Charlie Blackmon is calling it a career. The four-time All-Star announced this evening (on X) that he is retiring at the end of the season.
“As a kid you play the game because you love it, like nothing else matters,” Blackmon wrote. “I still play the game that way, but I don’t feel like a kid anymore. My perspective has changed. I have been blessed to call the city of Denver and The Colorado Rockies my baseball home for the entirety of my career. I am grateful for the support of this organization, my teammates, and most of all Rockies fans. It is with a thankful heart and a career’s worth of memories that I choose a new path.” Blackmon went on to thank his family as part of a longer statement.
Blackmon spent parts of 14 seasons in the majors and played 17 years professionally. That entire run came with the Rockies. Colorado drafted the lefty-hitting outfielder out of Georgia Tech in the second round in 2008. Blackmon reached the big leagues three years later and broke out among the best outfielders in the National League in the middle of the decade.
Colorado traded Dexter Fowler to Houston over the 2013-14 offseason. That paved the way for Blackmon, who’d been a part-time player over the previous couple years, to take over in center field. Then-manager Walt Weiss penciled him into the Opening Day lineup in ’14. That kicked off a stretch of 11 straight years (including this season) in which Blackmon was part of Colorado’s season-opening lineup.
Blackmon ran with the opportunity, hitting .288 with 27 doubles and 19 home runs to earn his first All-Star nod. He had similar numbers the following year before really emerging as an offensive force in 2016. Blackmon hit .324/.381/.552 with 29 longballs to earn his first of consecutive Silver Slugger awards. He returned to the All-Star Game amidst a career year the following season.
During his age-30 campaign, Blackmon raked at a .331/.399/.601 clip while leading the majors with 725 plate appearances. He drilled 37 home runs, 35 doubles and an MLB-best 14 triples. Blackmon won the NL batting title while leading the majors with 213 hits and 137 runs scored. That’s incredible production even at Coors Field and deservedly earned him his second straight Silver Slugger award. Blackmon finished fifth in NL MVP balloting and helped the Rox to their first playoff berth in eight years.
Colorado was bounced by the Diamondbacks in the NL Wild Card game. They’d return to the postseason the following year, with Blackmon again playing a central role. He hit .291/.358/.502 with 29 homers and an NL-leading 119 runs. The Rox knocked off the Cubs in the Wild Card contest that time around, though they were swept by the Brewers in the Division Series (in which Blackmon went 1-12).
Early in that 2018 season, Blackmon and the Rockies agreed to a $94MM extension. The deal paid him $21MM annually in 2019-21 and came with player options covering the 2022 and ’23 campaigns. That locked Blackmon up through his 30s and more or less ensured he’d spend his entire career in Denver.
Blackmon had one more excellent season, connecting on 32 homers while hitting .314 to earn another All-Star nod. Yet the team dropped to 71-91 in 2019. They went 26-34 during the shortened schedule while Nolan Arenado’s relationship with the front office deteriorated. Colorado traded Arenado the following winter and have essentially been mired in a rebuild ever since — even though the front office has been reluctant to acknowledge it as such.
That has coincided with Blackmon’s decline as he’s gotten into his mid-30s. He continued to hit for solid averages until this season and remained one of the tougher players in MLB to strike out. Blackmon hasn’t hit for the same kind of power he did during his 2016-19 peak, though, and he had to move off center field at the end of the 2018 season. Blackmon has spent more time at designated hitter than in right field for the past three years.
Despite the drop in production, Blackmon’s status within the organization hasn’t wavered. The Rockies re-signed him last September on a $13MM deal for what’ll be his final season. Blackmon has unlocked another $1.5MM in incentives and could secure $500K more if he logs 25 plate appearances over the last week.
The 38-year-old announced his retirement with a career .292/.352/.479 slash to his name. He has played in more than 1600 games and tallied over 6800 plate appearances. Blackmon is three hits shy of 1800 and has 991 runs scored, 797 driven in, and 226 home runs. Both Baseball Reference and FanGraphs credited him with roughly 20 wins above replacement. It’s fair to wonder if that’s artificially driven down somewhat by his home park, as Blackmon never graded well by public defensive metrics with so much ground to cover in MLB’s largest outfield.
