Following 12 seasons, the two-time MLB All-Star retires.

Zack Britton, a veteran pitcher in Major League Baseball for 12 seasons, announced his retirement on Monday.

In an interview with The Athletic, the 35-year-old southpaw announced his retirement, claiming a desire to spend more time with his wife Courtney and his four children, who are currently aged nine, seven, four, and two.

The former pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees told The Athletic, “(Courtney) had accomplished things and took a backseat to me for all these years.” “My personality is so altruistic that I couldn’t imagine doing it for someone else—giving up everything so they can pursue their career. She receives no recognition, and no one writes about her. Seeing things from her perspective, I realized that even though I felt like I was sacrificing a lot at times. Even if I lived five lives, I could never repay her.”

Two-time All-Star Britton began his MLB career with the Orioles, the team that selected him in the third round of the 2006 MLB Draft out of Weatherford High School in Texas. In 2011, Britton made his Orioles debut, pitching 154.1 innings with a 4.61 ERA, an 11-11 record, and 28 starts.In 2014, after three mediocre seasons as a starter for the Orioles, Britton made the move from starting to relief and emerged as one of MLB’s top bullpen arms.

In 71 games for the Orioles in 2014—his first season as a reliver—Britton recorded a 1.65 ERA. The next year, he was selected for his first All-Star game, finished first in MLB with 58 games played, and pitched 64 games with a 1.92 ERA in 65.2 innings. 2016 was both Britton’s best year as a reliever and one of the most dominant seasons in MLB history. His 0.54 ERA in 69 games, including a league-high 63 games completed and 47 saves, earned him a spot in the All-Star game for the second time in his career, as well as fourth place in the American League Cy Young Award voting that season.

In 2018, Britton was traded by the Orioles to the Yankees, where he spent the final four plus seasons of his career. On September 30, 2022, he made his last appearance at the pitcher’s mound for the Yankees against the Orioles.

“I played the Orioles last time out. “I feel bad about the ball I threw to the backstop as my final pitch,” Britton remarked. You don’t always get to make the decision, therefore it might not have been ideal from a career or farewell note aspect. It felt right in my instincts to cross over and explore what life was like on the other side.

After pitching 641 innings over 442 games, Britton finished his 12-year MLB career with a 35-26 record, 3.13 ERA, 532 strikeouts, and 154 saves.