recorded his 2,000th career hit, becoming the eighth full-time catcher to reach that milestone. In 2009, he had the lowest slugging percentage of any starter in the major leagues, at .305. During his two years with the Brewers his AVG, OBP, and SLG were .244, .329, and .315. Kansas City Royals (2010–2012) On December 11, 2009, Kendall signed a two-year contract with the Kansas City Royals. Kendall underwent season-ending surgery on September 3, 2010, on his right shoulder after an MRI exam revealed extensive tearing in his rotator cuff. He missed the entire 2011 season because of this injury. He became a free agent after the 2011 season. Kendall signed with Kansas City on July 19, 2012, to a minor league contract. He played in two games for the AA Northwest Arkansas Naturals before announcing his retirement on July 24. Post-playing career On May 14, 2022, Kendall was hired by the Pittsburgh Pirates to serve in a player development role. Career statistics In a fifteen-year major league career, Kendall played in 2,085 games, accumulating 2,195 hits in 7,627 at bats for a .288 career batting average along with 75 home runs, 744 runs batted in and a .366 on-base percentage. He finished his career with a .990 fielding percentage. Kendall holds the major league record for most career stolen bases by a catcher since the Dead-ball era with 189. At the time of his retirement in 2012, Kendall ranked second among major league catchers in career hits and doubles behind only Iván Rodríguez. He appeared on the ballot for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum 2016 election and earned two votes. Playing style Kendall was known as a fundamentally sound catcher who was very good at blocking pitches and handling pitching staffs, despite a relatively weak throwing arm. At the plate, Kendall was known for his very open batting stance and was a contact hitter who tended to "crowd" the plate. He was known to not use batting gloves. He was known as fiercely competitive, and was involved in several bench-clearing brawls. Kendall was also hit by pitches frequently as a result of his batting stance; he was hit 254 times, which is fifth all-time. Besides being a target for being hit by pitches, Kendall was a stolen-base threat. His 189 career stolen bases are second to Roger Bresnahan in all of modern era MLB history for stolen