By Brittany Ghiroli, David Aldridge and Melissa Lockard
Sean Doolittle, a two-time MLB All-Star and former Washington Nationals reliever, is retiring from baseball “after 11 incredible seasons,” he announced Friday on social media.
Doolittle, 36, spent the first six seasons of his MLB career with the Oakland Athletics before joining the Nationals in 2017. He helped Washington win its first World Series title in 2019, and called the experience “the highlight” of his career.
Doolittle thanked the A’s and Nationals in his announcement Friday. He also thanked the Cincinnati Reds and Seattle Mariners for hosting him on a “gap year” in 2021, before he returned to Washington on a one-year deal in 2022.
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Doolittle last appeared in majors in 2022 before undergoing elbow surgery that summer. He signed a minor-league deal with the team in November. Through 463 career major-league games, Doolittle posted a 26-24 record with a 3.20 ERA and 112 saves.
The Athletic’s instant analysis:
Doolittle was key to Washington’s World Series win
Doolittle was an integral part of the Nationals 2019 World Series team, one of the few relievers trusted by manager Dave Martinez that October as the Nats pulled off an improbable championship. When Doolittle was at his best, he was a commanding late-inning presence, saving a career-high 29 games for Washington in ’19.
Doolittle always wanted the ball, often working around injuries and offering a cerebral look at pitching. He rode the Nats bullpen cart and wasn’t afraid to be honest about things, on and off the field. — Ghiroli
Doolittle’s lasting legacy in D.C.
Doolittle’s arrival in D.C. in May 2017 from the A’s marked one of Mike Rizzo’s all-time best trades during his Nationals tenure. At the time, Washington’s bullpen was a flaming hot mess, and a flashing red light for the team’s postseason hopes. But Rizzo got Doolittle and Ryan Madson from Oakland for then-closer Blake Treinen, who’d cratered the first half of the 2017 season, Jesús Luzardo, one of Washington’s top pitching prospects, and infielder Sheldon Neuse.
Luzardo, now in Miami, has become a solid starter, but Washington thrived after picking up Doolittle and Madson. Madson became Dusty Baker’s setup guy, and Doolittle, essentially a one-pitch pitcher — a letter-high fastball — excelled as the Nats’ closer, converting 22 of 23 save opportunities, including one in the Division Series, in ’17.
He was just as good in 2018, making his second All-Star appearance, with 25 regular season saves and a 1.60 ERA, 0.600 WHIP and 1.89 FIP. Moreover, he and his wife Eireann Dolan became mainstays in the D.C. community, pushing book literacy and other causes in town, and both became fan favorites. Doolittle’s love of Star Wars — he had a lightsaber in his locker — and other esoteric topics always make him an intriguing interview, a guy who understood there was more to life than balls and strikes.
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And Doolittle was one of the major keys to Washington’s 2019 World Series title. Washington had spent lavishly the previous winter on bolstering its bullpen, but most of its acquisitions flamed out as the team careened to a 19-31 start. Doolittle was one of the only pitchers who performed anywhere near expected norms, going out seemingly night after night before the All-Star break.
But he got hit more than he had at any time in D.C., and the heavy workload the first half of the season led to right knee tendinitis and a stint on the injured list. Washington had to go get reinforcements for its closer, acquiring Daniel Hudson, among others. And Hudson became the de facto closer in ’19 during the postseason, as Doolittle, after his return, became the setup guy. But Doolittle got the last outs in Washington’s improbable Game 5 win over the Dodgers in the Division Series.
As with many Nationals, Doolittle was never the same physically after that championship run. But he’s a major part of the team’s history, and will always be welcomed back in D.C. — Aldridge
How Doolittle made his mark with A’s
Doolittle will be remembered for his heroics as a clutch reliever in the late innings of tight ballgames, but at the outset of his professional career, his path to the big leagues looked to be through the batter’s box. A supplemental first-round pick of the Oakland A’s in 2007, Doolittle was a two-way player at the University of Virginia, but the A’s liked his bat and his athleticism and envisioned him as a fixture in right field or first base for them.
He was a rising star as a position player early in his career, hitting 22 home runs in a 2008 season split between High A and Double A.
Doolittle entered the 2009 season as one of the A’s top prospects, but he injured his knee playing in the outfield in Triple A and missed most of that season. Then his 2010 and 2011 seasons were lost to knee pain and a wrist injury and his career seemed stalled. That’s when everything changed for Doolittle.
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With the encouragement of A’s director of player development Keith Lieppman and A’s minor-league pitching coordinator Garvin Alston, Doolittle returned to his pitching roots late in 2011 and ramped those efforts up during the team’s fall Instructional League that year. Entering the 2012 season, there were little expectations for what Doolittle could accomplish on the mound, but he came out throwing strikes and blazed through High A, Double A and Triple A, reaching the big leagues by early June.
His arrival in Oakland coincided with a franchise turnaround that saw the A’s go from a projected 100-loss team to a surprise AL West division title winner by the end of the season.
Doolittle spent six seasons with the A’s, posting a 3.09 ERA in 253 innings with 300 strikeouts and 47 walks. He also pitched in three postseasons with the club and made the 2014 All-Star team. But stats aside, the bond he created with the A’s fanbase — especially those in the right field bleachers — is what he is most likely to be remembered for in Oakland. He embraced their heavy metal attitude and became a symbol of an era of A’s baseball known for defying expectations. — Lockard
Doolittle on his career, what could be next
Doolittle, who arrived at his press conference Friday on crutches and with a full leg brace, revealed he tore the patella tendon in his right knee this summer while trying to make it back from his elbow surgery. That ended any chance of a return to the majors this season. Doolittle said this was an emotional but happy day and that he has “no regrets” about how things played out over an 11-year career, best known for his time in A’s and Nationals uniforms.
“This was a dream I’ve had since I could barely remember. As a kid, we had a season ticket package to A’s games. I grew up, I fell in love with baseball going to those games.”
While his playing career is over, Doolittle expressed a desire to stay involved with the sport.
“I might be done playing baseball, but I’m not sure if I’m done with baseball,” he said. “I have a ton of energy and passion left for baseball. Especially everything I learned over the last three, four, five years just trying to keep my career going … I got a ton of fulfillment out of working with the young guys and helping them the way the older guys helped me coming up.”
Discussing his candor, Doolittle said it went “hand-in-hand” with his on-field results.
“I was able to pitch well enough and contribute to wins on the field enough that whenever I ran my mouth people listened or paid attention … I felt like I had to back it up with performance on the field so I would continue to have a platform. If I wasn’t pitching as well it wouldn’t have had as much of an impact, that’s the reality of it.”
Required reading
(Photo: Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)
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