The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

ANTOAN Richardson, the sixth Bahamian to play in the major leagues, announced his retirement from professional baseball on Tuesday after a stellar 12-year career.

A teary eyed Richardson, 33, trying to check his emotions, declared that his “time is done” at a press conference alongside Senator Greg Burrows, who played an integral role in the beginning as a member of the Freedom Farm Baseball League.

“My time is done and it’s about the next generation and supporting those guys. It’s about supporting the ones coming up to get to their dreams,” said Richardson, who had only informed his agent a month ago that he was finished and will only be back on the field as a fan enjoying the success of everybody else behind him.

Richardson, who passed up the opportunity to run track and play football coming out of St Anne’s School when he enrolled at American Heritage High School in Delray, Florida, followed Andre Rodgers, Wentie Ford, Tony Curry, Wilfred Culmer and Ed Armbrister, all of whom set the path for him to follow.

After earning an athletic scholarship to attend Palm Beach Community College and Vanderbilt University, Richardson was drafted four times before he finally signed with the San Francisco Giants in 2005 to begin his professional career. But it was not until 2011 that he was promoted to the MLB as a member of the Atlanta Braves. He eventually played for the New York Yankees in 2014 and finished up with the AAA Oklahoma City Dodgers in 2016.

“Every year, when you are deciding to go play professional sports and when you anticipate playing at the highest level, I think you have to ask your self three questions,” said Richardson, in explaining his decision to retire.

“You have to check your passion level, emotionally, mentally and physically and when I asked myself that question this year, I realised that the passion level just to play was a little less than the passion level that grew in the other areas. The passion for the game just simply slipped away and the passion to do something else grew a lot stronger.”

Back at home in Nassau, Richardson said he would now concentrate his energy on the formation of his non-profit Limestone Foundation, which will improve opportunities for student-athletes to maximise their talents in the classroom and their respective sporting disciplines.

Full story in Wednesday’s Tribune sports section.