Matt Kemp Signing Contract To Retire With Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers are hosting Alumni Weekend from Aug. 9-11, 2024, which will conclude with Matt Kemp Day for their series finale against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Fans in attendance will receive a Kemp bobblehead. Kemp is also signing a one-day contract to officially retire as a member of the Dodgers.

The organization originally selected Kemp in the sixth round of the 2003 MLB Draft. He spent the first nine seasons of his big league career in L.A., earning two All-Star Game selections, two Gold Gloves and two Silver Slugger Awards, among other accolades.

Kemp was traded to the San Diego Padres at the end of the 2014 season, where he would spend parts of the next two years. He then played in parts of two seasons with the Atlanta Braves before finding his way back to the Dodgers via trade.

Kemp enjoyed a resurgence with the Dodgers in 2018 and was a driving force behind the team advancing to a second consecutive World Series.

Kemp played the final two seasons of his career with the Cincinnati Reds and Colorado Rockies, respectively. He announced his retirement this past May and returned to the Dodgers in an advisory role.

Over parts of 10 seasons with Dodgers, Kemp hit .292/.348/.494 with 240 doubles, 203 home runs and 733 RBI, winning two Gold Glove Awards and two Silver Sluggers.

Matt Kemp ‘excited’ for return to Dodger Stadium

Kemp noted earlier this year that he is looking forward to returning to Dodger Stadium.

“The Dodgers were the ones who gave me the opportunity to put a big-league jersey on and live out my dream,” Kemp said in a statement. “So to be able to put that jersey back on and to be able to be around all the fellas, it’s kind of nostalgic, and it’s very exciting to be back in L.A.”