12-Year Major League Veteran Retires

After a 12-year major league career that included a couple of Gold Gloves for his play in the outfield, and a World Series championship, 35-year-old Gerardo Parra is hanging up the cleats. 

Gerardo Parra is retiring from baseball and joining the Nationals’ front office as a special assistant, according to @masnKolko on the MASN broadcast.

— Matt Weyrich (@ByMattWeyrich) May 8, 2022

Parra spent the final two seasons of his major league career with the Washington Nationals, and he'll now move into the front office as a special assistant. 

The move comes after some deliberation for Parra, after he didn't make the major league team in spring training; he was invited to camp on a minor league deal back in March, but it just wasn't in the cards. 

He became a fan favorite in Washington during the Nats' 2019 World Series run, using 'Baby Shark' as his walk-up song, and the fans simply ate it up, essentially adopting it as the team's anthem. 

Parra finishes a strong career with a .275 lifetime batting average, a .725 OPS, 633 runs scored, the two Gold Gloves (both with his original team, the Arizona Diamondbacks), and one World Series ring. His leadership is credited as one of the driving forces for the Nats in that 2019 run. 

Photo Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports