NEW YORK --?Yankees?first baseman?Mark Teixeira?said he was certain this was the right time, but that didnt make it any easier for him to say goodbye.Teixeira fought back tears Friday?as he announced that his 14th season in the major leagues will be his last. At 36, he has decided to retire at the end of the season.I got to live out my dream, said Teixeira, who has hit 404 career home runs and won a World Series with the Yankees in 2009.Teixeira said in spring training that he hoped to play another five years. He has missed time because of problems with his neck and knees, however, and he said his decision to call it a career was made at the All-Star break.I just realized my body cant do it anymore, Teixeira said. If Im going to grind through seasons not being healthy, Id rather be home with my kids.My neck hurts almost every day. The knee thing popped up. It all kind of dawned on me thats not in the cards.Teixeira is in the eighth and final year of the $180 million contract he signed as a free agent in December 2008. He said he kept the decision to himself at first, but after the Yankees went into sell mode at this weeks non-waiver trade deadline, he understood there would be questions about his future.I dont want to be a distraction, said Teixeira, a three-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove winner.Teixeira was in the lineup for Friday nights 13-7 win over the Cleveland Indians. He?doubled in the first inning after receiving a warm ovation, then legged out a single in the third and took third on Brian McCanns double.?It was special tonight, he said. I had a lot of the Indians come over and say congratulations, and the umpires, just telling me that they enjoyed watching me and playing against me.At .202, his batting average reached .200 for the first time since before play on May 20.It had to be really rewarding for the game that he had tonight, Girardi said, adding that hell continue to play Teixeira as much as I can [the rest of the season].Teixeiras best season came in 2009, his first with the Yankees, when he hit .292 with 39 homers and 122 RBIs and finished second in American League MVP voting.He said he was proudest of hitting at least 30 home runs and driving in at least 100 runs for eight straight seasons from 2004 through 2011.He was limited to 15 games and a .151 average in 2013 after he tore the tendon sheath in his right hand while with the U.S. team at the World Baseball Classic. He had surgery that July and missed the remainder of the season, then hit .216 with 22 homers and 62 RBIs the following year, when the hand was still regaining strength and he was slowed by a hamstring injury.Fully recovered, he made the All-Star team again in 2015 but fouled a pitch off his right leg Aug. 17, played two more games in pain and then found out he had fractured his shin. He finished the season with a .255 average, 31 homers and 79 RBIs.Teixeira hasnt appeared in more than 123 games in a season since 2011.Teixeira, chosen by the Texas Rangers with the fifth overall pick in the 2001 amateur draft, also played for the Rangers,?Atlanta Braves?and?Los Angeles Angels?in his 14-year career. He owns a .269 career batting average with 1,281 RBIs.He is one of five switch-hitters in MLB history with at least 400 home runs, joining Mickey Mantle (536), Eddie Murray (504), Chipper Jones (468) and Carlos Beltran (415).Only nine players have finished their careers with at least 400 home runs and five Gold Gloves. All are in the Hall of Fame, except Barry Bonds and Andruw Jones, who will be eligible in 2018.?Teixeiras potential successor at first base is 23-year-old Greg Bird,?who is missing this season after shoulder surgery in February.On Friday, Teixeira said it mattered to him to retire as a Yankee.I gave you everything I had, he said, speaking to Yankees fans as his voice cracked. It wasnt always enough, but I tried my best.Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Cheap Basketball Shoes China . Just not the game. Kyle Palmieri scored two straight goals in the third period to rally the Anaheim Ducks past the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on Tuesday night. 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Dallas hasnt ruled out the star quarterback for Sunday nights game against Philadelphia, but all signs point to Romos back injury pushing Kyle Orton into the starting role after two years of limited play as the backup. Surely Ortons name isnt the first that comes to mind for fans wanting a change after years of damaging interceptions, fumbles or, most infamously, the field goal flub when Romo dropped the snap on a kick that could have won his first playoff game in 2006. Novak Djokovic has seemed like a man often having an argument with himself since he was unexpectedly knocked out in the third round of Wimbledon in July. Once an uncomplicated, all-business competitor, a less motivated, more philosophical Djokovic has emerged in recent months.Signs of this tension in Djokovic were on display Tuesday evening at the ATP World Tour Finals in Londons O2 arena in what was the closest thing he has ever had to a must-win round-robin match. The familiar, fierce competitor ultimately prevailed as Djokovic punched through to the semifinals with a 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) win against Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic, against whom he is now 9-0.But it wasnt without signs of his ongoing interior struggle.If I had to pick one thing [to explain why I won], I would say it was my just hanging in there mentally, waiting for my opportunity to come, Djokovic said in his on-court interview after the match. Milos was playing very well. It was a very close match, just a few points separated us.True, but ...How often did the dominant Djokovic of recent memory allow an opponent who has never beaten him reach set point after Djokovic had forged ahead by a break?There were dangerous lapses against Raonic, who is capable of taking an opponents racket out of his hand with the sheer efficiency of his monstrous serve. Just as significant, Raonic led by a mini-break in each of the tiebreakers. His wounds from that point on were largely self-inflicted. Put them down to an understandable lack of confidence in key moments.Djokovic has probably dallied in like fashion before, but rarely at this event and in this venue, where he has routinely been at his zenith. He has won 20 of his past 21 matches at the O2 and captured the title four years in a row.All that raises a question: Why would anyone mindful of Djokovics 23-0 record against the other three men in his group call tthis round-robin engagement a must-win match?For one, Djokovic was recently stripped of his No.dddddddddddd1 ranking by Andy Murray. If Djokovic hopes to get it back and finish the year ranked No. 1, he will need to win one more match than Murray. Murray won his opener and plays Kei Nishikori on Wednesday (9 a.m. ET on ESPN3).?Heres another reason: Despite that 0-9 record against Djokovic, Raonic might be the best player who has yet to win a major. Hes hungry, dedicated and on the cusp of a breakthrough prefigured when he eliminated Roger Federer in the Wimbledon semifinals.But perhaps most important, Djokovic is under pressure to show hes not at war with himself. His identity as a hard-edged tennis champion is in conflict with self-absorbed concerns about his evolution as a person and the peace-and-love philosophy espoused by his Svengali-like adviser, Pepe Imaz.Things have gotten complicated for Djokovic in recent months. His nerves have showed signs of fraying. He has had a year that qualifies as spectacular, with two Grand Slam titles and a career Grand Slam in the books, yet his struggles after Wimbledon have been conspicuous.If he wins this event for a fifth consecutive time and retakes the top ranking, the losses in his past four outings will pale in significance. The crushing defeats inflicted by Juan Martin del Potro in the Olympic Games and Stan Wawrinka in the US Open final will be put down to his minor injuries.It was a very close match, Djokovic told reporters after beating Raonic. It really could have gone either way.It was a close match against Raonic, one that could have gone either way. But the important thing for Djokovic is that hes safely in the semifinals and on pace with Murray -- and nobody can argue with that. ' ' '