Former World Series MVP Steve Pearce retires on his 37th birthday

Steve Pearce (Keith Allison, Wikimedia Commons)

Major League Baseball outfielder Steve Pearce of Lakeland, Florida announced his retirement according to ESPN. Ironically, he decided to announce his decision to leave professional baseball on Monday, which was his 37th birthday.

Pearce played 13 seasons of MLB with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox. Interestingly, Pearce is only the second player in MLB history who has played for every team in the American League East. The other is second baseman Kelly Johnson of Austin, Texas.

Pearce is also known for being the most valuable player of the 2018 World Series. In five games, he batted .333 with three home runs and eight runs batted in as the Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers four games to one. All four of Pearce’s hits in the series were for extra bases as he also had a double. In fact he is the only player in Major League Baseball history to win the World Series Most Valuable Player award without recording a single. Pearce also scored five runs, had four walks, an on base percentage of .500, slugging percentage of 1.167 and 14 total bases.

Pearce’s finest Major League Baseball season came in 2014 with the Orioles. That year he had career highs in batting average (.293), home runs (21) and runs batted in (49). In 2014, Pearce also had career highs in runs scored (51), hits (99), doubles (26), stolen bases (five), walks (40), slugging percentage (.556) and total bases (188).

In 2019, Pearce had separate injuries to his calf, knee and back. He only played 29 games and batted .180 with one home run and nine runs batted in. Pearce’s final career home run and only home run in 2019 came in an 8-2 Red Sox win over the Toronto Blue Jays on May 23.