The St. Petersburg Times is reporting that Tampa Bay Rays reliever Troy Percival has informed the team that he's no longer going to attempt to return from his back injury and he is, for all intents and purposes, retired. After injuring his back last season and missing all of the playoffs, Percival tried to pitch in April and May, but went on the disabled list after 14 mostly bad outings. He's been throwing side sessions for the past month, but he said the pain was too intense for him to continue. This actually marks Percival's second retirement; his first came after a forearm injury cost him the entire 2006 season with Detroit. He came back with St. Louis midway into the 2007 season, though, and was effective as the Rays closer last year. That leaves him with 358 saves, most of which were accumulated as an Angel, the team with which he won a World Series ring in 2002.
This news is certainly not unexpected, but it's still worth noting. It's easy to remember Percival for his injury struggles with the Tigers and Rays this year, but he really was exceptional with the Angels for a nine-year span and he's universally regarded as one of the true good guys in baseball, as evidenced both by Joe Maddon's quotes in the story about his retirement and by the Tigers' players voting him a full playoff share and an AL Championship ring in 2006, despite the fact that he never even stepped foot on the field that season.
