OC Register: Dodgers’ David Freese announces retirement from baseball

[AngelsWin.com]

Dodgers infielder David Freese announced his retirement from baseball in a message posted to his Twitter account Saturday.

“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. “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.”

pic.twitter.com/czVJztm9iY

— David Freese (@david23freese) October 12, 2019

Freese, 36, appeared in parts of 11 seasons, from 2009-19. He struck out as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning of the Dodgers’ season-ending loss Wednesday in Game 5 of the National League Division Series. That capped a series in which Freese went 4 for 8. In 69 career postseason games, Freese batted .299 with 10 home runs and 36 RBIs.

Freese’s lasting legacy will be his MVP-winning performance in the 2011 World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals. With the Cardinals facing elimination in Game 6, Freese hit a home run in the 11th inning against Texas Rangers pitcher Mark Lowe to seal a 10-9 win; his ninth-inning triple against Neftali Feliz had tied the game at 7. St. Louis won the series in seven games.

Freese spent his first five major league seasons (2009-13) in St. Louis, then was traded to the Angels along with Fernando Salas for Randal Grichuk and Peter Bourjos.

In two seasons with the Angels, Freese batted .258 with 24 home runs and 111 RBIs as the team’s primary third baseman.

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Freese signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates prior to the 2015 season. The Dodgers acquired him for prospect Jesus Valdez in August 2018 and used him mostly as a right-handed hitter off the bench and platooned him at first base.

Upholding his reputation for postseason reliability, Freese went 8 for 22 with two home runs as the Dodgers advanced all the way to the World Series before losing to the Boston Red Sox in five games.

The Dodgers re-signed Freese to a one-year contract after the 2018 season. Injuries limited him to 79 games in 2019, but Freese was a productive hitter when healthy. He hit .315 with 11 home runs and 29 RBIs. His 12 pinch hits ranked fifth in baseball.

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[mulwin444]

Thank you for your two years of relative anonymity on the Angels.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Kind of suprising. Seemed like he was still getting hits.