Dodgers’ David Freese Announces MLB Retirement After 11 Years

Los Angeles Dodgers infielder David Freese has called it a career. This past weekend, Freese announced his retirement from Major League Baseball after playing in the league for 11 years. This comes on the heels of the Dodgers losing to the Washington Nationals in the National League Divisional Series in five games.

“Family, friends, teammates and coaches and fans that handed out support especially when your lives were already full, you helped me more than you know,” Freese wrote on his Twitter account. “Padres, Cardinals, Angels, Pirates and Dodgers. You took a 23-year-old kid out of college and pushed him to 36. Can’t thank you enough for that. Needed it. Will never stop thinking about the days I got to be around such wonderful people playing this game. As I move forward with the next phase of my life, I am forever grateful to all of you and the game of baseball.”

Once Freese made the announcement on Twitter, fans started to flood the comments. Major League Baseball responded by saying “Thanks for the memories, David,” while one fan said Makes me sad! But congratulations on a great career. You were a lot of fun to watch even when you weren’t a Dodger. You were very kind at spring training will always remember that. Enjoy your family time and thank you for giving yourself to baseball.”

One fan wants Freese to come back to the Cardinals. The fan said, “Thank you for everything, David. Congrats on a very solid playing career. Now come on home and work for Cardinals again.” As for the Cardinals, the team sent a message to Freese by saying, “Just a kid from St. Louis. ‘We will see you tomorrow night!’ will forever give us chills. Congratulations on a great career, [David Freese]!”

Freese started his career with the Cardinals in 2009 and he’s known for what he did during the 2011 season. The Cardinals won the World Series that year and Freese was named World Series MVP after driving in seven runs, hitting a walk-off homer in Game Six and recording a .348 batting average. Not only did Freese win World Series MVP, but he also won the Babe Ruth Award which is given to the top player in the postseason.

Freese, who was named to the All-Star team in 2012, also played for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Pittsburgh Pirates before joining the Dodgers in 2018. In his career, Freese recorded a .277 batting average with 113 home runs and 525 RBIs.