Only months into retirement, Chris Taylor was back at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night to receive his 2025 Los Angeles Dodgers World Series ring and be celebrated by the franchise.
“It’s great. It’s good to go through the clubhouse, see all the guys again, and excited to watch a baseball game with my family and just trying to soak it all in,” Taylor said of returning.
Taylor described retirement thus far as being in “full-dad mode” to his two sons along with his wife Mary. They were on the field for a pregame ceremony that included Taylor’s former teammates presenting him with a 2025 World Series ring.
“Over 90% of my career was in Dodger Blue. This is the place I call home,” said Taylor as he reflected on his MLB career. “I’m always proud to be a Dodger, and this night, it means a lot to me that they would even do this for me. So I’m extremely humble.”
Taylor made his MLB debut with the Seattle Mariners in 2014 and remained with the team into the 2016 season. He was then traded to the Dodgers in exchange for Zach Lee in June 2016. Taylor had a breakout season in 2017 and went on to become an integral part of the Dodgers’ success.
That included several memorable moments, including being part of two teams that won a World Series. Taylor’s third championship was won by the Dodgers months after he had been released. Taylor cited the 2020 World Series win as one of his fondest memories, but couldn’t specifically pinpoint one with being back at Dodger Stadium.
But he was then reminded of hitting a walk-off home run in the 2021 National League Wild Card Game against the St. Louis Cardinals.
“Yeah, I mean that was definitely one of my biggest individual moments I’ve had,” Taylor said. “The reason that moment meant so much to me is I had been slumping for like three months prior to that, and I was really, really grinding. To come through for my team and move on to the next round of the playoffs and end up having a good postseason after that, that was special.”
Taylor finished his baseball career in the Los Angeles Angels organization, playing for their Triple-A Salt Lake affiliate. He anticipates “always” missing baseball but is at peace with his retirement decision.
Along with being more present at home, no longer playing is allowing the 36-year-old to continue providing for those in need through the CT3 Foundation.
“That’s definitely something we wanted to continue beyond my playing career,” Taylor said. “And honestly, now that I’m done playing, we should have even more time to pour into that.”
Chris Taylor’s Dodgers career
Over his 10 years with the Dodgers, Taylor played in 1,007 games and batted .250/.330/.431 with 184 doubles, 30 triples 108 home runs, 423 RBI and 480 runs scored. He also became the poster child for the Dodgers’ emphasis on versatility, appearing at second base, shortstop, third base, and all three outfield spots.
By finishing the 2025 season with the Angels, Taylor reached the milestone of 10 years in Major League service time.
“Chris was a very good Dodger. He was very fun to manage, easy to manage, baseball player, hard-nosed,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Does a lot of stuff off the field with this charity with him and his wife, Mary. So to get him back here, seeing CT3 would be great.
“Hopefully, we can get him to say a few words. But man, this guy had a lot of big hits for the Dodgers. Huge hits.”
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