Brian Giles is the latest to retire

Padres v Angels

Brian Giles is the latest former big league star to announce his retirement. Giles was once a pretty good player for the Pittsburg Pirates and San Diego Padres until injuries caught up with him.

He had 1,897 career hits and a .291/.400/.502 batting line.

This follows the same announcement by Nomar Garciaparra yesterday and similar ones from Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas, who while they didn’t play last year had never announced retirement.

Giles best asset during his big league career was his ability to get on base. He was a bit of a late bloomer not getting an everyday role until he was traded by Cleveland to Pittsburgh in 1999. He went on to hit 30-plus homers for four consecutive seasons before he was traded to San Diego midway though the 2003 at which point his power swing disappeared again.

Last season he appeared in just 61 games compiling a dreadful .191/.277/.271 line.

It’s been a tough last sixteen months for Giles. Aside from his knee trouble, his name was recently named in Jason Kendall’s divorce papers as anadderall junkie. He’s also being sued by his former girlfriend for more then $10 million as she alleges he began abusing her in 2002 and battered her while she was pregnant with Giles’ child, and caused her to have a miscarriage.

John Boarman
John Boarmanhttp://www.tireball.com
Founder and Owner of Tireball Sports.

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