Freese retires

DAVID Freese announces his retirement. AFP

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — David Freese, who earned World Series Most Valuable Player honors in helping the St. Louis Cardinals to the 2011 Major League Baseball title, announced his retirement after 11 seasons.

“Family, friends, teammates, coaches and fans that handed out support, especially when your lives were already full, you can helped more than you know,” the 36-year-old Freese tweeted on Saturday.

“I will never stop thinking about the days I got to be around such wonderful people playing this game.”

Freese played the last season and a half with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who were eliminated by the Washington Nationals in the National League Division Series on Wednesday.

But he would be remembered for his heroics in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series, when he belted a game-tying triple against Texas Rangers closing pitcher Neftali Feliz when the Cards were down to their last out, then forced a Game 7 with a home run to lead off the 11th.

Freese, who began his big league career with his hometown team St. Louis in 2009, batted .397 with five home runs and 21 RBIs in the 2011 playoffs.

He finishes a career in which he also played for the Los Angeles Angels and Pittsburgh Pirates with a .277 batting average with 113 home runs and 535 RBIs in 1,184 games.