Longtime Angels outfielder announces retirement after beating the odds for 12 seasons

The Los Angeles Angels have had a lot of really talented players come and go over the years, including some household names. However, there is something that should be appreciated about a guy who gives eight solid, if somewhat unexciting seasons to the Angels by getting the most out of the tools he has. That was Kole Calhoun to a T.

During Calhoun's time with the Angels, he slashed .249/.322/.424 across 966 games with 140 home runs. He also won a Gold Glove in 2015 and was a critical supporting piece of some Angels rosters that only hung around at all because of guys like him. When he left after the 2019 season and signed with the Diamondbacks, the Angels felt that loss, whether they acknowledged it or not.

After dealing with some injuries and bouncing around the league the last few years, the slick-fielding outfielder decided that he has had enough, as Calhoun announced his retirement from baseball after 12 seasons.

Former Angel Kole Calhoun retires after 12 seasons

For his career, Calhoun recorded 1,076 hits, 179 homers, and a career .732 OPS over 1,239 games. For a guy that was just an eighth round pick out of Arizona State back in 2010, anyone would take that 10 out of 10 times.

While Calhoun had some real standout moments in the minor leagues, he was never the best player on the field in the big leagues. Just among Angels players, his career coincided with Mike Trout's arrival in the big leagues, and that doesn't even account for Shohei Ohtani and others. What he did do, though, is provide stability in right field while the Angels were busy trying to make waves elsewhere on the roster.

There is no shame in that whatsoever. Even when you completely ignore the very high rate of failure when it comes to guys just trying to reach the big leagues, the average big league career was calculated to be just five and half years based on an older study. Calhoun more than doubled that, and was a real contributor for the vast majority of that career. Hopefully, Angels fans appreciate what he gave to the team because, from his announcement, it was everything he had to give.

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