Harrison, 2-time All-Star for Pirates, announces retirement

Josh Harrison, a two-time National League All-Star who helped the Pirates break a long postseason drought with three straight playoff appearances, announced his retirement on Saturday.

Harrison, who played for six teams as a utility player in a career spanning 13 seasons, made the announcement on his social media accounts. Harrison last played in 2023 for the Phillies.

"I'm blessed to have been a 2X all-star and to play for as long as I did, but I never sought to prove people wrong, only to prove myself right in my beliefs," Harrison wrote.

Harrison played 60 games for the 2013 Pirates, who advanced to the National League Division Series during the club's first postseason appearance since 1992.

The next season was Harrison's best. In 2014, he batted .315 with an .837 OPS while finishing ninth in NL MVP voting and establishing himself as a do-everything player for the Pirates.

That season, Harrison played 72 games at third base, 50 in the outfield, 26 at second base and eight at shortstop, accumulating a career-best 5.6 bWAR. The Pirates again advanced to the playoffs, as Harrison got two hits in a Wild Card loss to the Giants.

The Pirates advanced to the Wild Card game the next season, too, losing to the Cubs. Harrison played three more seasons for the Pirates and was named an All-Star for the second time in 2017, when he hit a career-high 17 home runs.

On Aug. 23 of that season, Harrison became the first player in AL-NL history to break up a no-hitter with an extra-inning walk-off home run when he connected in the 10th inning against Rich Hill for a 1-0 Pirates win over the Dodgers. Hill had been perfect through eight innings.

“Best teammate I ever had," said Pirates icon Andrew McCutchen, who played alongside Harrison from 2011-17. "He brought flair to the game that you can’t teach. You either have it, or you don’t. And he had it.

“He wasn’t the biggest person in the world, but he played like he was 6-5. Overly confident. I think he attested a lot of that to his family, his upbringing -- having two older brothers, always having to fight for the things that he wanted. That’s kind of the way he approached the game of baseball.

"He ignited a team. He kept me motivated, hitting in front of me all those years. He always kept it light, but you knew he was going to do something special every time he got out there.”

Harrison played for the Tigers, Nationals, Athletics, White Sox and Phillies during his final five seasons. He finished with 1,080 hits and 500 runs scored.