Retirement

As our drought of winter baseball news continues, I did catch one noteworthy item over the weekend. Phil Hughes announced his retirement. This probably shouldn't have come as a surprise -- he hadn't pitched in the majors since 2018.

Hughes didn't have many regrets. How could he, after playing for a dozen seasons, including being a vital bullpen cog for the World Champion 2009 Yankees? He had success as a starter, winning 18 for the Yankees when they moved him into the rotation the following season, and 16 two years later. But the Californian was dogged by injuries. A shoulder problem wrecked his 2011 season, while 2013 went off track from a bad back. Moving onto the Twins as a 2014 free agent, Phil won 16 before injuries and ineffectiveness took him down.

In his post on social media, Hughes took pride in his accomplishments, and thanked his teammates, coaches, trainers and "countless others." While his career is shifting from ballplayer to dad, he'll always feel connected to the game.

(My images of Phil Hughes is from the Twins/Yankees game in New York on June 1st, 2014, and, below from the Yankees/White Sox game on July 1st, 2012.)


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