Charlie Blackmon Announces MLB Retirement After 14 Years with Rockies, 4 All-Stars
Scott Polacek@@ScottPolacekFeatured Columnist IVSeptember 23, 2024
John Fisher/Getty Images
Charlie Blackmon is calling it a career.
The Colorado Rockies outfielder announced his retirement Monday near the end of his 14th season in Major League Baseball. He has been a member of the Rockies his entire career.
“Today I’m a ballplayer looking over the fence into uncertainty,” he wrote. “For what is behind me, I am grateful. My cup runs over. I have been blessed more than any man should expect.”
Charlie Blackmon @Chuck_Naztypic.twitter.com/JAGgw8KO1o
FOX Sports: MLB @MLBONFOXCharlie Blackmon announces his retirement from Major League Baseball. pic.twitter.com/NiBaSMPDeV
The Rockies revealed they will celebrate his legacy during the upcoming weekend series against the Los Angeles Dodgers:
Colorado Rockies @RockiesThis weekend is for @chuck_nazty 🫶
Fireworks Friday
Charlie T-Shirt Giveaway Saturday
Pre-Game Ceremony Sunday
See you at Coors Field!
Blackmon made his major league debut during the 2011 season but didn’t appear in more than 82 games until the 2014 campaign.
That year was his breakout effort, as he made his first of four career All-Star Games and slashed .288/.335/.440 with 19 home runs, 72 RBI and 28 stolen bases. It was the start of an impressive stretch that saw him make three straight All-Star Games from 2017 through 2019 as he established himself as a dominant offensive force.
He won back-to-back Silver Sluggers in 2016 and 2017 and finished fifth in National League MVP in the second of those years when he slashed .331/.399/.601 with 37 home runs, 104 RBI, 14 triples and 14 stolen bases.
Blackmon led the league in batting average, total bases (387), hits (213), runs (137) and triples that season while leading the Rockies to the playoffs. It was the franchise’s first postseason appearance since the 2009 campaign.
The 38-year-old hasn’t been able to replicate those numbers of late and hit .249 with 11 home runs through 118 games this season. He was also scheduled to become a free agent after this season, so there was a bit of uncertainty about the next step before Monday’s announcement.
That uncertainty is no longer present, and he will surely be remembered fondly among Rockies fans as a cornerstone of the organization for so many years.
His name is all over the all-time Colorado leaderboards, as he is second in franchise history in runs scored (991), hits (1,797), total bases (2,942), doubles (333) and stolen bases (148). He is first in triples (67), sixth in home runs (226), fourth in RBI (797) and third in walks (482).
It will be unusual to see a Rockies lineup without Blackmon’s name in it during the 2025 campaign, but he made his mark in franchise history and is hanging up his cleats after a long and successful career.
