Outfielder Jim Edmonds has announced his retirement from baseball after 17 major league seasons. The 40-year-old signed a minor-league deal with the Cardinals with an invite to training camp, but he felt that the progress he was making from offseason Achilles surgery was not where he wanted to be at this point in time.
St. Louis team doctors told Edmonds the injury was so severe that he would not be medically cleared to play, and he could hurt himself even more.
It’s a shame, really, because "Hollywood" remained a very productive player last season, even after sitting out all of 2009. He hit .276 with a .342 OBP and .504 slugging percentage in 272 plate appearances for the Brewers and Reds.
"Although I feel that I can still play and contribute, the risk of permanent injury is too much for me to chance," he said. "As much as I regret this announcement, I feel that it is for the best."
Jimmy Baseball left a long-lasting, positive impression on baseball, and without question will go down as one of the greatest center fielders in the history of Major League Baseball. He should also be a future Hall of Famer.
“He was just an unbelievable clubhouse presence and an unbelievable player—the best center fielder I’ve ever seen. He had that extra level," said Chris Carpenter.
While Edmonds has never won an MVP award, his numbers speak volumes about his rare ability at the dish. The four-time All-Star finishes with a career .284 batting average, a .376 OBP, a .527 slugging percentage and a .902 OPS, to go along with 1,949 hits, 1,251 runs, 393 home runs, 1,199 RBIs and 998 walks.
It's rare to see someone reach the 400 home run club, but Edmonds's near-1,000 walks showed how he was so great at just getting on base. In fact, he has a higher OPS and more homers than recent Hall of Fame inductee Jim Rice, but his numbers are incredible when comparing him to fellow position players.
Most importantly, however, he has a World Series ring (Cardinals, 2006) as well as eight Gold Gloves, the third most of any center fielder all-time. Whether it was robbing Brad Ausmus in Game 7 of the 2004 NLCS or making what is simply known as "The Catch" at Kauffman Field (or even his walk-off homer in Game 6 of the 2004 NLCS), "Lassie" is unquestionably one of the greatest defensive players to ever play the game.
Like many great players, Edmonds's career was shortened because of injuries from making defensive plays. The aggressive outfielder often ran into walls and made extremely difficult catches, often with his trademark back-to-the-infield run with his head in the air looking for the ball. These highlight reel catches began back when he was a California Angel, but he didn't truly cement himself as one of the all-time greats until he became a St. Louis Cardinal.
“He had an unbelievable career. He was just a great personality with tremendous baseball talent," said John Mozeliak. "He could fill a highlight reel. The impact he had during his tenure here—we won a lot of baseball games. He was a key part of that. His legacy with the St. Louis Cardinals will end up being in line when you think about historic names."
Edmonds is one of just seven center fielders in baseball history with more than 350 homers—the others are Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., Mickey Mantle, Andruw Jones, Duke Snider and Joe DiMaggio. He also ranks among the top 10 center fielders of all time in RBIs, walks, slugging percentage, OPS and extra-base hits.
Add it all up and Wins Above Replacement (WAR) on Baseball-Reference.com places Edmonds as 68.3 wins better than a replacement-level center fielder for his career, which is the seventh-highest total of all-time, where he sits between Griffey (78.5 WAR) and Snider (67.5).
Ultimately, if you believe the Hall of Fame should probably include the 10 best center fielders in baseball history (it should), then it needs to make room for Jim Edmonds.
“Jimmy was amazing out there. I always said, I don’t think there could be any better center fielder to read the ball better than Jimmy," said Albert Pujols. "He always tried to make everyone around him better. That’s why he won so many Gold Gloves out there."
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