Fmr. Twins Infielder Brian Dozier Announces Retirement

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO/AP) -- Former Minnesota Twins infielder Brian Dozier says he's retiring from baseball after nine years in the major leagues.

Dozier, 33, played his first seven years in the MLB with the Twins. He was an All-Star in 2015 and won his lone career Rawling Gold Glove Award in 2017. He ends his career with 593 runs scored and 167 home runs.

He hit 42 homers in 2016 and matched Rogers Hornsby for the second-highest single season total by a second baseman in major league history. The only Twins player to ever top that was Harmon Killebrew, who did so six times. Dozier's 28 leadoff home runs remain a club record.

In a conference call Thursday, Dozier said the decision was mostly driven by his desire to spend more time with his family.

"I told my wife, I said, this COVID thing is the worst thing that ever happened to us because I got to be home and wake my daughter up every morning and take her to school," Dozier said. "I said, I love doing this. There's nothing in baseball that's ever given me that happiness or joy that I was receiving."

Dozier said his age and physical ability weren't really a factor in his retirement.

"I think the good lord was just leading me in a different direction, and it has nothing to do with the ability to play or my body or anything," he said. "I feel great and I feel like I could definitely play a lot more but it was just a decision that, hey, I enjoy taking my kids to school every morning and that kind of thing. And here we are now, and I'm good with it."

"During his Minnesota tenure, Dozier etched his name into the Twins' record books in myriad ways, both on and off the field. His 167 homers are tops by a second baseman in club history, and he is one of two players in club history to record a 20 double/20 homer season at that position, doing so in four-straight years from 2014-17," the Twins said in a release Thursday.

The Twins selected Dozier in the eighth round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft.

He said he eventually would like to go into the coaching side of the game.

Dozier spent the final years of his career with the Dodgers, Nationals, Padres and Mets. He earned a World Series ring in 2019 with the Nationals.

(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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