Final door closes on Yankees' 2009 World Series as lingering fan favorite retires

16 years. It's been 16 years and counting since the team that once symbolized baseball exceptionalism has been on top of the world. And that decade-and-a-half feels even longer on Friday - if that's even possible - now that Yankees fan favorite and fireman David Robertson has announced his formal retirement from baseball.

Remember how big a gap it felt like we were living through from 2000 to 2009, marred by bloated contracts, Bostonian stumbles, and the bloop heard 'round Arizona? We've now almost doubled it, and the one remaining active player who could've accurately told the tale of how the Yankees briefly escaped purgatory has now hung 'em up, forcing that era even further into the "bygone" category.

Robertson, a 17th-round selection out of the University of Alabama in 2006, arrived in a lost 2008 season, but flourished under the radar in his sophomore campaign. The ballyhooed bullpen transitions of Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain soaked up a lot of the high-leverage consternation, but Robertson somewhat silently struck out 63 men in 43 2/3 regular season innings, good for a 3.30 ERA/140 ERA+ (40% better than your league average).

He threatened to end that season planted firmly in the background, but instead his legacy was forged in Game 2 of the American League Division Series against the Minnesota Twins. With no one else to turn to, Joe Girardi chose Robertson to help navigate a dramatic game to its rightful conclusion. The Yankees' offense had gone silent following Alex Rodriguez's two-run blast in the bottom of the ninth that knotted things up. If one reliever couldn't hold the line, it all would've been for naught, and the Twins and Yanks would've headed to Minnesota at one victory a piece.

After Jason Kubel and Joe Mauer had both singled off Damaso Marte (whose own redemption was a few weeks further around the corner), Robertson immediately made things worse, as Michael Cuddyer struck with a third single that loaded the bases with nobody out. In that moment, Houdini was born. Delmon Young rocked a hotshot liner to first base that zipped directly to Mark Teixeira; somehow, instead of ratcheting up the tension further, it melted the ice. A Carlos Gómez bouncer and harmless Brendan Harris flyout later, and the Yankees were out of the inning; Teixeira walked it off one batter later.

Yankees fan favorite, 2009 World Series champion David Robertson retires

Robertson only spent one season as the Yankees' official closer: 2014, when he saved 39 games with a 3.08 ERA before signing on to become the White Sox's stopper. His magnum opus was in 2011, when he carried a 1.08 ERA through the end of the season, becoming the rare non-closer to make the All-Star Game. He was undeniable.

His Yankees career didn't end when he departed in free agency, of course. He returned at the 2017 trade deadline in a transformative pact that almost brought the Yankees another championship, then provided necessary bullpen stability as they got frustratingly close to the top of the American League again in '18.

His remarkable 17-year career finished up in Philadelphia last season after a mid-year return, the site of the Yankees' most recent World Series road triumphs. Hopefully, someday, we can discuss our reverence for Robertson again without also noting that he's the last man on earth who knows what it's like when the Yankees deserve to be feared, in a class of their own.