Nick Swisher dropped the mic on the game of baseball Friday, announcing his retirement in a personal essay penned to the Players’ Tribune.
The former Yankees spark plug, whose first season in New York ended in a World Series championship in 2009, was a fan favorite wherever he went for his relentless effort and signature smile.
Just like the moment he describes at the start of his send-off piece, when he bloodied his forearms diving for a ball in a slow-pitch softball game last summer, Swisher’s 12-year MLB career was full of thrills.
“Anybody who’s ever met me or seen me play won’t be surprised by that story is because that’s the kind of energy and passion I bring to the game of baseball every time I step on the field,” he writes. “I guarantee you’re gonna have a hard time ever finding somebody who had as much fun playing the game as I did.”
Swisher, who made his major-league debut with the Athletics in 2004 and spent parts of four seasons with the White Sox, Indians and Braves, fittingly ended his career in New York on the Yankees’ Triple-A team in 2016, but opted out of his contract in July to spend time with his newborn daughter.
“This is something I’ve been thinking about for a while,” Swisher writes. “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.”
Swisher, 36, leaves the game with a .249 batting average, 245 home runs and 803 RBIs to his name.
Swisher will be picking up a real microphone in his next career. Fox Sports announced Friday he was joining their studio team as an MLB analyst.