddie Murray (504), Chipper Jones (468) and Carlos Beltran (415).
A five-time Gold Glove winner, he is in the final season of a $180 million, eight-year contract. He is most proud of reaching 30 homers and 100 RBIs in eight consecutive seasons from 2004-11.
“As the season went on, I just kind realized that my body can’t do it anymore,” Teixeira said as teammates looked on. “If I’m going to grind through seasons not being healthy, I’d rather be home with my family. I’d rather do something else. And I miss my kids way too much to be in a training room in Detroit rather than being at their dance recital or their school play.”
When he arrived at spring training in February, Teixeira said “I’d love to play five more years. My body feels so good. Why not play until 40?”
“My neck hurts almost every day. The knee thing popped up,” he said. “It’s been a struggle for me to stay on the field consistently the last three, four years now. And so it just all kind of dawned on me that that’s not in the cards.”
He was slowed early this season by a bulging disk in his neck and was on the disabled list from June 4-25 with a right knee cartilage tear, an injury that has caused manager Joe Girardi to schedule repeated off days since his return.
Clearing the bases
Tigers starter Jordan Zimmermann escaped significant injury in his return Thursday. In his first start back after missing a month because of a neck strain, Zimmermann allowed six runs in 1 2/3 innings in a loss to the Chicago White Sox. He was hampered by tightness in his right lat muscle, and had tests Friday. Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said the MRI showed no tissue or muscle damage, but the team won’t make a final decision until he throws a bullpen session Sunday. Zimmerman is 9-5 with a 4.44 ERA in 16 starts. … Former big league outfielder Nate Schierholtz was suspended for 80 games following a positive test for a performance-enhancing substance under baseball’s minor league drug program. The 32-year-old, currently a free agent, tested positive for Ibutamoren, a growth hormone secretagogue. Studies have shown the substance can increase muscle mass.