Blackmon has six more games to add to those totals. Whatever the precise numbers, he’ll walk away as one of the best players in franchise history. He’s second behind Hall of Famer Todd Helton in hits, runs scored and plate appearances with the Rockies. Blackmon is sixth in Colorado history in home runs and would tie longtime teammate Carlos González for fifth if he connects on one this week. He’s seventh among position players in franchise history by measure of Baseball Reference WAR.
The Rockies finish the season with a pair of home series. They’ll host the Cardinals for three before wrapping things with a weekend set against the Dodgers. That’ll afford the Colorado fanbase an opportunity for a proper farewell. MLBTR congratulates Blackmon on an excellent run and wishes him the best in retirement.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Dude always killed the Giants back when it was him and Arenado. Good luck with the next chapter Charlie!
Don’t know the splits but outside of CO, an underappreciated talent. Congrats on a career 99% of us posting could only fantasize about.
@dewey
“a career 99% of us posting could only fantasize about.”
Way too low.
I agree. My highest was little league…
Career .250 – .260 hitter outside of Coors field with minimal power numbers. Very average player whose stats are all due to Coors.
That’s at least partly due to the Coors Hangover Effect. Colorado hitters hit above their true talent levels at home, but they also hit below their true talent levels on the road.
Great guy, very good player (in his brief prime, great).
He is a certified Padre killer. I wish him well in his retirement.
All around class act. Congratulations on a solid career. Enjoy your retirement.
Solid career. Congrats to him and good luck post-baseball.
The rare player who has a long, sustained and quality career with only one franchise, and also you never hear or read anything but good things about. Congrats on a fine run and enjoy retirement.
The bad man can’t hurt us anymore!
But seriously, he had a hell of a career. Congrats to him, and best wishes in retirement.
Feel like he legit hit .650 career on the Pads, dude always made me sweat. On to the Rox Rushmore with Larry and Todd, cheers Charlie
Per StatMuse:
.301, 221 Hits, 35 HR, 104 RBI, 124 runs scored in 192 games vs. the Friars.
Insane. I feel like I saw him mash a HR or get a huge hit every time I saw him play in person.
@SteveFinleyEnthusiast
Per B-R
He hit 12% better (by OPS) vs the Padres than his average
13% worse vs the Giants
12% better be the DBacks
Average vs the Dodgers
Rox Rushmore Larry Todd Charlie Nolan with car-go and dj lemahieu and Matt Holliday as a small plaque next to it
Nolan will NEVER be on the Rockies Rushmore. NEVER. Hell, I’d rather they put Tulo on it than him.
Helton, Chuck, Walker, and the 4th should be a pitcher. I choose Brian Fuentes. He was a 3 time All Star for the Rox and the est closer in team history.
I don’t know about pitchers… because they never had any good ones that performed
Mike Hampton? Kyle freeland? Wade Davis? Ubaldo Jimenez?
They have had plenty of good pitchers, but most fans don’t pay attention unless the numbers are outrageous like Ubaldo’s 2010 season. You just aren’t going to get those numbers with Coors Field involved. Even Kershaw’s career ERA at Coors is around 4.50 and he is a first ballot HOFer.
If you are picking a starter, it would be either German Marquez or Jorge de la Rosa or maybe Aaron Cook. Ubaldo and Freeland both had better peak years, but German and Jorge were both better over the long haul.
Mike Hampton is not in the conversation AT ALL. Neither is Wade Davis who had basically one good year for the Rox. Greg Holland was just as good as Davis for Colorado.
They’ve only had 7 pitchers ever have multiple seasons with an ERA below 4.00 in 10+ starts. Jhoulys Chacin has the most with three.
@mlb
Judging by raw ERA is bad. It’s especially bad for a Coors pitcher because it’s very hard to prevent runs in Coors due to
1) pitches not moving due to lower air pressure
2) batted balls traveling faster and farther due to low air pressure
3) a huge outfield that’s allowed many batted balls to drop in.
Jimenez’ career ERA+ was 128 with Colorado. EVERY season he was with Colorado his ERA+ was better than average.
A 128 ERA+ is better then the career ERA+’s of Bob Gibson, Curt Schilling, and Tom Seaver.
