Former Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman James Loney announced he has officially retired from the sport of baseball at age 35.
Loney was selected by the Dodgers with the 19th overall pick in the 2002 MLB Draft out of Lawrence E Elkins High School in Missouri City, Texas.
He finished sixth in the National League Rookie of the Year voting in 2007, his first full Major League season with the team. Loney went on to spend seven seasons with the Dodgers, hitting .284/.341/.423 with 71 home runs and 451 RBI.
Loney’s tenure with the Dodgers came to an end in the middle of the 2012 season when he was traded to the Boston Red Sox in the deal that sent Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto to Los Angeles.
After the Dodgers, Loney played for the Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, San Diego Padres, New York Mets, Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers and Atlanta Braves organizations. He last appeared in the Majors in 2016, and overall in his 11 seasons, he is a career .284/.336/.410 hitter with 108 RBI and 669 RBI.
In 2017, Loney spent a short time with the LG Twins of the KBO League in South Korea. He then finished out his career with the Sugar Land Skeeters of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball where he served as an infielder, pitcher and player-coach for the team.
He played in 11 games with the Skeeters, hitting .278/.357/.333 with a triple and three RBI. He also pitched an inning of relief on May 1 against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, allowing a run on two hits while picking up his first professional strikeout.
Loney ranks eighth all-time in Dodgers history in games played at first base at 896, and he will forever be remembered as a fan favorite at Chavez Ravine and for a dramatic grand slam against the Chicago Cubs in the 2008 NL Division Series.
