WASHINGTON – No, Sean Doolittle did not leave the baseball diamond behind on his own terms. The long, confining brace running from his left thigh below his brace made that obvious.
Yet for a converted first baseman turned lefty reliever, for a guy with just two pitches who never completed his mission to find a third, for a player who held the line when a disastrous start to a season with high expectations ended with champagne showers and parade shenanigans, Doolittle extracted so much from his 16 years in professional baseball, including 11 seasons at its highest level.
And perhaps that’s why on Friday, as he announced his retirement in front of family and friends, including a Washington Nationals contingent with which he became a World Series champion, the redheaded reliever beloved in these parts shed no tears even as he relived it all.
“The gratitude outweighs the sadness,” Doolittle, 36, said in a pregame press conference to announce his retirement. “I’m kind of at a loss for words because everything keeps coming back to how appreciative I am for all the opportunities I’ve had in my career.”
Doolittle’s pro resume is both a tribute to his talent and determination, but also the pitfalls ballplayers encounter as they walk a very narrow path from youth baseball, to college, the minor leagues and eventually the majors. No fork was bigger than the one he encountered in 2011, when, his hitting career stalled out in the high minors, the Oakland Athletics turned to him and…