No, that does not mean that I think he was better than them.
I agree. ERA+ is much better, but just pointing out that they’ve had very few players who have sustained multiple seasons where they were really good.
I’m a Padres fan that lived in Denver for a number of years – I gotta say if we’re talking about a Rock Rushmore… Bichette, Galarraga, and Castilla were a lot of fun to watch in those early years!
Great career for Blackmon aka “Chuck Nasty”
No pitcher is on any Mt Rushmore of Rockies players.
Ordinarily hiflew, I would agree with adding a P.
Your Rox are- *ahem* – BEYOND ordinary, through nobody’s fault outside of reduced gravity. Daniel Bard? Great story…
Or Trevor Story is the 4th!
Blackbeard…I mean Blackmon was a really fun player to watch. Sure, Coors made him a bit more fun (especially in fantasy baseball) but Ol’ Charlie’s a good dude and had an electrifying skill set in his prime. From my neck of the woods too. Congrats on a great career!
thank god, Padres fans can breathe a sigh of relief
If you were to meet Charlie Blackmon and Brandon Marsh on the street, you would never guess they were professional baseball players and multi millionaires.
He was a Cardinal killer along with all the other teams mentioned by other commentors. Happy retirement!
He had some very good seasons in the mid-late 2010s. Fell 13 bases shy of 400 in 2017. Hope he enjoys retirement.
At least he got to experience two winning seasons. Gutsy player, just on a consistent bottom feeder team in a tough division. He leaves on his own terms – true professional
A career to be proud of. Good luck on what’s next.
I am really hoping he has a great final week and can score 9 runs. Unlikely, but it would give him 1000 for his career. Luckily, he only need 3 hits for 1800 ans that should happen.
Chuck is also the active career leader in triples with 67. Sam Crawford is the all time leader with 309. That is THE record that will never be broken. Since Charlie is retiring and so is #2 on the list Kevin Kiermaier, that will make Starling Marte the active triples leader at 55 with Mike Trout one behind. Crawford’s record will never be threatened.
He’s seeing the ball well right now, he’s going out hot and proper! What’s got you excited for the ’25 Rox, hiflew?
The way the Rockies have played down the stretch and especially against good teams, I think they have a shot to be a Wild Card contender as early as next season with just a couple of good offseason moves and getting the pitching staff healthy again. I could see a +25 win season if they could just figure out how to play as well against bad teams as they do against good ones.
My offseason wishlist:
1) Trade at least 1-2 outfielders for help elsewhere. The Rockies are stocked with young outfielders and need to thin the herd. Even with Blackmon’s retirement.
2) Trade Kris Bryant for another bad deal or bad deals. Bryant will never fit in with Colorado. It would be tough to move him, but I’d rather have an overpaid pitcher than an overpaid hitter with warning track power.
3) Hope that the young bullpen is not just a fluke and can maintain for an entire season. I’m sure 1-2 will end up being flukey, but I hope we can get a couple of multi-year gems out of there too.
4) Make a choice between Hunter Goodman and Drew Romo at catcher and re-sign Jacob Stallings as the veteran co-starter. Trade the other one for a younger prospect or a pitcher. I hope they keep Goodman and trade Romo while he still has prospect shine.
5) PLEASE everyone stay healthy. The Rockies have a lot of talent, but not much depth. THAT is the difference between big markets and mid markets. The Dodgers can lose 7 starting pitchers and still win 95+ games. The Rockies and other mid market teams are looking at 100 loss seasons with half as many injuries.
How about Bryant for Javy Baez?
I would take the deal if it was offered 1 for 1. Bryant is owed one extra year and $35 million extra dollars than Baez. At 1 for 1 it would be doable if it also led to a Brendan Rodgers trade for pitching. Put Baez at second and if he falters or gets hurt, you have Adael Amador in the minors ready at any time. I think I actually like the deal.
Do you work for the Rockies’ front office? Nobody except the Rockies organization themselves think they are anywhere close to contention!
Health doesn’t matter much when there just aren’t very many good players on the team even when they are healthy.
Don’t use words like nobody when you are making an argument because it starts you out being wrong immediately. I am somebody and I think they are and others have agreed with me, so it is not “nobody” is it.
