You can't find a much better model of consistency on the baseball diamond than Nick Markakis. Even the way he retired was consistent with his low-profile career, in which he was continually among the league's most reliable hitters but never made the same noise as the megastars of the game.
Markakis, the longtime Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves outfielder, announced that he was hanging 'em up to MLB writers Dan Connolly and David O'Brien.
“I just think it’s my time,” Markakis said. “My No. 1 decision and my main focus on this is obviously my kids and my family. I’ve been fortunate enough to do this for a very long time and not many people get to do what I’ve gone through. I’m thankful for every second and every minute.”
He plans to be a stay-at-home dad, embracing the opportunity to make up for all the time he's missed as a ballplayer, while his wife continues her work as a personal trainer. However, his professionalism on the field and his philanthropy off of it — he was nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award in 2009, among other achievements — should have gone a long way in making him a role model for his children even when he couldn't be at home.
He's a role model for MLB hopefuls, too, with hard-to-replicate consistency both in the batter's box and in the outfield. Markakis holds the record for the most consecutive games by an outfielder without making an error, achieved from August 11, 2012 to June 24, 2015. He's also one of just nine MLB stars to have recorded 10 or more seasons of 160 hits and a .270 average at the plate since 2000. Sure, it's a little bit of a hand-picked statistic, but you can't deny that it's a remarkable showing of continued production at the plate that puts him in great company.
Scratch that: it doesn't put him in great company, as he is great company to be with in the MLB history books.
Markakis also ripped over 500 doubles in his big league career, and he currently sits at 50th all-time in that category with 514.
Though Markakis was only selected to one All-Star team, finally making it in 2018 with Atlanta, he led the entire American League in bWAR in 2008 and picked up a Gold Glove award in three other seasons.
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