Age just a number?

Andy Pettitte is back with his old team, the Yankees.  But at thirty-nine years old how good can he be, especially after taking a year off?  On tuesday he proved that he can hang with the best of them again, according to the Yankees.  Russell Martin commented on Pettitte's performance in the article,  "Impressice Andy Pettitte wows Yankees with first bullpen session since returning from retirement", "That's as good of a bullpen as I've caught all spring--from anyone.  I don't know what the velocity was and what his arm strength feels, but as far as executing pitches, it was pretty impressive."  So as of right now it seems like Andy Pettitte is feeling pretty good right.  But what happens in the middle of the season when his arm wears out or he gets injured due to his age?  Thus this brings in the question, when is it time to stop playing and just retire?
In the novel, The Great American Novel, Gaffannon says, "he will play without pay."  This is basically saying that he knows he is getting up in age, and most likely no one will want him.  He is so desperate to play the game, even though he is not wanted.  No one wants to retire and give up the thing that they have loved the most.  Majority of baseball players have been playing this game their whole lives.  Thus they do not know what to do when they no longer can play.  For example, Brett Favre retired three times from the NFL because he couldn't handle not playing football.  Is the same to be said about Andy Pettitte?  He retired for a year and came back.  Yes he might have one more year in him, but what happens after that.  At some point all the athletes have to stop playing, and become part of the history of their sport.  However, it seems increasingly hard for athletes to do that.  Many athletes do not want to think their best days are behind them, but at some point your best days are very much behind you when it comes to sports.  So yes, age does matter and athletes need to start address that age is an issue in sports.     

Fans Controlling the Players

This week Corey Hart of the Milwaukee Brewers had arthroscopic surgery to repair torn cartilage in his right knee.  The following day Hart came to the Brewers' Spring Training grounds in Maryvale Arizona. In the article, "Hart says Surgery was Right Call,"  Hart makes a declaration to the fans "Other people said 'Well Rickie (Weeks) played through it, Craig (Counsell) played through it,' but those were minor tears, not like mine."   Baseball is unlike any other business.  In baseball we learn specifically what happened to a player.  For example, Corey Hart showed up to Spring Training with an X-Ray of his knee to prove he really did need the surgery.  In other professional sports, like hockey, the medical records remained sealed, unless they are leaked by an outside source.  Though in Baseball everybody needs to know everything! Why is baseball one of the only sports where everything is exposed? It is because fans idealize the players, and need proof that these players are actually hurt.  Fans believe that they are actually part of the team.  In no other business would we see a boss telling their employees another co-workers medical chart.  However, in baseball the X-Rays are shown to millions of people.  
In Coover's The Universal Baseball Association, the players are idealized, especially Damon, the star pitcher.  Henry, the creator of the game, finds himself enthralled with Damon, feeling as if he has a connection with him specifically.  Henry makes Damon a celebrity, which is what fans do to their players.  Henry literally has complete control over Damon, and it is not much different in the MLB.  Corey Hart would not make front page news if he was idealized by fans.  The fans are the ones who create the player's persona; they make them the celebrity.  Our society can take a regular baseball player and blow him up to the extent that he is bringing his X-Rays to press conferences. This shows clearly the effect of fandom, and how much influence fans really do have on baseball players.