Former Dodgers Infielder Announces Retirement

Former Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Kolten Wong announced his plans to retire from professional baseball Friday afternoon.

"Pretty much right now, I'm done,” Wong said before the University of Hawaii's game against UC San Diego Friday. “I've kind of come to the conclusion that I'm probably going to be hanging them up. It's just one of those things where, the game how it's going now, there’s no sense of chasing (it). … I'm a dad now, yes, I'm enjoying that. I'm trying to be the best big league dad that I can be. So I'm going to stick to that.”

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Wong's last appearance in MLB came with the Dodgers, for whom he played 20 games during the 2023 season. He signed a minor league contract with the Baltimore Orioles, then the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2024. In 20 games for Los Angeles, Wong hit two home runs, tallied eight RBIs and slashed .300/.353/.500. The Dodgers picked Wong up after the Seattle Mariners designated him for assignment midway through the 2023 season.

Wong, 34, played 11 seasons in the majors, eight of which came with the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals selected him out of the University of Hawaii with the 22nd overall pick in the 2011 MLB Draft. He made his debut Aug. 16, 2013 and had a successful career, notching 973 hits, 86 home runs and 405 RBIs through 1,189 games. He had a career OPS of .720.

The Hawaii native was featured in 38 postseason games throughout his career, and saw action in the 2013 World Series for the Cardinals against the Boston Red Sox. He batted .183 with 5 round-trippers and 15 RBIs in the playoffs.

Wong was primarily known for his defensive displays, earning Gold Glove honors in 2019 and 2020 for the Cardinals, three consecutive Fielding Bible awards from 2018-2020 and was the one of the final recipients of the discontinued Wilson Defensive Player of the Year award in 2019.

He recorded 18 defensive runs saved in 2018, and followed that campaign with 17 defensive runs saved in 2019. Between his spells with the Cardinals and Mariners he had a two year stint featuring for the Milwaukee Brewers.