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Former Red Sox World Series champion says baseball career is over, but don’t call it retirement
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- Former Red Sox World Series champion says baseball career is over, but don’t call it retirement
Joe Kelly’s MLB career is over. Just don’t call it “retirement.”
“Retiring is, like, something my grandmother did,” Kelly told WEEI’s Rob Bradford on the “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast . “It’s so disrespectful. I’m sorry to all you people out there watching this that work a real job. You guys deserve to retire. Athletes don’t. We just stop (expletive) playing. ... So when athletes are done playing, just say, ‘Congratulations.’ They’re no longer playing. No more retirement (expletive).”
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Kelly spent 13 seasons in MLB including five with the Boston Red Sox . He was part of the 2018 World Series team and amassed a 0.79 ERA with a 2-1 record.
After beating them in the World Series, Kelly signed with the Dodgers in 2019 and won another World Series in 2020.
Kelly joined the Chicago White Sox in 2022 but returned to Los Angeles via trade in 2023 before he won his third and final World Series in 2024, though he did not pitch in the postseason that year.
The right-hander did not pitch in 2025, but expressed desire to pitch again for the Dodgers — and only for the Dodgers .
Kelly finished his career with a 2.03 ERA across 13⅓ innings in the World Series. In 839 regular-season innings, Kelly amassed a 3.98 ERA
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