SEATTLE-. He Dominican Nelson Cruz He fulfilled his duty of throwing the first ball of the Seattle Mariners' opening game this season. Then he walked to a small podium set up behind home plate.
There, he signed a symbolic one-day contract, which allowed the Dominican to retire as a member of the Mariners organization, before Thursday's game against the Boston Red Sox.
Cruz announced his retirement at the end of the previous campaign. He spent 19 seasons in the majors with eight different organizations.
His longest stay was eight seasons with Texas, at the beginning of his career.
However, he had four seasons of considerable influence and impact in Seattle, from 2015-18. He was a three-time All-Star in Seattle, led the league with 119 RBIs in 2017 and hit 163 home runs in his four seasons — more than who played in eight seasons, not all of them complete, with Texas.
Cruz said a special connection to Seattle was the reason he decided to have his retirement tied to the Mariners.
“I always identified myself as a Sailor, even though I played more years as a Ranger,” Cruz said.
The Dominican finishes his career with 464 home runs, a batting average of .274 and 1,325 RBIs. He appeared in 49 games last season with San Diego, in his final year.
