Aníbal Sánchez retires, reflects on WS title

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Aníbal Sánchez hit the post button on his social media accounts and, in the matter of a click, time flew.

“I saw 17 years pass in two minutes-and-a-half,” Sánchez said. “It was incredible.”

Sánchez announced his retirement from professional baseball on Tuesday evening. It was the conclusion of a career that began on Jan. 3, 2001, when he signed with the Red Sox as an international free agent from Venezuela, through the end of the 2022 season, when he made 14 starts for the Nationals.

In between, he threw a no-hitter as a rookie with Miami in 2006, earned the ‘13 ERA title with Detroit and won a World Series in ‘19 with Washington. Sánchez finished his 16 seasons in the Majors 116-119 with a 4.06 ERA in 341 starts (364 games total).

“The most thing that I'm proud of through my whole career [is], I passed bad moments and I always had the power to come back and keep going into my career,” he said Wednesday at loanDepot park.

Sánchez shared the news when the Nationals were playing the Marlins in Miami. The timing was significant: he debuted and ended his Major League career with the teams.

“I made a plan like that to be in that position because I love both sides,” Sánchez said. “Especially because the Marlins were the first team to give me the opportunity to be in the Major Leagues and the Nationals, I feel like are a family on the end of my career; I still keep in contact with everybody in the organization. So this is the best moment right now for me in my whole career -- finishing like that today is the best.”

Sánchez pitched for the Nats from 2019-20 and again in ‘22. His record was a cumulative 19-19 in 55 starts with a 4.46 ERA in 288 1/3 innings.

During that time, the 2019 title year brought many fond memories to Sánchez. He recalled bouncing back from an 0-6 start to go 11-2 the rest of the season. Of those outings, Sánchez highlighted the Aug. 23 win at Wrigley Field.

“I think if I had to pick one game, [it] definitely is going to be the one in Chicago that I threw like eight innings and a third, I think, and I got two hits -- my best bunt of the year,” he said.

Sánchez also delivered one of the key moments in Washington’s World Series run when he pitched 7 2/3 innings of shutout baseball against St. Louis in Game 1 of the NLCS on Oct. 11. He remembered going to Busch Stadium around 9 o'clock the night before and observing his teammates working out. Seeing that, Sánchez had a feeling about the series opener.

“I don't know if for me, if I was going to throw that kind of game, but I saw everybody put the extra [work] late in the season and try to make the World Series by that time,” he recounted. “And I say, ‘Tomorrow is gonna be special.’”

At the end of his retirement announcement, Sánchez wrote, “Today begins a new chapter where I hang up the glove and uniform to pursue my other passions. I retire as a Major League player, however I will always be close to the sport I love.” He signed off, “See you soon.”

Paige Leckie contributed to this story from Miami.