Seriously, if you watch them play, they have a good young core of position players set up and a pretty good rotation if everyone is healthy. As always the key for them will be not blowing leads late with the pen. There is hope with these young guys, but who knows?
I did also use an exception, but fine, practically nobody outside the organization thinks so.
Your line about a good core and rotation is a complete lie! Their core is basically Stallings and a washed-up Bryant. Maybe one or two guys already on the team could develop into core pieces, but that remains to be seen. In the rotation, they have four guys who are respectable but still below league average by ERA+ and then nobody after that.
They need to actually go into a full rebuild (not necessarily tanking) for the team to get significantly better, but the team itself keeps refusing to do so.
Oh, and Stallings is in his mid-30’s and a free agent, anyway.
If you don’t think Brenton Doyle and Ezequiel Tovar and Michael Toglia form the basis of a good core, then I am not going to waste my limited time on this planet arguing with you.
Your Bryant/Stallings comment is just stupid. That would be like calling Miguel Rojas and Kike Hernandez the Dodgers core.
You’re right about that triples record. I was quickly trying to find the last player to get as many as 100, and I think it was Jimmy Rollins. Last one to 150 appears to have been Clemente.
Probably one factor is that outfielders have gotten better at playing caroms and getting the ball back in.
Yeah I looked it up one time. The only two players since WWII to even get 150 triples were Clemente and Stan Musial. To have the career of those two and still only get halfway to Crawford just says something about Wahoo Sam and it also says a lot about the parks they played in back then with the 450 foot CF fences
Elly De La Cruz may get to the 150-200 3b range?
Corbin Carroll and Bobby Witt and as well.
Assuming they keep the same speed throughout their career, maybe. But as I said, only 2 players (Musial, Clemente) have topped 150 since World War 2. Elly, Carroll, and Witt are all great talent, but there have been many other players just like them over the past 75 years that started out great and faded as they approached 30. Willie Wilson was an absolute beast with hitting triples and hit at least 7 for 11 consecutive seasons and still finished his career with “only” 147. Those three you mentioned have a LONG way to go before they are even in the discussion of 150 triples.
hiflew: I agree that Crawford’s record will likely stand forever, but I would say the one record that will never be broken is Cy Young’s 511 wins.
I 100% agree that Cy Young’s record will likely stand forever as well. Rickey Henderson’s steals record, Pete Rose’s hits record, Cal Ripken’s consecutive games played, Joe Dimaggio’s hitting streak, and Nolan Ryan;s strikeouts likely will as well.
But then again, there was a time when Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games played record was considered unbreakable also. So who knows?
Cy Young, yes, as the game has fundamentally changed to where that record and many other pitching records are impossible to beat.
However, the others are not so unbreakable. Ripken’s iron man record is practically unbreakable, but Ripken himself did it as recently as the 80s and 90s, so someone else could also possibly do it. As you said, everyone thought the record was unbreakable when Gehrig had it, yet here we are.
The hits and K records look imposing, but once again, Rose and Ryan did it, so someone else with a really long career could also do it.
The steals records (including the single season one) were practically unbreakable due to how dominantly Henderson broke those records and how stolen bases have fallen out popularity since the early 90s, but the recent rule changes put those records back on the table.
The hitting streak record involves a lot of luck, so while still very unlikely, we could see someone luck into breaking it someday.
hiflew: I agree that Crawford’s record won’t be broken, but the other one that will never fall is Cy Young’s 511 wins.
Is that “Wahoo” Sam Crawford? I think he played in a lot of stadiums with 500 ft. fences in one direction or another. Yes, the record will never be broken. Smaller parks and better outfielders these days.
Yep it is exactly him. When I graduated college, I considered writing a biography of Sam Crawford, but it was just one of those dreams left unfulfilled. He had an interesting life and career and I hate the idea that a lot of those early 20th century players are soon to e all but forgotten by the masses.
Dude terrorized Padre pitching. If there is a Padre Killers club, he is its current President.
Tip of the cap. A great career.
Great career, but glad he’s retiring. It seemed like this dude always found a way to get a clutch hit against the giants. He was borderline great at times, and coors helped, but he was great despite it
Going to miss having him in MLB The Show for the next few years. Enjoy your retirement Chuck.
