By Jordan Long
Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki decided to walk away from Major League Baseball after 12 years. He spent time with the Colorado Rockies, Toronto Blue Jays, and New York Yankees. Let’s take a look back at his career.
Tulowitzki was called up to the “big leagues” during the 2006 season by the Colorado Rockies, appearing in 25 games. He showed what he could do on defense with 2 errors, 69 infield assists and was part of 25 double plays. At the plate Tulowitzki hit .240 with 1 home run and 6 RBI’s. This was a taste of what he could do at the Major League level. Colorado was hoping he was going to be their shortstop for years to come.
The next year, Tulowitzki made the Rockies roster and was the starting shortstop. He struggled on defense with 11 errors but was involved in 114 double plays. On offense he smacked 24 home runs with 99 RBI’s. His batting average was .291. Colorado managed to make the postseason by beating the San Diego Padres in the National League Wild Card tie-breaker game by the score of 9-8. It was the first time the Rockies had reached the postseason since 1995.
The Rockies carried that momentum all the way to the World Series where they lost to the Boston Red Sox in 4 games. Offensively, Tulowitzki struggled in the playoffs to hit the baseball with 1 home run and 3 RBI’s and a batting average of .195. Colorado reached the playoffs in 2009 with him but they weren’t able to beat the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Division Series.
His top season for Colorado was in 2011. He had a career high 30 home runs and 105 RBI’s. His batting average was .302. He stayed with the Rockies for another 3 years.
On July 28th, 2015, one of the worst trades in Colorado history was executed. Colorado sent Tulowitzki and pitcher LeTroy Hawkins to Toronto for shortstop Jose Reyes and 3 pitching prospects. They were Jeff Hoffman, Miguel Castro, and Jesus Tainoco. Reyes didn’t play that long in Colorado, a total of 47 games. Hoffman hasn’t developed into a Major League pitcher to this point with a record of 7-12 and an ERA of 6.03. Castro appeared in 7 games for Colorado and is now with Baltimore while Jesus Tinoco has pitched 13 innings for Colorado. Tinoco is mostly with the Albuquerque Isotopes.
The Blue Jays went to the playoffs 2 times with Tulowitzki. The furthest they advanced was the American League Championship Series in 2015 and 2016. They lost both of those series, 2015 in 6 games to Kansas City and 2016 in 5 games to Cleveland. He stayed with Toronto until the end of the 2018 season.
In the offseason he agreed to a contract with the New York Yankees. Unfortunately, he only lasted 5 games this season because of a left calf strain. He decided it was time to walk away. According to CBSsports.com, Tulowitzki said, “I will forever be grateful for every day that I’ve had to live out my dream. It has been an absolute honor. I will always look back with tremendous gratitude for having the privilege of playing as long as I did. There is no way to truly express my gratitude to the fans of Colorado, Toronto and New York. They always made my family and I feel so welcome.”
He leaves the game with a .290 batting average with 225 home runs. For his play on defense he won 2 Gold Gloves. Tulowitzki may never be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. It was best for him to retire because he couldn’t stay healthy enough to allow him to play the game at a high level anymore.
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