Anthony Rendon’s MLB birthday: Why reaching 10 years service time is so important for major leaguers
Anthony Rendon lightly ran around the bases on a sunny Wednesday afternoon at Angel Stadium. The star third baseman was in the process of scoring his 657th career run, driven in by Hunter Renfroe’s home run in the bottom of the second inning of the Angels’ 5-4 matinee loss to the Houston Astros.
Rendon’s run was significant, not for being a milestone, but because it came on a particularly special day of his career: He officially reached 10 years of service time. Rendon went two for four with the one run scored and contributed a single to the Angels’ ninth-inning rally but was left stranded even after a two-run home run by Shohei Ohtani pulled the Angels to within one.
Reaching 10 years of service time has an impact on players’ lives after their baseball career. It guarantees the maximum benefit of a players’ pension, if he decides to collect that amount at 62 years old, the players’ union said.
But the milestone is particularly noteworthy considering fewer than 10% of big league players last that long, according to the union.
“It is a big deal,” said manager Phil Nevin, who played 12 big league seasons. “When you’re kids and playing in Little League, it’s like, ‘I just want to play in the big leagues.’ And you just want that one day. There’s thousands of minor leaguers out there that have.
Shohei Ohtani surpassed Babe Ruth in career pitching strikeouts but suffered his first loss this season as the Angels fell 3-1 to the Houston Astros.
“To get 10 years in this league, there’s a lot of things that go into it,” Nevin continued. “You have to love the game. You got to be good at it. And you don’t accomplish the things that Tony has done in his career … without work.”
In April, only four players reached the mark: Nolan Arenado (Cardinals), Avisaíl García (Marlins), Starling Marte (Mets) and Will Smith (Rangers). Including Rendon, the Angels have four players who have reached the 10-year mark: three-time American League most valuable player Mike Trout, reliever Matt Moore and reliever Aaron Loup, who reached the standard last season. The team also held a small celebration for Rendon in the clubhouse.
“To say you played that long, make it that long, you had to be doing something right over the course of those years to hang around that long,” Loup said.
“Tony Two Bags,” a nickname bestowed on Rendon when he was a member of the Washington Nationals for his penchant for hitting doubles, certainly has a career filled with much success. Rendon led the National League with 44 doubles in 2018 and 2019, the year he won a World Series with the Nationals, was selected as an All-Star, collected his second Silver Slugger and finished third in MVP voting. He also was the 2016 NL comeback player of the year.
It has been a while since Rendon has reached that level of success, enduring season-derailing surgeries for freak injuries in his previous two seasons. In what he hopes will be his first complete — after the 2020 shortened season — and healthy year with the team, Rendon’s 2023 has started off with some bumps.
In addition to the four-game suspension levied against him at the beginning of April for his public incident with a fan, Rendon has made seven errors at third base, which leads the league among third baseman. (He had 11 errors in 2019 and a career-high 15 errors in 2014.)
He was not concerned his shoddy defense would continue.
“We’re just gonna keep on working. It’s part of the game. I’m human,” Rendon said before Wednesday’s game. “I just feel like I’m between a lot of hops, a lot of bad hops, weird plays. Not gonna happen all year, so just keep on grinding.”
This season, Rendon also has shown glimpses of what he’s capable of as a defender, with a few highlight-reel plays. He had two during the homestand, one of which was against the Texas Rangers last Friday — on a low line drive that easily could have bounced from the infield dirt to the outfield grass, he dove to make the catch mere inches from the ball hitting the ground.
At the plate, Rendon’s keen eye has helped him to a top-five on-base percentage (.418) in the AL. He’s batting .292 and hit his first home run of the season in Tuesday’s game against the Astros. Rendon joked, “I’m not Tony Four Bags.” His career high in homers is 34 in 2019.
Zach Neto went from being drafted by the Angels to playing for the parent club in less than a year. His parents are still surprised by his whirlwind rise.
Rendon is not a flashy player and typically does not like talking about himself or his accomplishments. In a scrum with reporters Wednesday, he said, “We got 26 guys on this team, doesn’t matter if I’m doing good or bad, matters if we win.”
Jared Walsh, who calls Rendon a best friend, described him as no-nonsense guy who shows up to do his job and has very much earned his 10 years of service time for the way he goes about his business.
If Rendon can remain healthy during the season and continue to make strides, the 10-year service time mark might not be the only thing he could celebrate this year and beyond.
Go beyond the scoreboard
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