World Series champ retires from MLB after 10 seasons

ST. LOUIS – Former Major League Baseball first baseman and World Series champion Matt Adams has retired after 10 seasons, he announced on social media.

Adams, 36, played his first five-plus seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals from 2012 to 2017 and won the 2019 World Series with the Washington Nationals. He last played in MLB in 2021 for the Colorado Rockies, but spent the past three seasons playing independent baseball in 2022, with the Nationals' Triple-A affiliate in 2023, and in the Mexican League this year.

"While my body is still healthy, my drive is as strong as ever, and my heart belongs to the game, the time has come to step beyond playing," he wrote in a post to X .

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On Wednesday, Adams signed a one-day contract with St. Louis to officially retire as a member of the Cardinals' organization. The team honored him with a ceremony before its home game at Busch Field against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

"This is home. I had a lot of great memories here at the ballpark," Adams said during an in-game interview on Wednesday. "On and off the field, the fans showed me a lot of love. I just developed a lot of great relationships along the way, made a lot of memories throughout my career here, married my wife and we settled down here. All the memories as a player and calling this home, it just felt right. ... Just super grateful to the Cardinals organization for making this happen."

"Congratulations on a great career and thank you for the great memories you gave us, Matt Adams!," the Cardinals wrote in a post to X . "Once a Cardinal, always a Cardinal! #ForTheLou."

However, while he's retiring from playing, Adams made clear he's "not leaving baseball," he said in his post to X. The 10-year MLB veteran will seek out coaching opportunities "to share my knowledge and help guide the next generation of athletes," he said.

Adams finishes his MLB career with a .258 average, 118 RBI, 399 RBI and .769 OPS in 856 games for the Cardinals, Nationals, Rockies and Braves, which he spent time with in 2017 and 2020.