'It's time for me to be home'
Pendleton retires after 15 major league seasons
Posted: Saturday December 12, 1998 12:23 PM
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Pendleton, who played with the Royals in 1998, will be most remembered for his MVP season with Atlanta in 1991 AP |
KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) -- Terry
Pendleton, who had filed for free agency after one year with the
Royals, has now decided to retire from baseball after 15 seasons.
Pendleton, 38, who backed up Dean Palmer at
third base and played mainly a utility role for the Royals, told The
Kansas City Star for its Saturday editions that he had considered
leaving the game for the past three or four years. "I'm going to
stay at home and retire," Pendleton said from his home in Duluth, Georgia.
"It's time for me to be home with my family. I think it's where the good
Lord wants me." The Royals did not offer salary arbitration to
Pendleton, who hit .257 with three home runs and 29 RBIs last season.
Pendleton said his decision had nothing to do with the Royals.
"I talked with my family at the start of spring training, and I pretty much
knew it was my last year," he said. Pendleton had a career .270
average, 140 home runs and 946 RBIs. He was the National League MVP in
1991, won three Gold Gloves and started one All-Star Game.
Pendleton was signed by the Royals in January as a minor league free
agent. He has played for the St. Louis Cardinals,
Florida Marlins, Atlanta Braves and the
Cincinnati Reds. He
won Gold Glove awards in 1987, 1989 and 1992. The Atlanta Braves
signed Pendleton as a free agent after the 1990 season and he responded
with the best year of his career -- .319 average, 22 homers, 86 RBIs to
earn National League MVP honors. The next year he hit .311 with career
bests 199 hits and 105 RBIs and won his third Gold Glove.
Pendleton played in the World Series five times, with St. Louis in 1985 and
1987 and Atlanta in 1991, 1992 and 1996. "I thank the Kansas City Royals for
giving me an opportunity to play to play one more season and to play in the
American League, which I had never done before," Pendleton said.
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