Joe Young to Retire

Miami Stars designated hitter Joe Young, struggling through his 19th season, has decided to retire.  Joe is disappointed with his production in 2018.  In 55 games, Joe has hit .230 with 8 homeruns, 23 RBI, and a .678 OPS.

Joe will continue to play through the upcoming week as the Stars travel to New York for a 3 games series against the Knights.  His final game will be next Sunday, June 24th, at home against Mars.  Joe has expressed a desire to leave the game at the same position that he played as a rookie, and will start at catcher.  Manager R.J. Duke would not commit to how long Joe stays in the game at catcher, it will depend on how the game goes.

Young has hit 710 home runs in his career, the third highest total in league history, and holds a .601 slugging percentage, the highest by far as the only player above .600.

Joe began his career with the Las Vegas Gamblers, where he played five seasons at catcher.  Traded to Baltimore in 2005, Young played more at first base and DH.  Teaming with Kobe Jones and Wellington Gehrig Bear, Baltimore put up impressive win totals, including a 106-56 record in 2008, however the team could never reach the world series in his 6 seasons there.  Young won MVP awards in 4 of those 6 seasons, including a 2009 season where he hit .351 with 55 homers and 153 RBI.

Despite all the individual success, Joe was frustrated in his pursuit of a championship ring and after the 2010 season left Baltimore to take his talents to South Beach.  In Miami the Stars built an immediate winner in the first year of the super friends era.  In addition to Young, Miami brought in Bud McNamara, one of the greatest offensive catchers to ever play the game, and already had Brian Kaat in center field.  Young hit a career high .365, Miami won 100 games, and the team swept the Denver Rabbits in the world series. Joe won his 5th MVP award.

Miami struggled the following year in a typical championship hangover, but while the team expected to have to trade Young to a contending team, Young decided to stick with the team he had won with.  Miami rebounded to win 100 or more games in each of the next 5 seasons, reaching the world series twice, although they could not win another ring.  Joe picked up two more MVP awards in 2014 and 2015.

Manager R.J. Duke told reporters he was disappointed that Joe would not finish the season with Miami, but he respects Joe's decision and is grateful to have had the opportunity to manage "the greatest player I've ever seen."

Former teammate Brian Kaat, who retired last fall, said "I'm sad that I won't be able to watch Joe hit a baseball any longer, but perhaps we can hit some golf balls together now.  He's the monkey brother that every cat needs, although most never even know it.  I'm glad I got to know it.  Thank you Joe, for being my teammate.  May you find happiness in your decision."