Twins great Glen Perkins calls it a career

The three-time all-star retires after 12 seasons pitching for the Minnesota Twins ball club.

Minnesota Twins closer Glen Perkins has decided to call it a career. After an up-and-down career for Perkins, he’s decided to roll off into the sunset after 12 seasons in the major leagues as a relief/closing pitcher.

Rumors began early Wednesday morning that the three-time All-Star has decided to hang up his cleats and begin a new chapter in his life.
Perkins confirmed the reports on Twitter Wednesday, and gave insight onto what he plans to do with his free time. Perkins had played 12 seasons in the major leagues, all of which were spent with the Minnesota Twins organization.

“Let me address the elephant in the room, I won’t be playing baseball anymore. I’ll spend my time brewing beer, smoking meat woodworking and hanging with my family. Or, the same things I have been doing just without the baseball part.”

The Stillwater, Minn., native has been brewing his own beer since October 2014. One of Perkins’ favorite parts about brewing beer is the discovery. “I never duplicated a recipe. I was just exploring different beers and what I like,” said Perkins, in a 2015 interview with the Growler.

The decision to retire was somewhat evident when the Twins declined to pick up his $6.5MM option for the 2018 season. The two scenarios that were predicted to happen when the Twins announced their decision was that Perkins would return to the organization on a minor league contract or retire.

Perkins has been somewhat of a mythical figure in the state of Minnesota. Born and raised in Stillwater, he went on to become a star in college for the Minnesota Golden Gophers’ baseball club. Perkins was later drafted in the first round of the 2006 MLB Draft by the Minnesota Twins.

Perkins had a good career with the Twins organization, being named to the All-Star team three different times, including in 2015 when the All-Star Game was played in Minnesota. After a few injury rittled years, Perkins retires with a career total of 120 career saves, which was the third-most all-time in Twins history, with a 3.88 ERA in 409 career games for the Twins.