We're all told at some point in time that we can no longer play the children's game.
In the case of David Ortiz, the Boston Red Sox legend got to retire from baseball on his own terms, with a recent World Series title on his shelf, a .315 batting average and his body mostly still in tact.
"Usually in baseball you don’t get to decide when you want to stop playing, somebody else does," Ortiz recently told The Boston Globe's Pete Abraham. "I was lucky. I’m 45 now and I don’t have regrets.”
His former teammate, Dustin Pedroia, didn't get to make that decision for himself, though.
The longtime Red Sox second baseman called it a career on the first day of February after 17 years with the organization.
After a second base slide that saw then-Baltimore Orioles infielder Manny Machado's cleat going spikes-up into Pedroia's knee in 2017, the two-time World Series champion underwent multiple surgeries and spent years trying to make his way back to baseball.
Eventually, a career-ending knee replacement forced the inevitable.
“I was ready to go home. My body had enough,” Ortiz said, reflecting on his own retirement process. “I wish I could have played a few more years, but it was my time. I was prepared for it. Pee Wee (Pedroia) didn’t get that chance."
In addition to his two titles, Pedroia earned four All-Star nods, four Gold Gloves, Silver Slugger and MVP and Rookie of the Year selections.
He won't, however, get the farewell tour he so deserved.
“The game will miss him a lot and the Red Sox will miss him more. He was the best gamer I ever played with. He was so intense, so locked in. He always had that chip on his shoulder," Ortiz said.
“I hated to see what he went through. He deserved a chance to play again, even just one more game at Fenway.”
Pedroia says he is at peace without having had a proper send-off. He can be knowing he gave the game everything he had.
