Cody Decker, the Minor League home run leader among active players, announced his retirement from professional baseball on Saturday, a day after he launched a two-run, walk-off home run to lift the Triple-A Reno Aces to a 10-9 victory over Sacramento.
The homer was the 204th and final round-tripper of Decker's career, and a fitting way to go out for the 32-year-old first baseman. His final game was the 1,033rd of his 11-year Minor League career.
The Padres selected Decker in the 22nd round of the 2009 Draft out of UCLA. In Rookie-level ball, he was sensational, posting a 1.084 OPS with an Arizona League-record 15 homers and 64 RBIs in 59 games. He was named the AZL Most Valuable Player.
From there, Decker played for the Fort Wayne TinCaps, Lake Elsinore Storm, San Antonio Missions, Tucson Padres, El Paso Chihuahuas, Omaha Storm Chasers, Portland Sea Dogs, Albuquerque Isotopes, Binghamton Rumble Ponies, Las Vegas 51's, Jackson Generals and Reno Aces.
Decker finally got his shot in the Majors when San Diego called him up in 2015. He got 12 plate appearances over eight games, in which he went 0-for-11 with a sacrifice fly. It was his only big league stint.
Decker belted more than 20 homers in a season four times, with his career high of 29 coming in 2012, when he hit 25 for Double-A San Antonio and four for Triple-A Tucson.
During his offseasons, Decker has worked as an actor and is a member of the Screen Actors Guild. He even had a cameo appearance in NBC's "State of Affairs."