Edgar Renteria retires as a two-time World Series Champion. (USATSI)

Long-time big league shortstop Edgar Renteria has decided to retire from baseball, he told RCN Television in his native Colombia.

"I'm definitely retired from baseball and it will soon be announced in the majors," said Renteria. "I decided to retire from baseball and try to spend all my time with my family.

"I always wanted Colombia to know before the rest of the world. This is my official retirement," he added. "I feel proud, I feel satisfied with what I did, my heart is telling me that's enough and it's time to retire. You have to know when to retire, and that's why I took a year and a half to rest and think about what I was going to do. This is the right time."

Renteria, 36, did not play in 2012. He last appeared in the big leagues with the Reds in 2011, when he hit .251/.306/.348 in 96 games. Renteria retires as a .286/.343/.398 (94 OPS+) career hitter with 140 homers and 294 stolen bases in part of 16 seasons. His best years came with the Cardinals, with whom he hit .290/.347/.420 (98 OPS+) from 1999-2004. He also suited up with the Marlins, Red Sox, Braves, Tigers, Giants and Reds.

A two-time World Series MVP, Renteria had not one but two World Series winning hits. He hit the walk-off single in the 11th inning of Game 7 of the 1997 Fall Classic while with Florida, and in 2010 he hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the 7th inning of Game 5 of the 2010 World Series for San Francisco. He also played in the 2004 World Series with St. Louis.

By WAR (28.9), Renteria is by far the best Colombian-born player in MLB history. Orlando Cabrera is a distant second at 18.1. Renteria finished second to Todd Hollandsworth in the 1996 NL Rookie of the Year voting and was an All-Star five times. He also received a handful of MVP votes in 2002 and 2003. According to Baseball-Reference.com, Renteria banked just over $85 million in his career.

Batting Stats
Year Team G AB R H HR RBI BB SO SB CS OBP SLG AVG
1996 FLA 106 431 68 133 5 31 33 68 16 2 .358 .399 .309
1997 FLA 154 617 90 171 4 52 45 108 32 15 .327 .340 .277
1998 FLA 133 517 79 146 3 31 48 78 41 22 .347 .342 .282
1999 STL 154 585 92 161 11 63 53 82 37 8 .334 .400 .275
2000 STL 150 562 94 156 16 76 63 77 21 13 .346 .423 .278
2001 STL 141 493 54 128 10 57 39 73 17 4 .314 .371 .260
2002 STL 152 544 77 166 11 83 49 57 22 7 .364 .439 .305
2003 STL 157 587 96 194 13 100 65 54 34 7 .394 .480 .330
2004 STL 149 586 84 168 10 72 39 78 17 11 .327 .401 .287
2005 BOS 153 623 100 172 8 70 55 100 9 4 .335 .385 .276
2006 ATL 149 598 100 175 14 70 62 89 17 6 .361 .436 .293
2007 ATL 124 494 87 164 12 57 46 77 11 2 .390 .470 .332
2008 DET 138 503 69 136 10 55 37 64 6 3 .317 .382 .270
2009 SF 124 460 50 115 5 48 39 69 7 2 .307 .328 .250
2010 SF 72 243 26 67 3 22 21 43 3 0 .332 .374 .276
2011 CIN 96 299 34 75 5 36 24 65 4 2 .306 .348 .251
Total   2152 8142 1200 2327 140 923 718 1182 294 108 .343 .398 .286