SAN FRANCISCO -- Brandon Crawford, a two-time World Series champion who spent 13 seasons starring for his hometown Giants, announced his retirement from Major League Baseball on Wednesday.
"Baseball has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and for the rest of my life I will be thankful for the opportunities and experiences it has given me," Crawford wrote on Instagram. "Time is precious. I'm incredibly grateful for all the years I spent playing the game I love, but now it is time for me to spend it with the people who I'm most thankful for."
A Bay Area native, Crawford grew up attending games at Candlestick Park and dreamed of playing shortstop for the Giants. He accomplished that and more after being selected by San Francisco in the fourth round of the 2008 MLB Draft, developing into arguably the greatest shortstop in franchise history. A three-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner, Crawford appeared in a franchise-record 1,617 regular-season games at shortstop and helped San Francisco capture World Series titles in 2012 and ’14.
“It was an honor to get to know Brandon as a friend and as a teammate,” Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey said in a statement. “From the first day we were both drafted in 2008 to our final year playing together in 2021, it was an honor to play alongside him for 14 years. Whether it was the clutch moments like the grand slam he hit in the 2014 Wild Card Game in Pittsburgh, the franchise-record, seven-hit game he recorded in Miami, or the dazzling defensive plays and acrobatic throws he made over and over again, Brandon made his mark in a way few athletes ever do.
“I’m beyond grateful for our friendship and wish him all the best in this next chapter of life.”
Crawford, 37, enjoyed his finest season in 2021, when he finished fourth in National League MVP voting after batting .298/.373/.522 with a career-high 24 home runs and 90 RBIs for the 107-win Giants. He became a free agent for the first time in his career after his two-year, $32 million contract extension with San Francisco expired at the end of the 2023 campaign, and Crawford chose to play one more season in St. Louis, where he batted .169 over 28 games before being released in August.
Crawford finished with a .249 lifetime average, 147 home runs and 1,404 hits while accounting for 29.3 bWAR over his 14 big league seasons.
The Giants plan to honor Crawford on April 26, when the club is fittingly scheduled to face Bruce Bochy’s Rangers at Oracle Park.
“Watching Brandon play was an absolute privilege for not only me but for Giants fans everywhere,” Giants president and CEO Larry Baer said in a statement. “He was an All-Star, Gold Glove and Silver Slugger winner, a two-time World Series champion, and a Lou Gehrig and Willie Mac Award winner that always carried himself with class, honor and respect. The Giants have been incredibly blessed to have had Brandon as part of the franchise for 16 years -- really for his entire 37 years … as this chapter closes on his career, his legacy in the game will be celebrated by fans, teammates, and future generations of players who look up to him by the example he set.”