Baseball careers don’t always end with an amazing farewell tour or a packed stadium giving that one last standing ovation. Sometimes, it’s a low-key, quiet end to the MLB journey. This time, it’s the end of a journey for a player—but the real pain point is that it’s come sooner than anyone would have thought. The player retiring is just 29 years old, Stone Garrett.

Sure, he is not a household name like Mike Trout, Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, or so. But regardless, if you followed the Arizona Diamondbacks or the Washington Nationals baseball, you’d know exactly who he was. He officially announced his retirement from professional baseball over on Instagram. Garrett put his emotions into words-

“My time as a baseball player has come to an end. I am forever grateful for the journey the game of baseball took me on. From playing in cities you’d never think of visiting (for better and worse). Traveling across the world and experiencing different cultures. To my parents, who gave me their unwavering support and the resources to succeed from day one, thank you. To my friends who kept me humble no matter what level I was playing at, thank you. To my teammates, coaches, and trainers who pushed me to be the best competitor I was capable of being, thank you. I look forward to using the discipline and habits I’ve acquired throughout my career to make it to the “top” in whatever the next chapter holds. The reward was the journey, not the destination.”

It was a heartfelt goodbye from a player who gave everything to the game, even when his body was no longer his accomplice. Garrett’s career has been, honestly, what one could call a “what could have been story in MLB.” He was once an outfielder with immense raw power. This was when he broke in with the Washington Nationals in 2023. He had posted a stellar. 801 OPS in just 89 games before an injury changed his life.

He was struck with a bad ankle injury that required reconstructive surgery. But he fought back, and his bat too showed a little bit of life in 2024. The Nats called him back to MLB, and his first game back was one for the storybooks. In his first at-bat, he launched a no-doubt home run. That sent the crowd into a complete frenzy. He did look emotional as he was rounding the bases. Sadly, though, baseball is a brutal game.

Garrett struggled when at AAA, and eventually, he was released by the Nationals. Now, he has finally said goodbye to the sport at just 29 years old. But this was all about him ending his baseball career—how he started it is right out of a sports documentary!

Stone Garrett’s journey from LinkedIn to the Diamondbacks stardom

You may have used LinkedIn to help you land a desk job, but what about the big leagues? That’s not usually how things work, right? Unless you are Stone Garrett, of course. His story is the kind you would expect in sports movies. He was drafted by the Miami Marlins in 2024, and he spent eight long years in the minors chasing his dream. But in 2020, amidst a pandemic, the Marlins cut him loose.

At 24 years old, his future in baseball looked bleak—so he did the next best thing: he pivoted. He earned his real estate license and started selling homes in Houston with eXp Realty. He even wrote on LinkedIn how real estate felt like the perfect “after baseball” job to him. But deep down, he knew that a desk job might not have been his calling.

He was about to delete the profile when an old Gulf Coast League video coordinator reached out to him. That message then opened an opportunity with the Arizona Diamondbacks. And well, the rest is history. His 2023 year with the Nats was one of his highlight years, and he had a .269 average, nine homers, and an .800 OPS in just 234 at-bats.

Then, of course, life took its turn, and injury derailed everything. But, well, chances to break into the game can truly come from anywhere.