After nine seasons in MLB, six and a half of which were played with the Kansas City Royals, Whit Merrifield announced his retirement from baseball on Tuesday.
He joined the Royals in 2016, one year after the team won the World Series. He remained in Kansas City until midway through the 2022 season, where he was sent to the Toronto Blue Jays. He split his 2024 season on the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves.
In his retirement message, Merrifield thanked all these cities for the time he spent on them, but got candid and apologized to Philadelphia.
"Philly, I liked you way more than you liked me," he wrote on social media. "Sorry I stunk for you."
Merrifield played 53 games for the Phillies last year and batted just .199/.277/.295 with 19 strikeouts. He was released in July and finished the season—and his career—in Atlanta.
Merrifield did not sign with a team in 2025.
"Since I've not had some time away from the game, I've had a chance to reflect on my individual career for the first time in my life," Merrifield wrote. "I'm proud of myself. The toughness I developed and the things I was able to accomplish, nobody outside of my camp thought possible. I spent a lot of energy proving people wrong but my real joy came from proving my small circle of believers right."
In Merrifield's message, he expressed that one of the main reasons he decided to step away from the sport is due to wanting to spend time with his daughter, who was born in March 2024.
The 36-year-old shared that his biggest "baseball regret" is not bringing a World Series title to any of the cities he played for.
Merrifield ends his nine-year MLB career with 1,249 hits, 94 home runs, 485 RBI and 218 stolen bases.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Whit Merrifield Apologizes to Phillies During Retirement Announcement: 'Sorry I Stunk'.