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Los Angeles Angels star Kevin Pillar is currently going through a major come back in his career after a rough beginning with the Chicago White Sox to start the season. Now having been through 10 years in the league and over 1000 hits, it seems like he is heading towards retirement after the end of the baseball season.
In 17 games played with the White Sox, he was hitting at a .160 batting average, but then after being released by them and getting picked up by the Angels, he has a .299 batting average with six home runs and 26 runs batted in. He did not want his career to end in bad fashion like with Chicago as he mentioned to Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports that he has seen “better players than me maybe go a year too long.”
“I watched some of my good friends and teammates, who were much better players than me, maybe go a year too long,” Pillar said. “I think it would be kind of cool to go out playing really well, and people being curious to why you don’t want to play anymore, and not that the game kicked you out.”
“Not everyone really gets that opportunity in this game,” Pillar continued. “I was very close to not getting that opportunity. I don’t know what the future looks like, even in this year, but if I can keep up what I’m doing and having a a very good offensive year, it might be a cool thing to leave people wanting more. It might be cool for people to ask, “Why wouldn’t you want to do it anymore as opposed to, you know, fading away.’’
Pillar feels retiring from Angels after a productive stint would be better
Pillar has been in the MLB for 10 seasons as said before where he was a part of nine different teams including his current club with Los Angeles, but the 35-year old seems content about where he wants to end his profession. He spent the most with the Toronto Blue Jays where he was there for the first seven seasons of his career.
On those Toronto teams, he was with Jose Bautista who at one point was one of the best hitters in baseball to then see his career end being on several different teams with no consistency. Pillar used that example saying that because of how his stint in the majors ended, he was not perceived as “the same fearful hitter that he once was.”
“There are some people whose lasting impression of him is bouncing around from team to team,’’ Pillar said, “and not the same fearful hitter that he once was. … Wouldn’t it be a cool thing for him to have gone out, maybe on top of your game, and people thinking, ‘Man, he could still play.’”
Pillar says it is a luxury to retire on own terms in baseball
Pillar would talk about how retiring in baseball is a luxury for most, even if players who were once productive at some point, but could fall off and not find a job with a team. The journeyman would express that there is an important distinction with players as some may “say they're retiring, when really they can't get a job.”
“You don’t want it to be like, “Is he retiring, or is it because he can’t get a job?’ Not too many people get to actually retire,” Pillar said to Nightengale. “So, people like [former Astros outfielder] Michael Brantley, he chose to retire. If he wanted to play, everyone in baseball knows he would have had a job. He gets to choose retirement. Not a lot of people get to do that. They say they’re retiring, when really they can’t get a job.”
While it seems pretty set that Pillar is retiring after this season as shown by his previous comments, there is still some shred of doubt since he loves the game. The Angels center fielder would even say that he is 98 percent sure and would consider it if an offer came early in the offseason, but stressed that putting his family through “another off-season of the unknown” is not healthy.
“In my heart, I’m 98% sure,” Pillar said as he is married with two children, 6 and 4 per Nightengale. “Obviously, things change but I think just going through another off-season of the unknown, and what kind of stress it puts on me and my family, is not healthy. If I’m fortunate enough to get a phone call early in the off-season, and someone wants to give me some money and a job, it’s going to be a conversation I’m going to have with my family.”
Even with contemplating retirement, Pillar will “be at peace”
Pillar should be remembered as an impressive success story as he was productive in the league, being selected in the 32nd round of the 2011 MLB draft where he was picked 979th overall. The fact he made a name for himself in baseball and was a part of many teams shows the passion he has for the sport.
Angels general manager Perry Minasian spoke about Pillar and his traits as he even has familiarity with him since he was on the Blue Jays when they drafted the outfielder. Because of all the roles he has had with different teams in the majors, he calls Pillar “unbelievable.”
“Great guy, great makeup, makes the guys around him better,” Minasian said. “He’s been the through the good, the bad, he’s been an everyday player, he’s been a bench player. A platoon player. He’s been unbelievable.”
With all the talk of possible retirement, Pillar is still in the midst of an impressive season with the Angels, especially with all the uncertainty he has gone through in his career. At the very moment, Pillar will be playing it by the ear and “enjoy” his time while he still has it.
“But I’m just going to enjoy this, play for the love of the game, and will be at peace at whatever happens,” Pillar said to Nightengale.
At any rate, the Angels are 37-51 on the season which puts them second to last in the AL West as they look to win their current series against the Chicago Cubs in the rubber match Sunday afternoon.
