J.A. Happ has made a big decision about his MLB career. The veteran pitcher recently went on the Heart Stong Podcast and announced his retirement from baseball. Happ, 39, explained why he decided to call it a career and revealed that it was time once the season began.
“It got to the point where it was Opening Day, and I turned the first game on, and I talked to my wife, Morgan, and I said ‘What are you feeling?’” Happ said, per MLB Trade Rumors. “She just kind of looked at me and said, ‘A little anxiety.’ I wanted to turn it on to see what I felt, too, and I didn’t maybe feel what I needed to feel in order to think I wanted to keep doing this. I felt like that was a sign, like ‘OK, it’s time to go.’”
Videos by PopCulture.com
Happ started his career with the Phillies in 2007. In 2008, Happ pitched in eight games and posted a 3.69 ERA before the team went on to win the World Series. He was with the Phillies until 2010 when he was traded to the Houston Astros. Happ would spend two and a half seasons with the Astros before being traded to the Toronto Blue Jays midway through the 2012 season. Following the 2014 season, Happ was traded to the Seattle Mariners and played half of the 2015 season before being traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Happ returned to the Blue Jays in 2016 and remained with the team until July 2018 when he was traded to the New York Yankees. Before being traded, Happ played in his first and only All-Star game and finished the 2018 season with a 17-6 record and 3.65 ERA. Happ would stay with the Yankees through the 2020 season and signed with the Minnesota Twins in Jan. 2021. He was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in July and became a free agent at the end of the year.
Along with being an All-Star and World Series Champion Happ also won a gold medal for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic in 2017. In his career, Happ posted a 133-100 record with a 4.13 ERA and 1,661 strikeouts. According to Baseball-Reference, Happ earned over $97 million in his career.
