Crawford, 2-time WS champ with Giants, retires

Shortstop Brandon Crawford announced he was retiring from baseball Wednesday after a 14-year career in which he made three All-Star teams and won two World Series championships with the San Francisco Giants.

"Baseball has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and for the rest of my life I will be thankful for the opportunities and experiences it has given me," Crawford wrote in an Instagram post. "Time is precious. I'm incredibly grateful for all the years I spent playing the game I love, but now it is time for me to spend it with the people who I'm most thankful for.

"Thank you to all of you who have [been] there for me throughout the years. It's been an unbelievable ride."

A native of Mountain View, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area, Crawford, 37, played for the St. Louis Cardinals last season after spending the first 13 years of his career with the Giants, who selected the UCLA player in the fourth round of the 2008 draft. St. Louis released him on Aug. 20 after he hit just .169 in 28 games.

Crawford helped the Giants win titles in 2012 -- his second season in the majors -- and in 2014. His first of three All-Star selections came in 2015, when he hit .256 with 21 home runs and 84 RBIs.

Crawford's best season might have come in 2021, when he had career bests in batting average (.298), home runs (24), RBIs (90) and stolen bases (11). He won the last of his four Gold Gloves that season and also finished fourth in the NL MVP voting.

"I always dreamed of playing for the San Francisco Giants," Crawford wrote in his post. "Being drafted by my hometown team and spending most of my career with them far surpassed any dream I had as a kid."

The Giants said they would honor Crawford's career April 26 at Oracle Park. He was a career .249 hitter with 147 home runs and 748 RBIs, but his knack for making the key defensive play is what he will long be remembered for by many.

"It was an honor to get to know Brandon as a friend and as a teammate," new Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey said in a statement. "From the first day we were both drafted in 2008 to our final year playing together in 2021, it was an honor to play alongside him for 14 years. Whether it was the clutch moments like the grand slam he hit in the 2014 wild-card game in Pittsburgh, the franchise-record, seven-hit game he recorded in Miami, or the dazzling defensive plays and acrobatic throws he made over and over again, Brandon made his mark in a way few athletes ever do."

Crawford is the Giants' career leader in games played at shortstop with 1,617.

"Watching Brandon play was an absolute privilege for not only me but for Giants' fans everywhere," team president and CEO Larry Baer said.

"He was an All-Star, Gold Glove and Silver Slugger winner, a two-time World Series champion, and a Lou Gehrig and Willie Mac Award winner, that always carried himself with class, honor and respect. The Giants have been incredibly blessed to have had Brandon as part of the franchise for 16 years -- really for his entire 37 years, first as a young fan, who will ever forget that indelible photo of him leaning on the railing at Candlestick Park when there was a possibility that his Giants might leave San Francisco -- and as this chapter closes on his career, his legacy in the game will be celebrated by fans, teammates, and future generations of players who look up to him by the example he set."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.