McGee makes retirement 'official' Associated Press ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Willie McGee didn't leave himself much room at the end of the 1999 season. Sunday night, he closed the door. McGee, During a live interview with a St. Louis television station, McGee made his retirement from baseball official. "I'm going to be home with my family," McGee said. "I knew a while ago that this was probably going to be it. The way the season went, the way my season went, it seems like its just time. "I tried to trick myself and find something inside to get me motivated, but it's just not there." McGee was a World Series hero as a rookie in 1982. He was the NL MVP in 1985, when he batted .353 with 216 hits for another World Series team, and finished the year with a career .295 batting average. He won two NL batting titles during his career. But he turned 41 this month and his performance had slipped the past two years. He hit .251 in 1999. "At this point, I don't honestly see myself playing anymore," McGee said at the end of the season. "Just like anything else, it hits you." Manager Tony La Russa had said McGee would have a job next season if he wanted one. But McGee said Sunday that he had no interest in coming back as a player, or a coach -- at least right now. "I'll tell you this, at this point, I don't want to do anything with baseball on a professional level," McGee said. "I think I owe it to myself and I owe it to my family to get away for a year or two ... then, definitely. It's in my blood." At the end of the interview, McGee thanked the St. Louis fans, who showered him with cheers and standing ovations as the 1999 season drew to a close. "I just wish everybody could feel that, to go through something like that," McGee said.