Nick Swisher, 2 Years After Last MLB Game, Announces Retirement
TAMPA, Fla. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- At spring training with the New York Yankees as a guest instructor, Nick Swisher says he has retired as a player.
Swisher made the announcement in an essay Friday on The Players Tribune.
Slowed by knee injuries the past several years, Swisher appeared in 76 games with Atlanta and Cleveland in 2014. The 36-year old slugger played in 55 games last season for the Yankees' Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre team, then ended his season in July when his second child was born.
"This is something I've been thinking about for a while," he wrote. "I mean, your body tells you when it's time to call it quits. And this off-season, my body was screaming, "The dream is over, baby!" And I can't argue with that."
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Selected by Oakland with the 16th overall pick in the 2002 amateur draft, Swisher hit .249 with 245 homers and 803 RBIs in 12 major leagues seasons with the Athletics (2004-07), Chicago White Sox (2008), Yankees (2009-12), Cleveland (2013-15) and Atlanta (2005). He won the World Series in 2009 and was an All-Star the following year.
He played last season with the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
"Now don't get me wrong. I'm gonna miss playing the game," Swisher wrote. "No doubt about it. But I'll still be around. Even if they don't want me around, I'm gonna find a way."
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