Beltran retires

After winning his first World Series title in his 20-season major league career, Carlos Beltran announced his retirement Monday.

HOUSTON — It took quite some time, but Carlos Beltran finally got there, winning a World Series title after 20 seasons in the majors.

Now he is leaving the Houston Astros and leaving baseball, retiring after a career in which he was a nine-time All-Star and was Rookie of the Year. The 40-yearold designated hitter and outfielder made the announcement Monday, 12 days after the Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series.

He announced his retirement in an essay written for The Players’ Tribune website. His story touched on what finally winning a championship meant to him.

“I realized early on that my purpose in this game was to share knowledge with younger players and to give back to the game of baseball,” he wrote. “I always wanted to do that — that, and be the best teammate I could possibly be. Over 20 years, I feel like I accomplished that.

“So whether we won or lost Game 7, I would have still been happy with my career. But it still feels nice to have a ring,” he continued.

Besides being named an AllStar 9 times, most recently in 2016, and the 1999 American League Rookie of the Year, he won 3 Gold Glove and 2 Silver Slugger awards.

His production dropped dramatically this year. He hit .295 with 29 home runs and 93 RBI for the New York Yankees and Texas in 2016. He then batted .231 with 14 home runs and 51 RBI for Houston. Despite that, Beltran’s veteran presence and his work with Houston’s younger players including Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and Marwin Gonzalez proved invaluable for the Astros.

He finishes with a .279 average, 435 home runs, 1,587 RBI and 312 stolen bases. He also has played for Kansas City, the New York Mets, San Francisco and St. Louis.

Beltran