Free agent infielder David Eckstein, who won the 2006 World Series MVP Award, is ready to donate a kidney to a family member reports Steve Henson of Yahoo Sports.

Every member of the Eckstein family eventually goes under the knife to donate or receive a kidney. They suffer from a collective inability to filter toxins and waste products from their blood.

David, has been left out because of his baseball career, but now that he’s out of a job and one of his sisters and several nieces and nephews are showing signs of renal failure is his turn to step up and enter the OR.

“Everything my family went through gave me a life lesson at an early age that a game is just a game, it’s not life-or-death,” he said. “But along with that, it taught me to never take a day for granted.”

“I’m looking forward to the transplant,” he added. “I consider it a privilege. I knew at some point it would be my turn.”

This doesn’t mean he is retired, he had several offers says Henson, but turned them down because he felt the opportunity wasn’t right. Although his father says he is retired, his brother Rick, the hitting coach of the Diamondbacks, says he is not.

Eckstein has played ten Major League seasons with the Angels, Cardinals, Blue Jays, Diamondbacks and Padres. He is a lifetime .280/.345/.355 hitter with 35 HR’s and 392 RBI’s. He also has two World Series rings, one with the Angels in 2002 and one with the Cardinals in 2006, where he won the World Series MVP Award.