Josh Beckett retires from baseball after 14 seasons

Josh Beckett announced his retirement from baseball after 14 seasons in the big leagues.

The Los Angeles Dodgers saw their season come to an end on Tuesday night thanks to a loss at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals. They did not have Josh Beckett available for the bulk of the second half of the season or the postseason, and on Tuesday Beckett announced his retirement from baseball.

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Beckett’s season ended due to a torn labrum in his hip. Given the severity of that injury and what it would take for the 34-year-old to come back from it, Beckett has decided to call it a career.

Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reported Beckett’s decision, with comments from the pitcher:

"Beckett’s season ended with torn labrum in his left hip. He said he will undergo surgery in May. Although many pitchers return from the arthroscopic operation and the resulting three-month rehab, Beckett said that’s not in his plans.“I just don’t see me going through that rehab and coming back to pitch at this point in my life,” he said."

The veteran right-handed starter was spectacular for the first half of the 2014 season, pitching a no-hitter and consistently keeping his ERA down below the 3.00 mark. His numbers faded with his health over the course of the year, though he still went 6-6 with a 2.88 ERA in 20 starts in total in 2014. That goes to show that this is truly a matter of health for Beckett.

Beckett hangs up his cleats with a number of accomplishments and accolades, including multiple World Series rings and a World Series MVP award back in 2003. He will probably be best known for his playoff heroics, but his overall body of work is not to be overlooked either. In total, Beckett went 138-106 in his career with a 3.88 ERA and 1,901 career strikeouts.

Beckett was set to hit free agency this winter.

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