Former Phillies ace Cole Hamels (finally, officially) retires

If you’re reading this headline and think there’s been some kind of mistake, I assure you, there has not. You’re reading that correctly. Although you might not have realized it before today, Cole Hamels was still hanging around, trying to make one last comeback with the San Diego Padres.

That comeback attempt, however, is over. The Padres announced on Friday that Hamels, who hasn’t pitched since 2020, is officially retiring from baseball.

For the Padres, announcing Hamels’ retirement might have been as simple as an offhand tweet. But for Phillies fans who remember Hamels, 39, for all the games he won in red pinstripes, the announcement may be a little harder to swallow.

After being the team’s first-round pick in 2002, the lefty spent the first 10 years of his career with the Phillies — including 2008, when he was the ace of the staff and won World Series MVP while helping deliver the city its first title in 25 years — and made a trio of All-Star Games. In that decade in Philly, Hamels went 114-90 (.559) with a 3.30 ERA and 294 starts. He also threw 14 complete games, including seven shutouts and a no-hitter in his final start with the Phillies before being traded.

» READ MORE: Looking back at Cole Hamels’ top moments in a Phillies uniform

But what Hamels will be most remembered for is his run in the 2008 playoffs, when he went 4-0 and allowed just seven total runs through five starts, earning that World Series MVP title.

After leaving Philly via trade in 2015, Hamels pitched for five more seasons, including with the Rangers, Cubs, and Braves. Most recently he was with his hometown Padres, signing a minor league deal as he tried to come back from multiple surgeries he underwent after signing with the Dodgers in 2021.

A candidate for the Phillies Wall of Fame — and potentially Cooperstown — it would be nice to see the Phillies bring Hamels back on a one-day contract so he can officially retire with the team that drafted him.