Injuries, age force Alomar to hang it up

The second baseman has been bothered by back and vision problems.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- Roberto Alomar, a 12-time All-Star who signed with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays with hopes of playing one final season, retired Saturday.
Alomar's announcement came one day after he committed two errors in one inning of a spring training game. The 37-year-old Alomar has been bothered by back and vision problems in recent weeks.
"I played a lot of games and I said I would never embarrass myself on the field," Alomar said. "I had a long career, but I can't play at the level I want to play, so it's time to retire."
This would have been the 18th major league season for Alomar, who also played for San Diego, Toronto, Baltimore, Cleveland, the New York Mets, Arizona, and the Chicago White Sox.
He signed a $600,000, one-year contract with the Devil Rays in January, hopeful that he could end his stellar career on a high note after a swift decline the past three seasons. The team penciled him in as the everyday second baseman and No. 2 hitter.
Alomar, though, said he had doubts even entering camp.
"I just can't go anymore," Alomar said. "My back, legs and eyes aren't the same. I don't want to embarrass myself or my teammates."
Stepping in
With Alomar leaving, Jorge Cantu -- who hit .301 in 50 games for Tampa Bay last season, his first in the major leagues -- figures to take over at second base.
A 10-time Gold Glove winner and career .300 hitter, Alomar is 276 hits shy of 3,000. He was an All-Star for 11 consecutive seasons from 1991-2001, but has struggled while batting .266, .258 and .263 the past three years.
In 2004, he missed two months with a broken right hand and finished with four homers and 24 RBIs in 56 games for Arizona and the White Sox.
Infamous moment
Alomar's stellar career also included an infamous altercation with an umpire. In 1996, upset over strike calls, Alomar -- then with the Baltimore Orioles -- spat in the face of umpire John Hirschbeck in Toronto.
Alomar made matters worse afterward by saying he thought Hirschbeck was under stress because his 8-year-old son, John Drew, had died of a rare brain disease in 1993 known as adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD).
Yet soon, Alomar and Hirschbeck became friends, and even worked together to raise money earmarked for finding a cure for ALD. And Alomar hopes that mistake doesn't mar his legacy.
"I wish it never happened," Alomar said, "and I hope that's not how people remember me."
Also Saturday, Tampa Bay right fielder Danny Bautista, who hit .286 with 11 homers and 65 RBIs last season with Arizona, announced his retirement.
Bautista was in the major leagues for parts of 12 seasons with Detroit, Atlanta, Florida and the Diamondbacks. He hit .272 in 895 career games, and was 7-for-12 to help Arizona beat the New York Yankees in the 2001 World Series.