The San Francisco Giants celebrated my retirement from baseball with an on-field ceremony, and it was epic.
There are those rare, really special players that announce their retirement at the beginning of the season, and then all season long, teams give them farewell ceremonies when they come in for a series. We saw that with Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter. But normally when a reliever retires, he just retires. So what the Giants did for me was overwhelming.
I had several reasons to retire. My body was hurting a little bit more than usual. I was missing my kids -- and I mean I was missing them a LOT. I also felt like I wasn't pitching the way I wanted to pitch.
I could have probably played another year, and maybe even two years. It would have been with several teams, I think. I would have bounced around a little bit, and I might have been with teams I didn't want to be with. I just didn't feel like doing that.
I had a lot of conversations with people in the Giants front office, and I got some pretty good advice. Some of it came from a man I respect quite a bit. He said to me, "You know what? Out of all the times you could retire, this is the perfect time, because you'll be able to retire with the team you want to retire with." He asked me, "How many more adrenaline rushes do you need in your career?"
I said, "I don't need any more. I've got three world championships."
He said, "Right. It's time. And it's okay. No one is going to be surprised about it. And even better, no one is ever going to look at your retirement and call it a huge disappointment. You have had a great career, and you're with the team you want to retire with. What if you go with another team next year? Then suppose they release you halfway through the year? Maybe you're not pitching how you want to pitch, or maybe the season doesn't go their way. Then they cut ties with you so they can bring up a younger guy and give him some big-league experience. So then you sign a one-day contract back with us, just so you can retire as a Giant. That does not make a whole lot of sense. What makes sense is to retire now, when you're already with us."
You know what else he said? He said, "You need to allow us to celebrate you."
I wasn't sure about that. I told him, "I don't know if I want to be celebrated. You know, it's kind of a lot of hoopla, and I'm not a big hoopla guy." But he told me, "No, it helps bring closure. Let us honor you. Let us celebrate you a little bit, and you'll be able to pay a little bit of respect to the people you want to pay your respects to."
That was important to me. And it was overwhelming. The Giants were the team that I wanted to retire with, and they wanted to honor me.
When I started this game, I never thought I would have an opportunity like that. Especially in the middle of my career when I was struggling! I never thought that a day like that would come, or that I'd have an opportunity to do what I did. I never thought I'd get to retire the way I did, or to go out of the game the way that I got to go out. I mean, that ceremony was really, really awesome. Being able to end it like that, and to be invited to speak in the way that I was able to speak, put a stamp on my career that I never dreamed possible.
That ceremony was so special to me because it allowed me to honor the people that I wanted to honor. Actually, I wanted to honor so many more people than I could during the ceremony. We had a game to play, so I couldn't stand out there talking for three hours! So there were a lot of people that I honored in private, behind closed doors. I just told them how much I appreciate them. I was able to speak to all of my teammates, even though I was only able to call out a few of them during the ceremony. I was able to speak to all of my coaches, even though I was only able to call out a few of those too.
And at the ceremony, I was able to publicly honor some of the really important people in my life. I was able to speak to my mom and my dad, my family, and my wife and my children. I was able to speak to the fans when they were right there in the stadium with me.
I got to say the things that I wanted to make sure I said before I walked away from the game. I got to say the things that I felt in my heart needed to be said.
It was so important to me! I'm so fulfilled! Even now, when I'm at home, or out in the woods, or doing whatever I'm doing, I don't have any regrets. I never say to myself, "Man, I wish I had said this," or, "I wish I had said that." I don't have that feeling. I know I said everything I needed to say, and the Giants made that possible for me. I was very honored by the organization. I was honored by how they put the ceremony together and for everything they did, including flying my family in for the occasion and taking really good care of them during the days leading up to the event.
It was just a great time. It was just really awesome. And it was an honor that I never thought I would have.
I don't wish my that career would have gone any other way than it did. I'll be honest: I don't wish some parts of my career on anyone! But in the end, overall, I don't wish my life had gone any other way. I never look to God and say, "Man, God, I wish you would have let some things go differently for me." I never do that, because I really feel like what I learned, and what I was able to accomplish, all happened according to His awesome plan.
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Jeremy Affeldt, pitcher for the three time Baseball World Champion San Francisco Giants and Major League Pitcher for 14 years, retired from playing baseball last Sunday. His streak of 22 consecutive scoreless appearances in the post season trails Mariano Rivera's mark by only one. He is an all-time leader in postseason ERA, with a minimum of 30 innings, with an 0.86.
Jeremy is an in-demand public speaker, humanitarian, philanthropist, author, and co-founder of Generation Alive. He works to end human trafficking, feed the hungry and end poverty. He is the author of To Stir A Movement, Life, Justice, and Major League Baseball. His second book is expected to be released in 2016. Follow him on twitter, Instagram and Facebook @JeremyAffeldt.