Happy retirement, Charlie! Rockies need to create a team HOF for him and a few others. Doesn’t mean they have to retire his number.
His number WILL be retired. There is absolutely no doubt. I don’t there is another player that has been or is currently on the Rockies that will receive that honor though. I guess one of the young guys COULD grow into it, but I see Chuck as the third and FINAL retired number for the Rocks for at least 20 years. I mean they only have two retired numbers (I am not counting Jackie;s 42) for the team, so it’s not like they are just retiring anyone and everyone’s number. cough cough Yankees.
Yep. A semi-retirement of his number for a good amount of years I see happening.
Well the only other players with even a thought of a retired number would be Tulowitzki and Story,have both had their numbers assigned at least once since they left. No one has used Arenado’s 28 since he left, but he left on such bad terms, I don’t see a retirement happening. No one has used Carlos Gonzalez’s #5 since he left either, but that number was also Matt Holliday. I could see the number being co-retired for the two of them kind of like with Berra and Dickey of the Yankees.
But honestly, I think the next Colorado retired number after Chuck is either in the infancy of a career like Doyle or Tovar or has not even started a career yet.
What about Vinny Castilla’s number?
I never really considered Vinny in the mix for a retired number. He might not even be the best Rockie to wear his #9. That was also DJ LeMahieu’s number with the team and is Brenton Doyle’s current number and he may end up being better than both.
June 6 is when they should retire his number 19. June 6 2011 is when he made his ML debut. So whether it’s next year or somewhere down the line his number should be retired.
Enjoy your retirement Charlie, very well deserved.
See you in Cooperstown!
Sorry but no way he’s inducted into the HOF
Not even remotely close.
Is the next stage of his professional life to become an usher at Cooperstown?
If every year of Blackmon’s career was like his 2016 and 2017, that would be true.
4.6 and 5.4 WAR, respectively.
He’ll finish with 20.4 WAR.
Not everyone can be a Hall of Famer, but that doesn’t mean Blackmon did not have a great career.
Not every voter cares about WAR either, but that is beside the point.
Too many stat boys chalk a guy’s career up to whether he is a hall of famer or not. 99+ percent are not, but that doesn’t mean their career wasn’t relevant to a whole lot of people.
He made it to the bigs and stayed a long while. A lot of people can’t say that much.
I am the biggest Chuck fan in the world and I will admit that the thought of him Cooperstown is just silly. He will get on the ballot and I really hope he gets a handful of votes, but he has no chance of getting in. But he will get his number retired by the Rocks and should because he is the second best Rockies player of all time. He wasn’t a better player than Larry Walker, but if you just consider their Colorado numbers, he was.
As far as talent goes, Walker is definitely top two with Helton. But as far longevity goes, it is currently Helton #1 and Blackmon #2 with Walker a close 3rd in most categories. Doesn’t mean that Blackmon is the second best player talent-wise. He is probably not even top 5 talent-wise. But he is cumulatively the second best Rockie simply because he produced for a long time all in Denver and the rest all produced some of their numbers elsewhere.
Walker then Helton. Blackmon is a distant third.
We still wonder what all lives in that beard!
I read a lot of these stories on this site and most are relevant and articulate. Very rarely do I read the comments because most are condescending and/or illiterate. I do, howe ver, read comments on players that announce their retirement. This particular one I wanted to read because Charlie Blackmon is one of the classiest players you’ll read about or meet. I’ve met him twice. Class act! I’m not a Rockies fan but I respect those who respect people and the game. He does both! Congrats on your career Chuck Nazty and in retirement!
Like this particular comment ? Very rarely do I read a comment so filled with meaningless dribble and poor spelling. Brutal grammar and missing adjectives. Congratulations on the most useless and boring nonsense I’ve attempted to decipher ever on MLB trade rumors.
#19 will be retired and his number hung with Helton and Walker. Blackmon will always be a crowd favorite and we appreciate his career being in Colorado. Thank you Charlie for your dedication to the game, team and the fans.
I always enjoyed watching you play sir! Best wishes in the next chapter of your life!
