Former Met and Yankee Neil Walker announced his retirement from Major League Baseball on Tuesday.
“Officially retired, thank you to everyone that helped me in my journey to live out my childhood dream of being a Major Leaguer, I loved & cherished every day,” the 35-year-old Walker tweeted. “From Pittsburgh, NY Mets & Yankees, Milwaukee, Miami, and Philly, nothing but love to those Organizations, Cities & Fans!”
Walker hit .267 with 149 homers and 609 RBIs in his 12 major league seasons and 1,306 games for the Mets, Yankees, Brewers, Phillies, Marlins and Pirates.
Walker — who was selected by The Pirates with the No. 11-overall pick in the 2004 MLB Draft — played his first season with the team in 2009 at age 23. He hit 93 home runs with 418 RBIs in 836 games during his seven seasons in Pittsburgh.
Walker’s best season was in 2014 when he hit .271 with career bests in homers (23) and RBIs (76). His 23 home runs broke Bill Mazeroski’s franchise record for home runs in a season.
He also hit 23 homers for the Mets in 2016 and 11 for the Yankees in 2018.