Former Giants outfielder Carlos Beltran announces his retirement

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Former San Francisco Giants outfielder Carlos Beltran is calling it a career. 

In an article for the Players Tribune, the 20-year MLB veteran announced his retirement. The annoucement comes after a season where the career .279 hitter won a World Series ring with the Houston Astros. 

"I am blessed to have played this game for 20 years," Beltran wrote. 

"I am blessed to have played for so many great organizations.

"I am blessed to have shared all of my experiences with my wife and my three kids, my family and friends. To have so many loving fans. To have been able to build a school in Puerto Rico and change the lives of so many kids. To have won the Roberto Clemente Award, which is the greatest honor I could have ever received as a ballplayer.

"And I am blessed to be a champion.

"But now, my time as a player has come to an end.

"Today, I am officially announcing my retirement.

"Muchas gracias, béisbol.

"I can’t wait for what the next chapter holds."


Beltran played 44 games with the Giants in 2011. He hit .323 with seven home runs in that time before moving to play for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2012. 

In his farewell article, he tells the story about how Giants legend Barry Bonds changed his perspective on baseball and life. 

"The best example of this is from All-Star weekend in 2007. I was standing in the clubhouse at AT&T Park in San Francisco when I saw Barry Bonds in the corner, sitting at his locker. Now, most players only have one locker. Some guys have two. But Barry? He had like five lockers … and a TV … and a recliner — like a massage chair. He owned an entire corner of the clubhouse. I think a lot of players were intimidated by him just because he was Barry Bonds. He was the best player in the world, and he just had this … presence. And when he was sitting in his corner of the clubhouse, he basically felt unapproachable.

I had never been so wrong.

I thought about Chi Chi’s advice, and I walked over to Barry’s corner, went up behind him and tapped him on the back.

He turned around and said, “Hey, Carlos. How are you doing?”

I felt like a little kid. It was an honor to me that he even knew my name.

Then I said to him, “Barry, when is a good opportunity for us to talk about hitting?”

He paused for a moment to think, and then he got up and said, “O.K., let’s go.”

Then he led me out of the clubhouse and out to the cages.

So there I was, alone with best player in the world, and he was basically giving me a private hitting lesson.

Just because I asked."


Beltran broke into the majors in 1998 with the Kansas City Royals. He is a career .307 hitter in baseball's postseason. 

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