Mike Cameron signs one-day “employment contract” to retire with Mariners

After signing a minor league contract with the Nationals over the winter, Mike Cameron announced in February that he planned to retire. However, he is going out as a Mariner.

Cameron, who spent four seasons with the club, signed a one-day employment contract to officially retire with the Mariners. The announcement was made before he threw out of the ceremonial first pitch to former teammate Ichiro Suzuki in last night’s home opener against the Athletics.

Cameron was acquired by the Mariners in February of 2000 in the trade that sent Ken Griffey, Jr. to the Reds. Despite the immense pressure of replacing a franchise icon in center field, he told Josh Liebeskind of MLB.com that he always felt comfortable in Seattle.

“The days that I played here and the opportunity that I got to replace a legend, and the fact that the people kind of took hold and took shape of me and kind of walked me through everything and gave me the opportunity to really start my career off right, this is basically where I want to finish,” Cameron said.

Wildly underappreciated because of his low batting averages and high strikeout totals, Cameron was a three-time Gold Glove award winner and one-time All-Star. He is one of only 21 players who accumulated at least 250 home runs and 250 stolen bases in their career.