Reliever Daniel Hudson announces his retirement from MLB, just minutes after winning the World Series with the Dodgers

In the minutes following the Los Angeles Dodgers' championship win on Wednesday night, veteran reliever Daniel Hudson did just about the coolest thing a player can do after winning the World Series: He announced his retirement.

“That was the only reason I came back — to come out victorious,” Hudson, 37, told Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. “And that’s exactly what happens.”

It's a fairytale ending to a career that was often anything but – not every pitcher has as many World Series rings as Tommy John surgeries.

Hudson, a Virginia native, was selected in the fifth round of the 2008 draft by the Chicago White Sox after a college career pitching for Old Dominion University. He made his MLB debut just 15 months later, in September 2009, and the following year he started full-time for the White Sox – until they traded him to the Arizona Diamondbacks at the trade deadline.

But Hudson thrived in Arizona. As a 24-year-old, he had a fantastic season in 2011, pitching 222 innings in 33 starts and posting a 3.49 ERA. But then the problems began. He tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing arm and underwent Tommy John surgery in July 2012, requiring a full year of rehab. And just as he was on the verge of his comeback in June 2013, he tore another cruciate ligament during a rehab stay and had to undergo a second Tommy John operation.

Hudson spent over two full years off the mound for the D-Backs. At the end of 2014 he was finally able to return, no longer as a starter but as a full-time substitute.

Coming back from Tommy John surgery is hard, which is why you rarely hear about pitchers coming back from two Tommy John surgeries and being successful. Hudson came back from two TJs, but he didn't have that success until a few years later.

After a few serviceable but unspectacular stints with Pittsburgh and Los Angeles, Hudson was unemployed in March 2019. He decided to sign a one-year contract with the Toronto Blue Jays, which changed the course of the final five years of his career. He pitched like gangbusters for the Jays, who pulled off a trade that sent him to the Washington Nationals.

And at the Nationals, Hudson found the success he was looking for. He had a 1.44 ERA in 24 appearances with the Nats and then accompanied them on their wild postseason tour that ended with the franchise's first World Series championship. Hudson even made headlines after the season when he missed Game 1 of the NLCS to attend the birth of his third daughter, a decision that was fully supported by his teammates and coaches despite drawing the ire of some fans and analysts pulled.

Hudson returned to the Dodgers in 2022 and remained with them for the remainder of his career. He tore his ACL in 2022 and battled knee problems in 2023, but the Dodgers invited him back in 2024 and he decided to return. He said the only reason he wanted to come back was to win the World Series and come out victorious, and he managed to be one of the few MLB players to actually take full advantage of that.