Reese Kaplan - Know When To Fold 'Em

This week in baseball headlines we learned that Mark Mulder was forced to give up his comeback attempt after a five year hiatus due to yet another injury.  It called to mind the great many players who retired too soon from the game after showing great promise.

Ryan Dempster was also in the news this week, voluntarily walking away from $13.25 million for the 2014 season to spend more time with his family and to work on the foundation honoring his daughter who is suffering from DiGeorge Syndrome, a rare genetic condition that makes muscular control extremely difficult, requiring a feeding tube and therapy simply to swallow.  Between a nagging neck injury and his 10 month old daughter’s situation, Dempster felt he could not devote the proper focus to play at a professional level.  By walking away, he’s actually going to lose money as his agent still gets his cut despite Dempster being put on the restricted list. 

In 2011 Gil Meche felt he was not earning his $12 million contract and told the Kansas City Royals he would instead retire rather than take their money for a subpar performance.

About seven years ago Keith Foulke reached a similar conclusion while playing for the Cleveland Indians.  After serving as a leading closer in Boston, he realized that his body was just not up to the challenge and felt it was wrong to take Cleveland’s money for the duration of his contract. 

Closer to home, we saw that uber-prospect Reese Havens also hung up his glove this year after realizing that the injuries that plagued him throughout his career curtailed his big league career even before it got started.

 

I’ll never forget as a child when Johnny Bench decided to hang it up at the age of 35.  Unlike others who walked away due to a myriad of injuries like Ralph Kiner and Sandy Koufax, Bench simply felt he could no longer perform at the Hall of Fame level he’d established throughout his career.  As a child I was disappointed to see such a huge star bow down, but as an adult I realize the courage and fortitude it took to make that decision. 

Al Rosen once hit 43 HRs and drove in 145 for the Cleveland Indians while hitting a robust .336 but three years later at just age 32 he gave up the game. 

Original Met Jay Hook lost 19 games in the inaugural 1962 season and then retired at age 28 to take a job with Chrysler instead of continuing his baseball career. 

Hall of Famer Al Spalding walked away from the game in his 20s not due to injury but because he felt his future was better with his fledgling sporting goods company that bore his name. 

Of course, there are others who persist through a multitude of health maladies, determined to make it back.  Grady Sizemore is one example of someone with a world of talent who has not been able to play steadily since 2009.  Jenrry Mejia is another example of someone who was no longer in fans’ heads, yet last year put on a Matt Harvey-like show in five starts before yet another injury felled him for the rest of the year. 

Who are some of the players that you were impressed that took the high road when they realized they just couldn’t do it anymore?  There are probably far more Frank Franciscos who urged others to do as little as possible and just keep collecting a check.  Former Met Derek Bell was pretty public about his “Operation Shutdown” with the Pirates who eventually cut him but were still obligated to pay him.