Ryan Westmoreland announces retirement - 美國職棒

Ryan Westmoreland announces retirement from baseball

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FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Ryan Westmoreland announced his retirement from
professional baseball in an email to several members of the media on
Wednesday.

"With a clear mind and heart, as well as the unwavering support and
friendship of my family, friends, agent(s), doctors, therapists and the
Boston Red Sox, I have decided to voluntarily retire as a professional
baseball player," Westmoreland wrote. "Although it is a very difficult
decision for me, it has become clear that the neurological damage caused by
the most recent cavernous malformation and surgery leaves me with physical
challenges that make it impossible to play the game at such a high level."
A former star at Portsmouth High School, the 22-year-old Westmoreland emerged
one of the top prospects in the Red Sox organization shortly after he was
drafted in the fifth round of the 2008 draft, signing a $2 million contract
to forgo a commitment to Vanderbilt.

Westmoreland underwent surgery in March 2010 to remove a cavernous
malformation from his brain stem. After making significant -- and often
remarkable -- progress in his recovery, he suffered a setback and underwent a
second surgery last July. That setback has proven to be career-ending.
"In my heart, I know that I have worked as hard as one possibly could to
overcome the obstacles presented by this unfortunate series of events," he
wrote. "It is with that confidence that I am comfortable turning the page,
and searching for "the reason" that this has happened. I believe that there
is a plan for me that will utilize my experiences, however painful some may
have been, to do something special in my life. It is time for me to find that
path, and to pursue it with the same focus and effort that I pursued the
dream of playing professional baseball.

"Regardless of this result, I have been very fortunate throughout my
professional career and the last three years of recovery and rehabilitation.
I have met sincere, caring people that have believed in me and have helped me
to stay focused on the task at hand. I will never be able to adequately thank
the wonderful people in the Boston Red Sox organization, that continued to
support me and my family throughout all of this. From the time of the initial
diagnosis, it was never about the baseball. They cared for me as a person...
a member of their family, and their focus was entirely on my physical and
emotional well being. I have met so many players that have been there for me,
that I know will continue to be my friends long past this. I have had access
to the best hospitals, doctors, surgeons, therapists and others that without
their professional advice and treatment would never be where I am today.
Octagon has always been more than a sports agent to me, they are friends that
were there in every hospital or whenever I needed them for support and
advice. The media has been fair and sensitive to me throughout this, and I am
grateful for that. Through that media, I have been blessed to receive support
and encouragement from so many people from all over, that although I don't
know them have been instrumental in driving me to accomplish all that is
possible. And finally, my family and friends have been by my side and have
supported whatever it is that I wanted to pursue. It has been a difficult
road for all of them, yet they have managed to stay strong and keep me
focused on the next goal. I have no doubt their support will continue to
drive me towards the next."

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Q_Q

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https://twitter.com/brianmacp/status/309381510253907968

"My plan is to pursue my degree and hopefully one day be in a position to
get back into baseball in some way."

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"HARD WORK BEATS TALENT
WHEN TALENT FAILS TO WORK HARD."

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