Adam Dunn Will Retire

This is a legitimate bummer: after waiting 14 years and 2,001 games to make it to his first-ever postseason, Adam Dunn never got into last night's game. And now he's says he's calling it a career.

Adam Dunn was still fully dressed at 1 a.m. Central time as the A's clubhouse had all but emptied out.

"This is probably it," he said.

Dunn had started nearly every game against righties since coming over from Chicago in a waiver-deadline move, but never quite slugged enough to justify his low—even for him—OBP. It was clear that Bob Melvin was thinking defense last night, starting Geovany Soto behind the plate and Sam Fuld in left, and that left Dunn the odd man out.

"I guess the computer got me," Dunn said, a joking Moneyball reference.

Dunn has 16 career strikeouts in 35 at-bats against James Shields, so Melvin thought he'd be more useful on the bench. A pinch-hitting situation came up in the 12th, with a runner on and one out, but Melvin sent up Alberto Callaspo instead because he assumed the Royals would have walked Dunn. "I just didn't think they would have pitched to him," Melvin said.

Dunn retires with a .237 batting average, 462 home runs, 1,317 walks, and 2,379 glorious strikeouts.