Former Detroit Tigers utility player Andrew Romine announces retirement

DETROIT – Andrew Romine, best known for playing all nine positions in a single game for the Detroit Tigers, announced his retirement in an Instagram post this weekend.

He was traded to Detroit from the Los Angeles Angels in 2014 in exchange for reliever Jose Alvarez.

Romine spent four seasons with the Tigers, playing various defensive positions. He spent 11 seasons in the majors overall.

He slashed .236/.293/.313 (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage) during his time in Detroit, but he did have some memorable games at the plate. He didn’t hit his first home run until five seasons into his career, but it came while he was on the Tigers.

Romine would go on to hit 10 of his 11 career home runs with the Tigers. His final homer came last season as a member of the Chicago Cubs.

“I was a boy with a dream,” Romine said in his retirement post. “A dream of becoming something great. To push harder, be better and compete against the best in the world. A dream to be a part of history. As I hang up my cleats today and reflect on my journey through baseball, all I can think is, ‘Thank You.’”

Romine made history on Sept. 30, 2017 when he became the fifth player in Major League Baseball history to play all nine positions in one game. In fact, the last player to play all nine positions in a game prior to Romine was Shane Halter for the Tigers back in 2000. Both Romine and Halter had previous pitching experience before their historic games.

Here’s where things get crazy: Both Romine and Halter wore the number 17 in Detroit, both were drafted in the fifth round and both either went from the Angels to the Tigers, or vice versa. Romine went from the Angels to the Tigers, while Halter went from the Tigers to the Angels.

Romine finished his career with a .233 batting average and 86 RBI in 609 games. His younger brother, Austin, played for the Tigers during the shortened 2020 season. Austin was the center of attention in 2017 as a member of the New York Yankees when Miguel Cabrera shoved him, leading to a benches-clearing brawl.