Versatile 2017 Dodgers playoff hero announces retirement

Charlie Culberson's two years with the Dodgers were marked by some incredible, storybook highs. He signed a minor league deal with LA and made it out of Dodgers' spring training in 2016; although he was DFA'ed, demoted, and recalled over the course of a month, a walk-off solo homer against the Rockies in the Dodgers' last home game of that season — and Vin Scully's last time on the mic before retirement — to clinch the division title was all he needed to go into the history books.

He spent most of the 2017 season in the minors, but was called up in September as an infield bench option. His 15 games through the rest of the regular season that year were not extraordinary, to say the least (he batted .154 with a .497 OPS), but with Corey Seager off the NLCS roster with a back issue, Culberson got the call.

His 16 at-bats in the NLCS and World Series were the stuff of legends. Even though he was never going to be an everyday player in LA, his .455 and .600 averages in both series, which included three extra-base hits, a homer, two RBI, and four runs scored, meant that he'd always be dear to Dodgers fans.

The Dodgers traded him to the Braves that offseason, and after seven more years in the game, Culberson announced his retirement on Thursday.

Former Dodgers hero Charlie Culberson announces retirement after over a decade in baseball

Culberson posted his announcement on Instagram, which also paid homage to the five teams he'd spent major league time with throughout his career. His acknowledgement of his two years in LA were marked with a picture of him and Scully, with the bat he used to send Scully off right after 67 years on the call for the Dodgers.

Culberson spent three seasons in Atlanta after the trade before signing a minor-league deal with the Rangers in the offseason between 2020 and 2021; he played in 68 major league games before signing a minor-league deal with the Rays for the next year. That Rays stint didn't last long, and he was cut by Tampa Bay during spring training before going back to the Braves.

He went up and down from the majors to the minors during that time, and even tried to revamp his career as a pitcher in 2024 before he was released by the Braves in March and announced his retirement on Thursday.

Although things definitely didn't end the way Culberson wanted them to, he gave some great moments to the Dodgers during his stint in LA, and fans wish him all the best.