After 288 career home runs, 1363 RBI, two All-Star appearances, a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger, New York Mets outfielder Bobby Abreu announced his retirement on Friday.
Bobby Abreu retires from baseball
Two-time All Star and former Gold Glove winner Bobby Abreu retires after 18 major league seasons, with his first (and last) major league manager at his side.
Otto Greule Jr
Today @BobKellyAbreu announces his retirement from the game of baseball. #Mets pic.twitter.com/PNJ8XjqK4m
— New York Mets (@Mets) September 26, 2014 Seated next to Terry Collins -- the current Mets manager and Abreu's first manager when he broke into Major League Baseball with the Houston Astros -- the 40-year-old decided to call it a career after nearly twenty years of being known as a solid outfielder and a consummate Major League ballplayer. As Collins told the media, "I've known this guy since he was 18, I've been around a lot of professionals. This guy has ranked up with the best of the best. It has been an honor to be around him."
While he won't be a likely contender for the Hall of Fame, Abreu is happy with what he accomplished in his 18 seasons with the Astros, Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels. "I feel happy with my career," he told reporters. "I'm blessed. We all create goals in our lives. And to me, as a baseball player, I created all my goals and I met all those goals."
He hopes to become a hitting coach in the future, which makes a great deal of sense given his renowned patience and .395 career OBP. And, according to USA Today’s Ted Berg, he could be absorbed back into the Mets’ organization with Collins leading the way.
But for now, he just wanted to say “Adios and thank you.”
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