I thought that was interesting. It seems like nowadays, when a big leaguer retires he either A) Lives off his earnings and doesn’t get what many would be considered a real “job” B) Gets another job inside baseball, as a coach or scout or manager or executive or what have you.
Do you guys know of any other modern ballplayers (1990-today) that took up “everyman” jobs after they quit the game?
Looks like Mr. Schwinden had all of 7 games under his belt in the show. That’s not much of a career and certainly not enough to live off his earnings for very long at all.
Guys like this are a dime a dozen, having a sip of coffee in the bigs and then moving on with their life. I personally know three guys who played anywhere from a dozen to maybe a hundred games in MLB and became a teacher, a sales manager for a nutrition company and a supervisor at a food manufacturing facility. Guys who spend most of their career in the minors don’t make much money.
I worked with a guy who had been a professional football player. Not in the NFL but he had played in the CFL and USFL. He had been successful enough to play for several years and had been on a championship team in the USFL.
When I knew him he was a Rec Supervisor in the prison I worked at. He was the guy in charge of the rec programs in the gym and yard. (I was the guy in charge of the security in the gym and yard.) Not a bad job but nothing extraordinary.
As did Patriots center Bill Lenkaitis. Padres pitcher Dr. Steve Arlin was a dentist even before his MLB career. Al Spalding of the Red Sox, well, you know by the name what business he went into.
If you’re on a MLB roster for 43 days, you qualify for a pension of $1,000/month at age 62. You don’t even have to get your uniform dirty.
Of the three guys I know, I suspect one of them may not have been on a roster for 43 days. Another was popped for PED use and “retired” before serving a suspension. Not sure if that impacts the pension eligibility or not.
Stars make a ton of money. Guys who get a “cup of coffee” don’t. But what about a pretty good player who stays in the majors for 5 years or so?
One such guy was Andre Robertson, who became the Yankees shortstop while I was in college. He spent about 5 years in the majors, where he was a very good glove man and a decent hitter.
I know that after a car wreck caused an injury he could never quite come back from, he returned to his home town in East Texas, and spent at least 20 years working at the local chemical plant.
I’m sure he isn’t hurting for money, and he’ll have a very comfortable retirement. But it just goes to show, an ordinary player with a 4-6 year career isn’t rolling in dough.
In sports, the really megabucks are made by the stars. Not just in salary, but endorsements, sponsorships etc make. Never mind average players, even regular long term starters who did not get to superstardom, often have mundane post retirement careers.
Take soccer player Steve Finnanfor instance. Was in the Liverpool starting XI for years and won a European Cup in 2005 and was runner up in 2007.
Years ago I went on a factory tour/ tech visit to one of our vendors. 2 brothers were co-president after their Dad retired. Walking past one office I saw two pictures on the wall and a football on a shelf. Very subtle and I noticed by accident. The guy played 4 years as DB for the Bills and the Colts.
One of the linemen from the Buffalo Bills during their 4 year superbowl run is now an airline pilot.
Pitcher Len Barker (he threw a perfect game) had a construction company in the Cleveland area for about 15 years but I think they recently closed. “Perfect Pitch Construction” of course.