The New York Yankees today announced that they will honor first baseman Mark Teixeira in a ceremony prior to their 3:05 p.m. game on Sunday, October 2 vs. Baltimore.
Teixeira, 36, joined the Yankees as a free agent on January 6, 2009, signing an eight-year contract with the club. In his eight seasons in pinstripes, he has batted .248 (865-for-3,494) with 530 runs, 183 doubles, 5 triples, 203 home runs, 615 RBI, 472 walks, a .343 on-base percentage and .820 OPS. In his 948 regular season games played for the Yankees, the club is 542-406 (.572).
With the Yankees, he earned three Gold Gloves (2009-10, '12) and a Silver Slugger (2009), and was named to two American League All-Star teams (2009, '15). As part of the Yankees' World Series-winning team in 2009, he finished second in MVP voting, leading the AL with 122 RBI (including a league-leading 31 go-ahead RBI) and tying for the league lead with 39 home runs. He also hit an 11th-inning "walk-off" home run to win Game 2 of the ALDS vs. Minnesota.
In franchise history, Teixeira is tied with Roger Maris for 15th place in home runs, trailing only Lou Gehrig (493), Don Mattingly (222) and Jason Giambi (209) among players whose primary position was first base. Along with Babe Ruth, Maris and Alex Rodriguez, he is one of four Yankees all-time to hit at least 30 home runs in each of his first three seasons with the club.
Originally drafted by the Rangers as the fifth overall pick of the 2001 First-Year Player Draft, Teixeira has played 14 Major League seasons with Texas (2003-07), Atlanta (2007-08), Los Angeles-AL (2008) and the Yankees (2009-present), batting .268 (1,854-for-6,908) with 1,096 runs, 406 doubles, 18 triples, 406 home runs, 1,291 RBI, 914 walks, a .360 on-base percentage and an .869 OPS in 1,852 games. He is a three-time All-Star (also 2005), five-time Gold Glove winner (also 2005-06) and three-time Silver Slugger winner (also 2004-05).
Only four switch-hitters in baseball history have more home runs than Teixeira (Mickey Mantle-536, Eddie Murray-504, Chipper Jones-468 and Carlos Beltran-419) and only four players have more home runs since his debut in 2003 (Albert Pujols-519, David Ortiz-479, Miguel Cabrera-441, Adam Dunn-417). 
A Greenwich, Conn., resident and Maryland native, Teixeira has been actively involved in charitable endeavors throughout his career, including participation on the Board of Directors of Harlem RBI, supporting a scholarship fund at his alma mater, Georgia Tech, and creating a scholarship at his high school, Mt. St. Joseph, in the name of his friend Nick Liberatore, who passed away in a car accident while the two were in school together.