Former Yankee Brett Gardner Has Ghosted the Team Since His Retirement

The Yankees are honoring their all-time greats this weekend, but the celebration will fall short of a Gardy Party.

Former New York Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner did not respond to the team’s invitation to its annual Old Timers’ Day celebration on Saturday, August 24, a spokesperson for the team told The Athletic.

The spokesperson also said Gardner has not responded at all to the Yankees since he retired in 2021 and made it clear he wanted to stay out of the limelight.

“He’s off the grid. Like, completely off the grid. Zero dark thirty,” another source told the Daily News.

This year’s 76th annual Old Timers’ Day will pay tribute to the 2009 Yankees, a World Series-winning team. It is the 15th anniversary of the 27-time champions’ most recent title, and Gardner was a rookie that season whose grit and hustle won fans’ hearts. The Yankees are the only team he played for in his 14-year career.

A host of Gardner’s former teammates, including Derek Jeter, CC Sabathia, Johnny Damon, Alex Rodriguez and Mariano Rivera have all confirmed they will attend the event. Festivities will include introductions and a Q&A before the regularly scheduled Yankees game against the Colorado Rockies.

Gardner’s longtime agent Joe Bick couldn’t shed much light on the former outfielder’s absence but told The Athletic that Gardner plans to be home in Holly Hill, South Carolina, on Friday, August 23.

“All I know is his son’s got a football game on Friday night and he intends to be there,” he said.

Though Gardner played his final game in 2021, Bick ​​told NJ Advance Media in 2022 that his client still wanted to play. The Yankees had interest in bringing him back as well, but the two sides never agreed on a contract.

He didn’t fare too badly, however, making more than $88 million in salary alone over the course of his career, according to data from Baseball-Reference.

Three years removed from Gardner’s final game, many of his ex-teammates are still on the Yankees, including captain and American League Home Run King Aaron Judge. Judge started his career in right field but now sees plenty of time in center, where Gardner once played. He starts each game by honoring Gardner with his signature flex during the fans’ “Roll Call” tradition.

“He might not have been the guy that’s putting up 40-homer seasons or hitting .320 every single year or a [multi-time] All-Star,” Judge told The Athletic in a story published August 7. “But what this guy meant inside this clubhouse, the things he taught me about being a leader and trying to treat people with respect — even what I observed from him and how he treated people. I don’t want people to forget that.”