Chicago Cubs World Series hero Dexter Fowler announces his retirement

Former Chicago Cubs center fielder and World Series champion Dexter Fowler announced his retirement on Twitter this morning.

Fowler played for five teams over a 14-year career that began when he was drafted by the Colorado Rockies out of High School in 2004. He made it to the Majors in 2008 and stayed in Colorado until he was traded to the Houston Astros in 2014. The following year, he was dealt to the Cubs in exchange for RHP Dan Straily and 3B Luis Valbuena.

Although he only spent two years on the North Side, Fowler made his presence known and played two of the best seasons of his career in a Cubs uniform. In addition to providing solid defense in center field, Fowler became an extremely effective lead-off hitter which spawned the mantra "You go we go" by then-manager Joe Maddon. Fowler's ability to get on base in his first at-bat famously culminated with a solo home run in game 7 of the World Series in 2016, where he took Cleveland ace Corey Kluber deep. Fowler also made his first and only All-Star team in 2016.

After the curse-breaking championship win in Chicago, Fowler signed a five-year $82.5 million contract with the St. Louis Cardinals. Although he found some success with the Cardinals, several injuries plagued his St. Louis tenure and he only came close to playing a full season in one of his four years with the Redbirds.

In the 2021 offseason, The Cardinals shipped Fowler to the Angels, where he was reunited with Joe Maddon. After playing seven games with the Angels, his career ended with a bad slide at second base that resulted in a torn ACL.

Although his playing career ended with that ACL surgery, Fowler told fans in his retirement post to stay tuned for what's next. Clearly he has something in mind for his post playing career and hopefully it involves the Cubs.