Outfielder Nick Markakis is retiring after a 15-year career.
Three-time gold glove winner, Markakis holds the record for consecutive games without an error for an outfielder at 398. He was as consistent on the field as he was on the field, finishing with 2,388 career hits and a line of .288. /.357/.423. Markakis has played in no less than 104 games each year of his career, except for the shortened pandemic season of 2020.
“I tell myself all the time, whether it’s now or if I was lucky enough to have that opportunity to be a Hall of Famer – to get so many hits – respectively 3,000 shots or 2,400 shots, it won’t define a player I was.” Markakis told The Athletic. “I think I played the right way and that’s all that really matters to me.”
The 37-year-old was recruited seventh to the Baltimore Orioles in the 2003 draft and spent the first nine years of his career with the Orioles. Born in Georgia, Markakis signed with the Atlanta Braves before the 2015 season. His only All-Star season came while he was with the Braves in 2018, at the age of 34.