Yesterday Michael Young announced his retirement. It came as really no surprise to those who saw him struggle these last two years. His swing was slowing and he was limited defensively. I don’t want to remember him for that though. That was just a product of age catching up with him like it does everyone. I want to remember him as the guy who was the heart and soul of the Rangers during the down turn in the 2000’s and then the inspiration for the team when they were making their World Series appearances.

Young was a very consistent hitter. He had over 200 hits in 5 consecutive seasons. He won the batting title in 2005. He won a gold glove at SS in 2008. He finished with a .300 career BA. He was the model of consistency for several years. He was willing to do whatever was asked and or needed of him to help his team win. He was definitely a manager’s player in that respect. That is probably why even when he was struggling Washington refused to sit him. Lets remember the player he was, not the player he ended up being.

Normally most guys like him are associated with just one position, but Michael Young played all four infield positions and I am sure he would have played outfield if they needed him to. He started out his career really in 200l. He was coming up to replace an injured Randy Velarde. It was supposed to be just short-term, but his performance kept him up from then on. They ended up trading Velarde that season and gave Young the full-time spot at second playing next to Alex Rodriguez. He went on to play that position for the next 2 seasons, that is until Rodriguez was traded to the Yankees for Alfonso Soriano. Going into Spring Training in 2004 the question was who would play second and who would play SS, but instead of a competition Young volunteered to switch positions to make room for Soriano. From 2004-2008 he was the Rangers SS and with help from Ron Washington he would go on to win a gold glove at the position in 2008. It was at that point though that the Rangers decided to make a move and bring up Elvis Andrus to be the opening day SS in 2009. Elvis was acquired in the much talked about Mark Teixiera trade in 2007. He had worked his way up from A to Double A ball and the Rangers felt like he was ready to come up. At that point Young requested a trade, but after soothing things over with management he agreed to move over to 3rd base. He made the transition pretty well. In 2009-2010 he was the starting third baseman. He played the position well, but again in the offseason of 2010 the Rangers made a move and acquired Adrian Beltre. Once again Young was on the move. This time he would be splitting time at first and DH with Mitch Moreland. He accepted this move, but it was at this point his age started to show. He didn’t pick up first as well as he had the other positions. His bat though bounced back. He hit .338 and once again had over 200 hits. Michael Young was back, but it didn’t last long. He followed that up with a disappointing 2012 that saw the Rangers collapse down the stretch and in the offseason he was traded to the Phillies.

Overall though, he was the face of the franchise for many down years. Yet, he brought his effort and hard work into every game and every season during that stretch. He was one of my favorite players and a guy I loved to root for. He didn’t have the natural tools that others had. He didn’t possess raw ability. He had to work for everything he had. Hopefully one of these days his number 10 will be retired. As of right now, he is the Rangers all-time hits leader. Rangers will always remember his ability to drive balls into the gap or just to dump them over the second baseman’s head. Hopefully we see him back in baseball in some aspect in the next few years, whether as a manager or a hitting instructor. He would be great in either role.