Yankees World Series–Champion Pitching Legend Announces Retirement, Desire to Sign a One-Day Contract to Retire in Pinstripes: “My Heart Has Always Belonged to New York”
New York, New York – December 2025 —
Andrew Heaney, the veteran left-handed pitcher who spent 12 seasons in Major League Baseball, has officially announced his retirement — and in doing so, revealed an emotional final wish that has resonated deeply with Yankees fans.
Now 34 years old, Heaney confirmed that he hopes to sign a one-day contract with the New York Yankees in order to retire wearing the pinstripes, the uniform he says has always represented “unfinished business” and a personal connection that never faded.
“My heart has always belonged to the Yankees,” Heaney said in a message shared with those close to him. “No matter where baseball took me, New York stayed with me. If I’m going to close this chapter, I want to do it as a Yankee.”
Though his on-field stint in the Bronx was brief — just part of the 2021 season — Heaney says the experience left a lasting imprint. The pressure, the expectations, the history, and the responsibility of pitching in Yankee Stadium reshaped how he viewed the game and himself.
After his time in New York, Heaney went on to pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers, and Pittsburgh Pirates, earning a World Series ring with Texas in 2023 and finishing his career with over 1,100 innings pitched at the MLB level. While injuries and inconsistency followed him at times, longevity alone placed Heaney among a rare group of pitchers who navigated more than a decade in the modern game.
Yet, as retirement approached, it wasn’t statistics or hardware that defined his final decision — it was identity.
“Baseball gave me everything,” Heaney reflected. “But some places shape you more than others. For me, that place was New York. Even when I left, I never felt like I truly closed that door.”
A ceremonial one-day contract would not change the numbers on the back of his baseball card, but it would provide something far more meaningful: closure. It would allow Heaney to step away from the game acknowledging the franchise that, in his words, “taught him what the standard really was.”
Whether the Yankees ultimately make the gesture official remains to be seen. But the sentiment is clear.
Andrew Heaney isn’t chasing one last inning or one more ovation.
He’s simply asking to go home one final time — and leave the game the way his heart always envisioned it.
In pinstripes.
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