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A former Gold Glove winner for the St. Louis Cardinals has decided to call it a career.
During an appearance at his Alma Mater, the University of Hawaii, Kolten Wong told Spectrum News he is retiring from Major League Baseball:
“Pretty much right now, I’m done,” Wong said. “I’ve kind of come to the conclusion that I’m probably going to be hanging them up. It’s just one of those things where, the game how it’s going now, there’s no sense of chasing (it). … I’m a dad now, yes, I’m enjoying that. I’m trying to be the best big league dad that I can be. So I’m going to stick to that.”
The Cardinals selected Wong with the 22nd overall pick in the 2011 draft after a fantastic college career at Hawaii. While Wong initially made his MLB debut in 2013, it wasn't until the following year that he became a big league regular.
Wong spent eight seasons in total with the Cardinals, batting .261 during that span. The infielder won a Gold Glove in back-to-back seasons in 2019 and 2020. He ended up with an NL Central rival in the Milwaukee Brewers in 2021 and 2022 before spending time with the Seattle Mariners and the Los Angeles Dodgers. He hasn't played in the Majors since the '23 postseason with the defending World Series champions.
The 34-year-old finishes his career as a .256 hitter, going deep 86 times and driving in 405 RBI in 1,189 games. He also swiped 120 bags. In 2024, Wong had minor league stints with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Baltimore Orioles, but he didn't play well enough to get back to the bigs.
Aside from the Gold Glove awards, Wong was also a Rookie of the Year finalist in '14 behind Billy Hamilton and Jacob deGrom. Wong had an impressive career and will now start a new chapter. The Cardinals organization will forever remember him as a solid player for the ball club.
