Former Cardinals 1B Matt Adams discusses retirement, career

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - 'Big City' is hanging up his cleats and bat, but he ain't leaving the sport of baseball just yet.

Matt Adams, who played for the St. Louis Cardinals from 2012-2017 and in the back end of 2018, announced his retirement as a professional baseball player over the weekend on social media.

As part of his retirement, Adams will sign a ceremonial one-day contract with the Cardinals and will be honored Wednesday, Sept. 18 at Busch Stadium.

Adams, who will be most remembered by Cardinals Nation for his clutch three-run home run against Clayton Kershaw in game four of the 2014 NLDS, joined Chris Rongey and guest host John Hancock on 'The Chris and Amy Show' to discuss his retirement.

"It was a difficult decision because my body still feels great, I still feel like I got stuff left in the tank to go out there and keep performing at a high level" said Adams. "It's just that, my agent and my wife kind of joked with me a couple days ago, it like 'you keep performing year in and year out, but you just keep getting older.'"

"The game where it's at now, it's very exciting but it's very young and I see where the game is going and I still want to be a part of that, just in a different capacity."

Adams says retiring as a Cardinal was important to him as Adams still considers St. Louis home for he and his family.

"2016 was the first year I made St. Louis home full time and the memories I have with the Cardinals, the home run off Kershaw, them giving me my opportunity to chase every kids dream of playing professional baseball and making it to the major leagues, they gave me that opportunity" said Adams. "They have been super super great to me and my family."

"I took a chance, reached out and told them I want to retire as a Cardinal and they were able to make that work."

Looking back at his career, Adams highlights winning the 2019 World Series with Washington Nationals and the home run off of Kershaw as notable moments during his playing career, but Adams says what he cherished the most was the relationships he was able to create with his teammates and coaches.

"The friendships and relationships I have built in this game will stay with me for a lifetime," said Adams. "The highlights on the field are great, but I love the relationships I have built that are going to last even when I take the uniform off and get off the field. The guys that took me in and took me under their wing, I met some really really cool people along the way."

While Adams playing career is over, his passion and love for the game still remains, which is why he says he's looking for coaching opportunities in post-playing career.

"I feel like I can help that next generation of professional baseball players kind of show the way of how to be a true professional, go out in the field and leave it all out there," said Adams.

Adams says he will look to remain on the professional level, and says he does have dreams and goals of being a big league manager one day.

"Don't know how fast I can get there, but I believe that my path in baseball, I've seen a lot of things, dealt with a lot of things so I feel like I can be one of those managers, a players manager that understands the game really well, that's long term," said Adams.