By Manuel Acevedo
02 Nov 2023, 17:45 PM EDT
After the close of the 2023 World Series in which the Texas Rangers became champions, the dominican Nelson Cruz surprised all baseball fans with the announcement of his retirement from the Major Leagues.
The announcement of this news was made by the same player in The Adam Jones Podcastsomething that surprised all the people who listened to the space.
“I have been training, I plan to retire from winter ball. I will play five games, one in each stadium (of LIDOM). Definitely, I love the Dominican fans, I love my country and I always said that before retiring I should play here again and turn my words into reality. That’s why I want to give the Dominican fans the opportunity to see me play one more time,” Cruz commented.
During his career, He played 18 years in the Major Leagues in which he saw action with the teams of Milwaukee, Texas, Baltimore, Seattle, Minnesota, Tampa Bay, Washington and San Diego. He had a batting average of .274, 464 home runs, 15 triples. 372 doubles, 2,053 hits, 1,325 RBI, .283 OBP, .399 SLG and .681 OPS.
In his record he has seven All-Star Games, MVP of the 2011 ALCS MV American League Championship Series, four Silver Sluggers and a Roberto Clemente Award in 2021. An award that always eluded him was the World Series ring and on two occasions he came close to winning it with the Texas Rangers.
Other things that Cruz achieved was becoming champion with the Dominican Republic in 2013. He was also the general manager of the Dominican team for the 2023 World Classic.
Nelson Cruz has the third most RBI by a #MNTwins designated hitter.
Paul Molitor – 247
Tony Oliva – 207
Nelson Cruz – 190
Jason Kubel – 189
David Ortiz – 157
Chili Davis – 153
Randy Bush – 141
Joe Mauer – 141
Glenn Adams – 132
Matt LeCroy – 116
Roy Smalley – 106
Jim Thome – 96 pic.twitter.com/DZoHIFGFre— Twins Ribbies (@TwinsRibbies) November 2, 2023
In the postseason, the Dominican player played 50 games, batting .278, with an OPS of .979, 18 home runs, 38 RBIs in 187 official at-bats and 207 plate appearances.
In his career in The Dominican Republic has a .297 average with an OPS of .871, 33 homers and 116 RBIs in 191 regular seasons.
These numbers may increase if Nelson Cruz has just confirmed his participation in this season of the LIDOM.
Keep reading:
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- Cuban Aroldis Chapman wins another World Series and is part of two teams that ended historic droughts
- The Texas Rangers defeat the Diamondbacks and make history by winning their first World Series