After a disappointing season with the Texas Rangers, the Big Puma, Lance Berkman has decided to call it a career. Don’t let his last season fool you though, the 37-year-old switch hitter had a long and very productive Major League career.
Berkman spent the first 12 years of his career with the Houston Astros, but was also a member of the New York Yankees, and St. Louis Cardinals. He delivered a number of big hits for the Cardinals 2011 World Championship team, including a 2-out game-tying base hit in the 10th inning of Game 6 of the World Series, in one of the best baseball games ever played.
“I’m excited about the next chapter in my life. I’m looking forward to spending more time with my family, and at some point, I’ll definitely coach somewhere,” said Berkman. “The emotions are overwhelming. I can’t even begin to describe. It’s one of those things you’ve thought about for so long, and then when it happens, it hits you harder than you ever imagined.”
Overall Berkman finishes with a .293/.406/.537 career line with 1905 hits, 366 home runs, 1234 RBIs, 1146 runs, and 86 stolen bases.
While Berkman probably doesn’t hit Hall of Fame levels, he was consistently a very good player who finished in the top five of MVP voting four times. In addition to his World Series win, he is also a six-time All-Star and was the 2011 National League Comeback Player of the Year.
Knee issues slowed Berkman in the later years of his career, and are likely a strong contributing factor to retire at this point. He’s had five surgeries on those problematic knees over the years. Berkman played a total of just 105 games over the last two seasons.
“It doesn’t make sense to play in the physical condition I’m in,” he said. “I’m not going to keep trying to run out there for the heck of it.”
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