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.
Isn't Pettitte already a part of history though. Once an event in baseball happens, immediately after its occurrence that event becomes a part of history. I don't believe that his issue is not wanting to be history, but more so has to do with his not wanting to admit to aging. He wants to continue to play a sport that is notably a game of boys; he is in denial of the truth of his age and the truth of his sport as a sport for the young.
ReplyDeleteYet again, if Pettitte is willing to play (regardless of chance and likelihood of injury) and is able to create good results, then I say let him play. Let him live out his dream of playing a boys sport for as long as he can. Aging is daunting.
Most American's are terrified of aging. As you age you get closer to death, you are no longer as capable of things you were capable of as a kid or in your twenties, you are no longer as good looking, etc. It's a scary thing. It's not just pro sports stars who are trying to hold onto their youth either so the fans enjoy seeing him come back, since if they are around his age, they feel moe youthful as well. That being said, they can't just keep paying him to help him and his fans deny that their aging. As long as he's playing well he should be allowed to play, but at some point he will have to retire. At thirty you are still in decent shape and I believe he has a few years left in him. Forty's are the danger years!
DeleteI agree that age does matter also and I feel like they should have options for these athletes who reach the age where they aren't good enough to play anymore and give them other things to do to stay involved in the sport besides sportscasting. They seem to be very desperate to hold on to the career they once loved and succeeded at but I definitely think there are other places they could thrive while still showing off their talent. I guess to determine what age they should stop and retire kind of depends on the player and their skill set but I don't think it should necessarily be only up to them so they don't end up trying and failing to get on a team.
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