Todd Coffey has not pitched in a major league game for over five years, but he never retired.
He pitched in the minors. He pitched in the independent leagues. He pitched for the Diablos Rojos of the Mexican League. He signed multiple minor league deals with big league clubs for spring training tryouts, but his last pitch in the bigs came for the Dodgers on July 2, 2012 in a loss to the Reds. After that it was Tommy John surgery, rehab and a whole lot of fighting to come back, but it was never retirement.
Until now. Coffey gave his formal statement retiring to Jeff Passan of Yahoo, for whom he served as an invaluable source for and character in his 2016 book about Tommy John surgery, “The Arm.” Coffey’s statement:
Todd Coffey asked me to post this. pic.twitter.com/cYeRcZFLOC
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 14, 2017
Coffey pitched in the bigs for eight seasons, compiling a record of 25-18, a 4.10 ERA and a K/BB ratio of 329/138 in 438.2 innings across 461 games, all in relief. He played for the Reds, Brewers, Nats and Dodgers. He’s a big dude but he sprinted in from the bullpen every time he got the call. On days he pitched well it was part of an inspiring display. On days he didn’t, well, god love him for being enthusiastic:
Happy trails, Todd. Even if it’s been a while since we’ve seen ya.