14yr career in Denver and only saw 5 playoff games. What a shame. Should be a lock for the Ring of Fame or whatever the Rockies do.
Thanks for the great times Charlie. Enjoy your retirement.
Congrats to Charlie on his retirement. One of the long time characters of the game and stayed in Colorado.
Really good player. Really good career.
Happy trails to (by all accounts) a great guy.
He’ll probably shave and cut his hair once he quits. Nice career bad look…
Ridiculous look. Played an entire career with a groundhog on his face.
And his career has been effectively over for approximately the last 5 years.
Happy trails Chuck Nasty. Blackmon was always fun to watch, especially during the early part of his career
Sources?
telling that fans of all teams will recall him as a killer of their specific team. he gave everyone fits. outstanding player and respect for going out on his own terms when you know contenders would love to have him off the bench the next few years.
I don’t wanna lose your glove, toniiiiiight. Sadface.
Will be sad to see him go. Always a great competitor. God luck in retirement Charlie.
Charlie Blackmon has the respect and admiration from baseball fans of all. His scrappy demeanor and grind it out mentality made him the envy of any true baseball fan. I don’t know of any fan who wouldn’t want him on their team. As a Cardinal fan, I was certainly envious.
Happy trails, Charlie. Baseball could use a 100 of you.
Coors Field won’t be the same without Blackmon’s walk up music. “Your Love” by The Outfield
If you ever been to coors field and experienced 15k strong scream out Tonight you know what I’m talking about.
Congrats Charlie
Going out on top. Omodetto!
Actually didn’t realize he had only spent his career with Colorado. Always felt he was constantly in trade speculation just because of how talented he is. Great career
Will his beard retire, though? That’s the only unanswered question.
The beard was traded to ZZ Top for a song.
Charlie set the MLB record for RBIs for a leadoff hitter in his best season. He was lethal for a decade. Never changed his walkup song. the crowd loved singing the main lyric, “To-niiiiight.” I salute the dude.
One of the greatest walkup songs ever
144th best centerfielder in the history of the game.. Ranked higher than elite HOFers like Willard Brown, Ned Hanlon & Pete Hill.
Fun player and, since I’m an old man, I love that he spent his entire career with one team. Very rare these days.
Good luck to him during the next chapter!
It will get more rare moving forward for a player to stay with team that drafted him and play over 15 seasons with the team in the majors moving forward. One of the better Rockies players in the team’s short history.
Definitely not a HOFer
One of my favorite players to watch play. Great career.
statman
.250 average outside Coors
============================
.256 outside of Coors.
If you are a statman, then you should know the stats.
been mired in a rebuild ever since
=======================
Just because you stink doesn’t mean that you are in a rebuild.
Being a dick ain’t so bad Chuck.
Another guy like Trout that wasted a career with a crappy team.
Hardly trout
Godspeed Charlie. See you in Cooperstown. Truly one of the greats.
Won’t ever happen. He’s not close to even consider Cooperstown. If Bobby Abreu and Andy can Slyke didn’t make it or lofton then Charlie won’t
Padres killer is retiring. Its been a good run. Enjoy your retirement. Can’t say I will miss you beating up on the Padres, but it was fun watching you play baseball. You played the game right.
A bit surprised his career WAR was only about 20 over a 14-year run.
Because he was average most the time. Had 4 good years out of 10. Yaz from the giants every other year
Look at his home and away splits. He was solid for a few years. He wasn’t better than Jermaine Dye
Really sorry to see him go, was an entertaining and recognizable player for so long. Best Wishes to him..
Great career, better beard. Glad he got to drill one more home run at Dodger Stadium before he hangs em up.
Had a good 4 year stretch other than that he was avg. Especially being in CO
Who would take Andy Van Slyke over Blackmon? Slickster has double the war and better ops+
Markakis and Brantley were better lol
I always liked Charlie Blackmon, even though he’s been a Brewers killer during the entirety of his career. I hope he has an excellent retirement.
It’s not just defensively where Colorado position players may be undervalued by WAR. They rightfully get dinged for playing half their games in MLB’s best ballpark for offense, but then WAR fails to account for the Coors Hangover Effect for their road games.
Great team member. Glorious beard!