SB Nation Kansas City - Jason Kendall Officially Announces Retirement After Signing With Royalshttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48935/kc-fave.png2012-07-25T09:20:30-05:00http://kansascity.sbnation.com/rss/stream/29500972012-07-25T09:20:30-05:002012-07-25T09:20:30-05:00Jason Kendall Wants To Remain With Royals Organization After Retirement
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<p>As one of the most storied catchers in baseball history, <span>Jason Kendall</span> brought a tremendous amount of experience and perspective to the field for the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.royalsreview.com/">Kansas City Royals</a> as their catcher in 2010. Apparently he's wanting to do the same for the organization in another capacity after announcing his retirement earlier this week. </p>
<p>Kendall recently signed a minor-league contract with the team in an attempt to come back and play, trying out his abilities with the AA Northwest Arkansas Naturals. However it didn't work out and Kendall decided to officially hang it up instead. </p>
<p>"If I didn't do what I did now, 10 years from now I'd be upset and say, 'Why didn't I do it?'" <a href="http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120724&content_id=35484298&vkey=news_kc&c_id=kc" target="_blank">Kendall said</a>. "But I tried. My arm just wouldn't hold up. I'd had 10 surgeries in my career, and I didn't want to have another one."</p>
<p>While he spent the majority of his playing career with the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bucsdugout.com/">Pittsburgh Pirates</a>, Kendall says he'd rather stay at home in Kansas and work with the Royals post-playing career.</p>
<p>"I want to say in the game," Kendall said. "I going to sit down and talk to Dayton and see what's going on. As soon as I had my second surgery last year, teams called and asked about coaching stuff and this and that. I live in Kansas and want to stay in Kansas. ... This team's going to win, and I'd like to be part of it in some capacity."</p>
<p>As a catcher ranked in the top five all-time in games caught, Kendall would have a lot to teach a young team like the Royals.</p>
https://kansascity.sbnation.com/kansas-city-royals/2012/7/25/3186061/jason-kendall-retirement-kansas-city-royalsMatt Conner2012-07-24T14:52:51-05:002012-07-24T14:52:51-05:00Jason Kendall Officially Announces Retirement After Signing With Royals
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<p><span style="line-height: 9px;">At the end of a long, solid career in the Major Leagues that stretched for 15 seasons, <span>Jason Kendall</span> officially announced his retirement today after recently signing a minor-league deal with the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.royalsreview.com/">Kansas City Royals</a>. It's a bit surprising since he played the bulk of his career with the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bucsdugout.com/">Pittsburgh Pirates</a>. However, it's a possibility that Kendall has an agreement with the Royals franchise to work with the team in some official capacity away from the field.</span></p>
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<p>Jason Kendall just announced his retirement to the media at Arvest Ballpark.</p>
— NW Arkansas Naturals (@NW_Ark_Naturals) <a data-datetime="2012-07-24T19:27:42+00:00" href="https://twitter.com/NW_Ark_Naturals/status/227847543499943936">July 24, 2012</a>
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<p>Kendall held a press conference this afternoon to announce the shift, and it will be interesting to see what his role will be, if any. If Kendall does not continue to work for the Royals in some capacity, then the move to sign with the team and then retire will be notable considering he played with the team for one season -- his last in the Majors in 2010.</p>
<p>Kendall caught over 2,000 games in his ML career over the course of 15 seasons after being a first round pick for the Pirates in '92. He finishes his career as a .288 hitter with 75 home runs, 744 RBI, 189 stolen bases and 1,030 runs scored. </p>
https://kansascity.sbnation.com/kansas-city-royals/2012/7/24/3184452/jason-kendall-officially-announces-retirement-royalsMatt Conner