Clint Barmes Retires, Bringing End to 13-Year MLB Career

Clint Barmes, a member of the Colorado Rockies during some of the franchise’s most successful seasons, retired over the weekend, bringing his 13-year Major League Baseball career to an end.

The 37-year-old said he decided to retire in the late stages of a Triple-A game after signing an offseason deal with the Kansas City Royals. He didn’t appear in the Majors this season, last making an MLB appearance with the San Diego Padres during the 2015 season, when he hit .232 in 98 games.

Barmes played for the Rockies over the course of eight seasons from 2003-2010, piecing together a cumulative .254 average with 61 homers and 285 RBI. In 2009, he exploded for 23 homers and 76 RBI but hit just .245 as the Rockies advanced to the National League Division series.

While Barmes enjoyed much success during his time with the Rockies, he will forever be linked to a fateful night in 2005 when he broke his collarbone during an outing with Todd Helton. The injury, in what was considered his rookie year, put a stop to what had started out as a magical season for Barmes, who was hitting .329 at the time with eight homers.

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Barmes said the fall happened while he was lugging a load of deer meat for Helton and admitted later in his career that his name would probably always be associated with venison.

The fall altered things for both the Rockies and Barmes. He batted .318 before the accident and .244 in 579 games after that. He eventually lost his starting shortstop job to Troy Tulowitzki and became expendable.

“When I came back, I was a different hitter,” Barmes later admitted.

In November of 2010, Barmes was traded to the Houston Astros for pitcher Felipe Paulino, bringing a close to a tantalizing “what if” story for the Rockies. Barmes has also wondered in the years since what might have happened if not for that fateful night.

“It’s one of those things where everybody is like, ‘What would have happened if I didn’t get hurt?’ ” Barmes said. “I’ve thought about that. I’m not going to lie.”

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After leaving the Rockies, Clint Barmes played for another five seasons for the Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Padres. While he made contributions with the other clubs, the majority of his career was with Colorado, a team he’ll always be associated with … for both good and not-so-good reasons.