Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas completed a United States citizenship exam last weekend even as the club remained in the Major League Baseball playoffs.

The 37-year-old Venezuelan first reached the country at 16 as a Cincinnati Reds prospect, has worked here more than 20 years, and has raised two children in the United States. He sought naturalization for his family and their future after a long professional career that let him absorb the nation’s culture.

Rojas tied Game 1 of last year’s World Series with a ninth-inning homer off Toronto’s Jeff Hoffman; Will Smith later homered too, and Los Angeles won the championship, its second during Rojas’s tenure. The 13-year veteran had already announced this season as his last, so his playing career is ending as his life as a citizen begins.