The thing about baseball is that while everyone wants to be Ted Williams hitting a home run in his last at bat, it’s next to impossible for a player to leave on their terms on the field.
But if they look at the game from the right perspective, they’ll still be able to leave it full of gratitude.
That’s what happened with Beloit College pitcher Aiden Phipps, who wrapped up his career on the mound with an introspective Instagram post after the Buccaneers were eliminated from the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship tournament.
“Baseball. You have been the love of my life. Thank you for the opportunity to be a child for 22 years of life,” Phipps wrote. “I’m forever grateful for the friendships and family you have brought me, along with the wisdom, strength, and courage it takes to get back up when you’re down.”
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His thoughts about friendships and family echo those of untold numbers of retired ballplayers. It’s a testament to the game’s power to bring people together that when even the greatest Hall of Famers are asked what they miss most about their careers, so many will answer that it’s the time they spent with their teammates.
As Phipps put it, “We never won because we were great, we won due to the pure love we had for one another on and off the field.”
Of course, baseball also played a major role in one of the most important relationships in Phipps’ life when he and Grinnell College outfielder Cole Philpott faced one another on the field in 2023 and eventually became boyfriends off of it.
Philpott jumped into the comments to give Phipps his flowers, posting “Congratulations Phippsie” and “The greatest to ever do it” with heart and heart hands emojis.
Both Phipps and his teammates had a lot to be proud of over this past season. In March, Phipps broke the Beloit College record for career wins, a mark that he now currently holds with 26.
Additionally, he and the Buccaneers became Midwest Conference baseball champions for the third year in a row after defeating Monmouth College 11-4 in the MWC Tournament Final.
It was a triumphant climax to a stellar college career. As Phipps himself put it in his post, “And if the world ended today, I would die a happy man.”
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