Veteran catcher/first baseman Mike Napoli announced his retirement from baseball on Saturday.Napoli, 37, played 12 seasons in the major leagues, starting with the Los Angeles Angels and followed by Texas, Boston and Cleveland. He had three stints with Texas.He had hoped to rejoin the Indians in 2018 and was with Triple-A Columbus in April when he suffered a season-ending knee injury.An All-Star with Texas in 2012, Napoli appeared in three World Series — one each with the Rangers, Red Sox and Indians — and was part of Boston’s 2013 championship team. He hit 30 or more homers twice and had one 100-RBI season during his career.In a statement on Twitter, he thanked his family, teammates and fans. He said he would pursue other career opportunities in baseball.”I am proudest of positively affecting peoples’ lives and putting smiles on peoples’ faces by simply being myself, reflecting the way I was brought up in South Florida,” Napoli wrote. “I played through many injuries as well as major surgeries and I would do it all over again the exact same way.”Napoli had a career batting average of .246. He hit 267 home runs and drove in 744 runs in 1,392 games.
