After telling WEEI.com he was "unofficially retired" in December, Steve Pearce took the next step when appearing with Mike Mutnanksy on WEEI's replay of Game 1 of the 2018 World Series.
"You know what? It has been a good run. I have 10 years in there. Right now I am officially retired," stated Pearce, who turned 37 years old Monday.
It marks the end of a major league career that spanned over 13 campaigns with eight different teams. His shining moment, of course, was winning the 2018 World Series MVP after belting three home runs versus the Dodgers. The 10th-round pick in the 2004 Draft concludes his career having played in 766 games, compiling a .254 batting average and .772 OPS with 91 home runs.
During the interview, Pearce also offered his take on the allegations that the 2018 Red Sox illegally used video to steal signs.
"No. That's such a joke to us," Pearce said. "When it came out we were all kind of joking about it. We just want this to pass us. We won it fair and square. Whatever they accused us of, we were all kind of like, 'I can't believe this is even an issue.' Once the report comes out we're all going to be free.
"You don't like it, especially that we were the champions and individually I have that award. And we have this floating over our head when we just had such an unbelievable season. We had the perfect team and great camaraderie with everybody and then this gets thrown out here. We're just like, 'What the heck?' ... We just want this to pass us. We just want to play some baseball. Another bump in the road, I guess."
Also, Pearce -- a lifelong Patriots fan -- affirmed he has bought season tickets to watch Tom Brady's Buccaneers, whose stadium is just a five-minute drive from the former Red Sox' house.
"I've been a huge Pats fan pretty much my whole life so I got to watch Tom Brady come in there and take the franchise and do it for 20 years," Pearce said. "As much as I love the Patriots, I love Tom Brady, too and when he gets to come down to Tampa I'm looking forward to watching him play. ... It was a no-brainer for me to get those tickets."
