Darren O’Day Announces Retirement
Long-time sidearm relief pitcher Darren O’Day announced his retirement from MLB on Monday, after an illustrious 15-season career.
O’Day released a statement on Twitter making the news official. The right-hander showed gratitude for his teammates, coaches, managers and friends in the league.
“As I got older and more reflective, I realized my favorite part about being in the Major Leagues was being a teammate,” O’Day said.
O’Day was a journeyman. He played for six different teams over his career, spending most of his time with the Baltimore Orioles, where he spent seven seasons.
O’Day also spent time with the Texas Rangers and Atlanta Braves, both three seasons each. Atlanta is where he finished his final season. He spent one year with the New York Mets, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels.
The whacky sidearm pitch was revolutionized in the modern game by O’Day. If you’ve ever watched him pitch, you might ask yourself, “why the hell does he throw that way?”
The answer is pretty simple: Pitching sidearm is O’Day’s best chance of getting major league batters out. 15 seasons is all the proof one needs.
“My freshman year, (of college) I got cut throwing overhand,” O’Day said in 2021, via NJ.com. “So, freshman year, I just went to school and worked out. And then my freshman-sophomore summer, a friend of mine was pitching in a Jacksonville municipal 18-and-over league. Anybody 18 and over could try out for these teams. He asked me to come pitch for his team. That’s when I first started goofing around throwing sidearm. It was the first time I ever played baseball where results didn’t matter quite as much. I started throwing sidearm, played a little shortstop, hit a little cleanup on my off days. I had so much fun doing it, and my dad like all baseball dads loved watching baseball. So he came out to watch me pitch. He said, ‘Hey, man. You’re on to something with that sidearm. You should go try out again.'”
Darren O’Day will mostly be remembered for his longevity in the league and his funky sidearm delivery. O’Day was an All-Star in 2015 in his age-32 season with the Orioles, when he posted a 1.52 ERA and six saves, each the best mark of his career.
Long live the submariners.
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