Pence announces retirement
GIANTS
SAN FRANCISCO — Four-time All-Star outfielder Hunter Pence announced his retirement Saturday following 14 major league seasons.
The 37-year-old Pence wrote on his Twitter page: “Nothing can really prepare you for this part of your career when you have to say: I am retiring from baseball. Forever thankful and Gr8ful.”
Most recently he was a fan favorite for the San Francisco Giants, helping the club to a pair of World
Series championships in 2012 and 2014 after being acquired from the Phillies at the 2012 trade deadline.
A career .279 hitter, Pence had 244 home runs and 942 RBIs playing for Houston, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Texas.
The Giants released him last month from a second stint with the club after Pence batted just .096 with two homers and six RBIs in 17 games. He always believed he would be back with the Giants — it just took a season-long detour with the Rangers last year for his reunion to come together. Pence reinvented his swing during 2018 with San Francisco, played winter ball in the Dominican Republic to further perfect it, then batted .297 with 18 homers, 17 doubles and 59 RBIs over 83 games for Texas in 2019.
Pence signed a $3 million, one-year contract in February to return to San Francisco.
His retirement was hardly a surprise. Pence had accepted his far lesser role that meant he worked more as a veteran leadership presence helping the young Giants prepare and know how to make it in the big leagues.