GET IN THE GAME - Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson

Former MLB player Nick Ahmed, July 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt York)

After 12 seasons in Major League Baseball, veteran shortstop Nick Ahmed is hanging up his cleats.

Best known for his long tenure with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Ahmed announced his retirement Thursday during an appearance on Sports Spectrum’s “Get in the Game” podcast, hosted by former MLB pitcher Scott Linebrink.

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“With a lot of careful time, prayer, reflection and conversation with my wife, Amanda, I’m officially retiring from playing baseball,” he said. “It was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make in my life, for sure.”

Baseball was his “first love,” Ahmed said, and “something that I’ve enjoyed almost more than anything besides my faith and family and life.”

He continued later: “The game has given me so much, and I have so much to be thankful for from it. But now it’s time to move on — move on to the next chapter of life and embrace that journey.”

Ahmed made sure to give thanks to God in his announcement, saying that without Him, his career would never have been possible. He also thanked Amanda, whom he started dating in high school and who has supported him throughout his baseball journey.

“To play this game with a family is very challenging and taxing,” he said on the podcast. “And I had the absolute most amazing wife at home supporting me, encouraging me, holding it down at home, just raising our children extremely well. Through all the highs and lows that I had, she was constant and always there.”

Ahmed spent 10 seasons as a shortstop for the Diamondbacks, winning back-to-back Gold Glove Awards in 2018 and 2019 while also enjoying arguably his best offensive production. He hit 16 home runs with 70 RBIs in 2018 and 19 home runs with 82 RBIs in 2019. Both of his 2019 totals were career highs.

Ahmed remained Arizona’s regular starter at shortstop until an injury-riddled 2022 season, and he was designated for assignment and released late in the 2023 campaign. He spent last season bouncing between the San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres before signing with the Texas Rangers this February.

The Rangers released him for good on May 2.

Ahmed entertained a couple of offers to continue playing, but the mounting injuries and the prospect of losing out on family time ultimately swayed him.

“It was time to move on, and God made that very clear after a lot of time and prayer after I got let go by the Rangers this year,” he said on the podcast. “So it didn’t end exactly how I wanted it to. Every player wants to go out on top and win the World Series and then ride off into the sunset. But that wasn’t the story of my career. And I’m OK with that. I’ve come to accept that.”

9 years ago today I got to make my MLB debut and fulfill a childhood dream! A lot has changed since then including 3 kids and lots of ups and downs but I am still going thanks to God, my incredible wife and so many other family members, friends, coaches and teammates! pic.twitter.com/gEL94NusB7

— Nick Ahmed (@NickAhmed13) June 30, 2023

Despite all of the on-field success throughout his MLB career, Ahmed had perhaps his most significant moment on a baseball diamond in 2013, when he surrendered his life to Christ in the middle of a game with the Double-A Mobile (Alabama) BayBears. By that time, the Holy Spirit had been stirring in his heart for a while and he couldn’t ignore the conviction any longer.

The euphoria Ahmed experienced in his new life in Christ contrasted sharply with the hollowness of his life before.

The Atlanta Braves drafted Ahmed in the second round of the 2011 MLB Draft out of the University of Connecticut, and after enjoying a nice signing bonus, he was expecting to find ultimate fulfillment in the perks that came with being a successful baseball player.

“I realized really quickly that I was still empty, that I was still missing something,” Ahmed said on “Get in the Game” in 2021. “I didn’t know what it was at the time, so I just dove in deeper to trying to be the best player I could, striving for that achievement and success each and every day.”

Then, he got traded to the Diamondbacks and had to navigate all that comes with being traded across the country, including a long-distance engagement with Amanda. Meanwhile, he was struggling on the field and his dreams of playing in the majors grew dimmer by the day.

“I was the worst baseball player you could imagine,” he said in 2021. “I played every single day for two months, and I don’t know why I kept playing. I was so bad.”

He faced everything from anxiety and depression to worry and fear, and he had no way to deal with any of it. His minor league manager, Andy Green, walked through it all with him. “[Green] opened my eyes to what it meant to be a man of faith in the game of baseball,” Ahmed said.

Green eventually invited Ahmed to Baseball Chapel, a ministry where pastors minister to baseball players. It was then that Ahmed got his first Bible and began to read it regularly.

“I realized I was doing life my way, and God wanted me to do it a completely different way,” he remembered in 2021. “Hot night in Mobile, and I had two terrible at-bats to start the game. I just realized that I had no clue how to live life and I was jacking it up real bad.

“So I ran out between the fourth and fifth inning to shortstop. … I just turned around and faced center field, closed my eyes and prayed and asked God to come into my life. I surrendered my way of living and said, ‘I’m going to trust You and follow You.’ I felt the Holy Spirit come in, felt this overwhelming sense of peace, and I’ve just been walking with God ever since.”

In retirement, Ahmed plans to devote more time to his company, 7Pillar, which he and his brother, Mike, founded “to help athletes and coaches build unshakable foundations across identity, mindset, lifestyle, relationships, nutrition, fitness, and recovery.” He is also eager to spend more time with his family, and above all, to talk about Jesus whenever he can.

“Whoever I come into contact with, just sharing the love of Christ with them, just letting my cup be filled up by Him so that I can overflow out into the lives of others,” he said on Thursday’s podcast episode. “… Just being a servant and being a good steward of the people, the relationships, the time and the connections that I’ve been able to make through the game is something I’m very excited about.”

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GET IN THE GAME – Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson

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