Former Pirates All-Star Josh Harrison Announces Retirement

Harrison hails from Cincinnati, Ohio, playing for Princeton High School in Sharonville, Ohio and then playing college baseball for Cincinnati.

He starred with the Bearcats, including earning Big East Conference Co-Player of the Year Award and Collegiate Baseball All-American Second Team honoree in 2008.

The Chicago Cubs selected Harrison in the sixth round of the 2008 MLB Draft, and they would eventually trade him to the Pirates on July 30, 2009 along with right-handed pitchers Kevin Hart and José Ascanio in exchange for left-handed pitchers John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny.

Harrison eventually made it up to the MLB with the Pirates in 2011 and played 229 games over the next three seasons, slashing .250/.282/.367 for an OPS of .648 with 133 hits, 23 doubles, nine triples, seven home runs, 46 RBIs and 13 stolen bases.

His best season with the Pirates came in 2014, as he played a career-high 143 games. He hit .298 through 72 games and played five different positions, earning an All-Star nod as a utilityman for the National League.

Harrison finished second for the NL battling title at .315, as former Pirates first baseman Justin Morneau, with the Colorado Rockies at the time, didn't play in the final two games and finished with a .319 batting average.

He finished ninth in NL MVP voting in 2014, slashing .315/.347/.490 for an OPS of .837, with 164 hits, 38 doubles, seven triples, 13 home runs, 52 RBIs, 18 stolen bases and 22 walks to 81 strikeouts.

Harrison continued on as a utilityman in 2015, spending most of his time at third base after Pedro Álvarez moved to first base.

He also agreed to a four-year extension with the Pirates, with club options for 2019 and 2020.

Harrison took over as starting second baseman in 2016, following the Pirates trading Neil Walker to the New York Mets, and earned another All-Star nod in 2017.

He had numerous great moments for the franchise, including great fielding plays, getting out of rundowns in hilarious ways. He could also do what was asked of him during their most successful run this century, with three straight playof appearances from 2013-15.

This included breaking up two no-hitters against Detroit Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander on May 18, 2012 and hitting a walk-off home run off of Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Rich Hill in the top of the 10th inning, becoming the first player to breakup a no-hitter in extra innings on walk-off.

Harrison became a free agent after the 2018 season, when the Pirates declined his option, and spent time with the Detroit Tigers in 2019, the Philadelphia Phillies in 2020, the Washington Nationals in 2020 and 2021, the Oakland Athletics in 2021, the Chicago White Sox in 2022, the Phillies again in 2023 and then minor league stints with the Texas Rangers in 2023 and the hometown Cincinnati Reds in 2024.

He finished his time with the Pirates with 842 games, slashing .277/.317/.408 for an OPS of .725, with 773 hits, 154 doubles, 27 triples, 52 home runs, 269 RBIs, 75 stolen bases and 120 walks to 457 strikeouts.