“The Teixeiras are criers, by the way, ” he said, “if you didn’t know that”.
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“My family, I have the most fantastic wife in the world”, Teixeira said. That’s good enough for the win, but it raised his season ERA to 5.17. He anticipated breaking down as he spoke about the end of his career.
“I just realized my body can’t do it anymore”, he said. Playing every day was very important to me, and that’s why it’s been tough these last few years. The knee thing popped up. That just proved to me that what I do off the field has way more impact than what I can do on the field.
Jacoby Ellsbury had his first four-hit game since May 3 past year, and Michael Pineda (6-10) won for the third time in four outings following a six-start winless streak, allowing four runs and six hits in six-plus innings. In 2009 as a Yankee he led the American League with 39 home runs and 122 RBI, to go with a.292 average and a.948 OPS.
His struggles this season didn’t make matters any easier. Sanchez retired both. “That arm, man”.
So it is no surprise that Teixeira will walk back from his desire to play another five years on Friday. I was breathing. It got worse and worse, and he kept staring at me more and more and yelling stuff, so I just kind of started having some fun. As you would already expect by the low power numbers, Teixeira has posted a disappointing OPS+ of 65 and only has 18 extra base hits to his name so far. We haven’t seen almost enough of that this season. And I gave it everything I had.
Teixeira played a huge role in the Yankees winning the 2009 World Series. “It’s something I’ll never forget”.
Teixeira’s legacy with the Yankees is sizable. The Yankees first baseman has made the decision to retire at the end of 2016.
It’s about to be the end of an era in NY.
Even with the big lead, the Yankees didn’t use Alex Rodriguez, who has one start and seven at-bats since July 22.
Greg Bird, a 23-year-old who missed this season following shoulder surgery, is expected back for the Arizona Fall League and is projected by the Yankees as Teixeira’s possible successor. He finished a deserved second in the MVP voting, and despite his quiet postseason, he was a big part of that championship team and provided exactly what the Yankees had signed on for: a reliable middle-of-the-order presence. “This is it for me”.
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).
Teixeira won five gold gloves in his career, and he maintained his quality even after injuries had ruined him at the plate, perhaps because he relied on intuition and reflex as much as athleticism.
While the final score suggested a back-and-forth slugfest, the Yankees’ ability to jump out to insurmountable leads – they led 6-0 in the third and 11-4 after the seventh – against a doubly risky Indians team had manager Joe Girardi pleased.
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Sundials broken: Tribe lefty Kyle Crockett took forever, and a tad longer, to work the eighth.
