Leave it to Nick Swisher to pull a Derek Jeter and tell us a random story before he broke the news on the sports site, Players' Tribune. After recounting about the time he played a softball game, he casually wrote, "And now I’m gonna bring that same energy to everything else I do … now that I’m officially retiring from Major League Baseball." We definitely weren't expecting that!
'The dream is over, baby!'
Swisher was one of those guys you loved seeing on the field. You could just tell he really loved playing baseball and loved entertaining his fans.
His spirit simply radiated on and off the field, especially with that huge smile! As a Yankees fan, he made me laugh every time he saluted the Bleacher Creatures during their roll call!
The right fielder and first baseman has played for five MLB teams over the course of 12 years, but he was most memorable wearing pinstripes. During Swisher's first season with the New York Yankees, he went to the World Series in 2009 and earned himself a championship ring.
The last 12 years
Swisher's MLB career started in 2004 when he was drafted by the Oakland Athletics, then he was traded to the Chicago White Sox two years later. He wouldn't stay there long before he landed in the Bronx and got to play ball with the infamous "Core Four." Yankees fans were sad to see their favorite switch hitter leave when he became a free agent and joined the Cleveland Indians in 2013.
His final move would be to the Atlanta Braves, but Swisher only stayed with them for a year before he decided he wanted to have another go in New York. As a first baseman, he played for the Yankees’ Triple-A team last year but finally decided his body had had enough. I mean, he did have surgery on both of his knees back in 2015.
On February, 17th 2017, he finally decided to inform us of his major decision. Knowing Nick Swisher, though, he also wanted to be a bit creative with his announcement so he jumped into a shark tank to tell it!
Terrified of sharks, @NickSwisher jumped into a tank full of them.
— The Players' Tribune (@PlayersTribune) February 17, 2017
Here's why: https://t.co/iLFj82YWJX pic.twitter.com/thgCHPIXjY
What happens next?
As much as Nick Swisher loves playing #baseball, it wasn't his entire life.
He married the actress JoAnna Garcia in 2010 and they since have had two daughters, one of which was born 8 months ago!
Don't worry about missing him, though! The next time we will see the smiley player is as an MLB analyst for Fox Sports! We salute you as you move on to the next chapter of your life, Nick Swisher!
