Gold Glove shortstop Brandon Crawford announces his retirement after fourteen Major League seasons

SAN FRANCISCO – Brandon Crawford is retiring after fourteen Major League seasons, all but one of which came with his hometown San Francisco Giants as a smooth shortstop and fan favorite.

The veteran infielder, a four-time Gold Glove winner and three-time All-Star, announced his decision in an Instagram post on Wednesday.

“This time of year I am constantly reminded of the things in my life that I am most grateful for. Baseball is one of them,” Crawford wrote. “Baseball has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and for the rest of my life I will be grateful for the opportunities and experiences it has given me. Time is precious. I’m incredibly grateful for all the years I’ve spent playing the game I love, but now it’s time to spend it with the people I’m most grateful for. I want to thank everyone who has been there for me over the years. It was an incredible ride.”

A fourth-round draft pick in 2008 out of UCLA, Crawford made his debut on May 27, 2011 and won World Series championships with the Giants in 2012 and 2014 – the latter two titles in their 2010 biennial series – 14.

“Congratulations to Craw on an outstanding career,” former Giants manager Bruce Bochy, now with Texas, said via text message. “Just a wonderful story about a boy who became one of the best shortstops in the history of the San Francisco Giants, the team he grew up with and loved.”

The Giants said they will honor Crawford’s career on April 26 at Oracle Park. He was a career .249 hitter with 147 home runs and 748 RBIs, but his knack for making the most important defensive plays is what he will long be remembered for.

“It has been an honor to get to know Brandon as a friend and as a teammate,” new Giants President of Baseball Operations Buster Posey said in a statement. “From the first day we were both drafted in 2008 to our last year playing together in 2021, it was an honor to play alongside him for 14 years. Whether it was the clutch moments like the grand slam he hit in the 2014 wild-card game in Pittsburgh, the franchise record and game-high seven hits he recorded in Miami, or the dazzling defensive plays and acrobatic throws he made time and time again. made , Brandon has made his mark in a way that few athletes ever do.

There was some thought that Crawford would retire after the 2023 season when his contract in San Francisco expired, but he decided to give it another year and joined the St. Louis Cardinals on a one-year contract worth of $2 million. He was released in August after hitting .169 with a home run and four RBIs in 80 at-bats.

Crawford and wife Jalynne have five young children, and family will be Crawford’s main focus going forward.

New York Yankees great Gerrit Cole is married to Crawford’s sister, Amy, and applauded everything Crawford has done both on and off the field.

“Brandon is an incredible teammate, competitor and the Giants’ best shortstop of all time,” Cole said in a text message. “He has been a great brother to me, and a great role model for future shortstops and kids with championship dreams. I was fortunate enough to share some special moments with him along the way: my Major League debut, our first All-Star Game and delivering the lineup cards at Yankee Stadium. He has had a lasting impact on the game we love, and leaves knowing that he has the respect and admiration of everyone who has crossed his path, both within his team and beyond. I love you, brother.”

As a boy, Crawford leaned on the railing at Candlestick Park with his hat backwards in support of his beloved Giants – and would eventually star for them.

When he signed a two-year, $32 million contract in August 2021, wrapping up a six-year, $75 million deal he signed in November 2015, Crawford expressed his gratitude for being in one place for so long to play.

“Being drafted by my hometown team and spending most of my career with them far exceeded any dream I had as a kid,” Crawford wrote in Wednesday’s post. “I definitely acted like I was winning a World Series in my backyard, but winning two? That exceeded my wildest dreams.”

He is the Giants’ career leader in games played at shortstop with 1,617.

“It was an absolute privilege to watch Brandon play, not only for me, but for Giants fans everywhere,” said President and CEO Larry Baer.

“He was an All-Star, Gold Glove and Silver Slugger winner, two-time World Series champion and a Lou Gehrig and Willie Mac Award winner, who always conducted himself with class, honor and respect. The Giants are incredibly blessed to have had Brandon with the franchise for 16 years – actually all of his 37 years, first as a young fan who will one day forget that indelible photo of him leaning on the railing at Candlestick Park when he’s there. was a possibility that his Giants would leave San Francisco – and as this chapter closes his career, his legacy in the game will be celebrated by fans, teammates and future generations of players who look up to him for the example he set.