Veteran first baseman Justin Bour announced his retirement, saying on his official Twitter feed that “there comes a time in every player’s career when they know it’s time to hang them up. Today is that day for me. Thank you baseball and everyone that helped me along the way.” Bour will hang up the cleats at age 34, and after hitting .253/.337/.457 with 92 career home runs over 1950 plate appearances and 559 big league games with the Marlins, Phillies, and Angels.
Bour’s career began as a 25th-round pick for the Cubs in the 2009 draft, though the Marlins took Bour away from Chicago in the 2013 Rule 5 draft. That selection opened the door for Bour’s MLB debut in 2014, and eventually his role as the Marlins’ new regular first baseman. Retaining his rookie eligibility into the 2015 campaign, Bour finished fifth in NL Rookie Of The Year voting that season after a 23-homer performance.
All told, Bour hit .262/.346/.470 with 83 home runs over 1726 PA with Miami from 2014-18, until the Fish dealt him to the Phillies in August 2018. Bour was one of several notable Marlins players traded around that period as the franchise went through yet another fire sale, though Bour’s offensive numbers also started to dip in 2018. As a first base-only player without much success against left-handed pitching, Bour’s limitations worked against him for salary arbitration purposes, as the Phillies chose to non-tender him following the 2018 season due to his rising price tag.
The Angels signed Bour to a free agent deal but he struggled in Anaheim, playing in only 52 games with the Halos in 2019. This marked Bour’s last stint in the majors, and apart from a 33-game stretch with the Giants’ Triple-A team in 2021, Bour spent his last three pro seasons mostly playing in foreign leagues. The first baseman saw time in Japan (with the Hanshin Tigers), South Korea (the LG Twins), and in Mexico (Diablos Rojos del México).
Bour is “looking forward to giving back to the game that has given me so much,” and his first steps in retirement will be to spend more time with his family and to finish his degree at George Mason University. We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Bour on a fine career, and we wish him all the best in his next steps.
I never heard anyone call him this even though it’s on his Baseball Reference page, but Bourtobello Crushroom is one of the best nicknames I’ve ever heard
outstanding!
This article is about 5 years too late
Derek Jeter is disappointed in your comment.
Should have roided up in Korea.
He did and failed (in Korea).
Brian Daubach version 2.0
Good luck Justin.
See you in Cooperstown, Justin.
Lame copied comment but still funny every time
First three words are correct.
Better have your bat with you.
According to the reference page he isn’t eligible to be a free agent until 2024, think that will affect his bid?
Always was known as a great teammate and had some serious thunder in that swing!
Angels Spring Training 2019: he hit a Tempe Diablo bomb that cleared the stadium and landed in the parking lot. A little kid behind me said “holy sh-t”. True story. Dude could mash. I loved watching that swing.
I wish I’d hit even 1 mlb Homer and this dude got nearly 100. Impressive! Enjoy retirement and the family.
Love all these rude comments. This guy made it to the big leagues which is an amazing achievement. Seems like a lot of you are just salty that you couldn’t hit your way out of a wet paper bag in high school, if you even played that long.
Some feel the need to bring others down to somehow feel better about their own lives. Bour made an impact, more than most who get into pro baseball.
Gotta love the salty “if only I hadn’t hurt my back as an elementary school catcher” crowd.
He’s retired at 34. He’s made $7M. He has a huge portion of his life still ahead of him. I think a few people’s jealousy is showing.
7+ million over 6+ years, top notch health insurance, traveling the country, staying in the best hotels, doing something he loved, and fulfilling his dream.
Plus another 4M overseas. 10M+ to play a game for a few years. What a world.
Some people don’t comprehend the effort it takes to have a positive WAR in the big leagues, let alone to have $6.9 million in earnings.
I don’t disagree, but I also have to mention, people in comments sections truly believe the player is actually going to read their comment & have a heartfelt reaction. The chances he reads this article alone is about 1 in 1,000, & the chances he reads their comment is 1 in 1,000,000 at best. People really need to dial back their self-importance down here.
“Justin, I truly hope you are doing well in your life. You were such an inspiration to me. Screw all these naysayers, you are a good person & don’t let them bring you down. Thank you so much for everything. Love you!”
Cliff notes version of these posts:
“Don’t be sour over Bour.”
Sore*
On the other hand, maybe society should be a little sarcastic when people are idolizing the ability to hit a ball with a stick and stockpile colorful slips of green paper. On the other other hand, maybe us Americans are already douchey enough..
Totally forgot he played for the Phillies. Not a bad run for a 25th round pick.
Now he gets back to learning how to become a far-right fake-reality “originalist” and/or K-street lobbyist. Fox News will love this guy.
Heck yeah go him! Gotta get some people to reverse this horrendous backward trend we are on. Good luck Justin!
You mean full employment? Yeah, gotta change that.
Can you see the trees in the forest?
A Phillie for a short period of time. Good luck in retirement.
Nice five year run.
Appears his goal is to return to the game in some capacity based on his quote about wanting to give back to the game.
WTF does this have to do politics? ….. Congrats and good luck in his future.
Good luck in retirement Justin
Good Luck Justin!
Good Ole days when Angels signed players to only cut them 3/4 into the season.
We still do that.
I’ll never forget when he was apart of that brief Marlins core in the mid-2010s. I thought they were going to take on the NL East and have them for lunch. When Jose died, it all kind of felt soured after that. But that moment with the Fish, right when they were all making strides in the majors was kinda cool. Saw him play many times. Best of luck in retirement Justin.
After agent commissions, if he didn’t spend like a drunken sailor, he will have a comfortable life in the right city and state.
In this version of society, that’s one lucky dude.
If he can’t live well off of 10 million in earnings he’s a fool. Of course after taxes it’s probably half that. But these guys better not be so stupid they don’t set themselves up.
Thanks Justin, you were fun.