Recent MLB retiree David Peralta created many unforgettable memories in his nine years with the Arizona Diamondbacks, the 2017 National League Wild Card game among the most vivid.
Known to D-backs fans as the “Freight Train,” Peralta announced his retirement from baseball Wednesday on his Instagram.
After being released by the St. Louis Cardinals as a pitcher in 2009 and three following seasons of independent ball, Arizona gave him a shot in 2013. Peralta thrived as an outfielder and won a Silver Slugger Award in 2018 and a Gold Glove in 2019.
The 38-year-old said his dream was no different than any other little Venezuelan boy: to play in the big leagues.
“That was the only team out of 30 teams in MLB, D-backs was like, ‘OK, we’re going to give a chance to David and see what he got,’” Peralta told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo Thursday. “That’s all I needed, one chance, and they give it to me.”
It was in his fourth season with the Diamondbacks that Peralta found himself as a fixture in the NL Wild Card against the Colorado Rockies, which was then a single game before transitioning in 2022 to being a best-of-three series.
Peralta’s recollection of the game extends well before reliever Archie Bradley’s two-RBI triple in the seventh inning gave Arizona some cushion in an 11-8 win.
He said he was close to a “heart attack” during pregame work at Chase Field.
“I’m a hyper guy. I was excited as it was a postseason Wild Card game, stadium was packed, all the D-backs fans,” Peralta said. “In the first inning, I was leading off and I got a base hit and all I hear is the stadium going crazy.”
After a six-pitch single, then-shortstop Ketel Marte put the first pitch he saw from righty Jon Gray in play. Peralta said he wasn’t able to catch his breath at third base before first baseman Paul Goldschmidt sent the two of them home on a three-run home run.
“I’m like, ‘You got to be kidding me,’” Peralta said. “I got to the dugout, and I was talking with (second baseman) Daniel Descalso, and I’m like, ‘Bro, I think I’m going to get a heart attack. Like, my heart is about to get out of my chest.’”
David Peralta, the longtime Diamondbacks outfielder who retired yesterday, reminisces about the 2017 Wild Card Game at Chase Field on @BurnsAndGambo.
“It was the best. … It was one-of-a-kind, for sure.” pic.twitter.com/IM7p3ftSAs
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) February 6, 2026
The left fielder added two more hits in the second and sixth innings and registered two runs scored in five at-bats.
Peralta slashed .283/.340/.463 overall with Arizona, hitting 110 home runs and 191 doubles. He also led the league in triples twice (2015 and 2021).
He then was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays at the 2022 deadline in exchange for catching prospect Christian Cerda.
Peralta posted nine hits (two doubles), one home run and four RBIs in 13 career postseason games with the D-backs (four in 2017), Rays (one in 2022), Los Angeles Dodgers (three in 2023) and San Diego Padres (five in 2024).
No one hit was more special for Peralta than his first, which came during Peralta’s MLB debut on June 1, 2014, against the Cincinnati Reds.
“I couldn’t feel my legs to be honest,” Peralta said. “When I hit a base hit here, it was like a flashback of my whole career. … I’m never going to forget that day.
“It’s hard to describe emotion like (that). I still watch that video (of my first hit) almost every day.”
Dodger David Peralta didn’t like boos, would ‘love’ giving back to D-backs
He only spent one season sporting L.A. blue and white, and Peralta sure got an ear full at Chase Field. And not for his fan-favorite “choo, choo” signal.
“The only thing that I didn’t like about the Dodgers is me going to the D-backs and I was getting booed,” Peralta said. “I’m like, ‘Come on.’”
Peralta said the 2023 D-backs’ run to the World Series was “well-deserved,” but he wasn’t a fan of being on the other side of a 3-0 sweep in the NLDS.
“When everything was over that year, I was like, ‘Well-deserved,’” Peralta said. “They work, they did the right thing, and they work better than us when I was with the Dodgers. That’s what it is.”
He’s only a few days into retirement and said time with his three kids and wife will be a top priority.
A return to Arizona — perhaps not unlike Jake Lamb joining the coaching staff — would be welcomed.
“I would like to help all of this young generation that are coming up,” Peralta said. “To share my experience, to share my story, to let them know how I did it. If I did it, anyone can make it, too.”
