# What was the worst retirement in sports history? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 10, 2011, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-retirement-in-sports-history/577840 "2011-04-10T04:50:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-retirement-in-sports-history/577840/61 "2011-04-12T23:32:49Z")
Dale Earnhardt. ---
**Author:** ![mattomic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@mattomic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mattomic)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-retirement-in-sports-history/577840/62 "2011-04-13T04:26:27Z")
Not necessarily embarrassing, but how’s this for a classic dick move? Wikipedia on Billy Koch: > [@](#): > > Following the 2004 season he was signed to a 1-year contract by his original team, the Toronto Blue Jays. He was released by the team during Spring Training, at which time an angry Koch announced that he would not attempt to sign with another team, so that the Blue Jays would be on the hook for ‘every penny’ of his $950,000 salary. He has not played baseball professionally since then. > > During Toronto’s 2nd game of the season at Tampa Bay, Koch showed up at the game wearing a replica jersey of Aubrey Huff, at the time a Devil Rays player. Koch joked with the Toronto Bullpen, heckling the Blue Jays and calling one of the pitchers a “bum”. Koch commented that he planned to take 240 students from his children’s Tampa area grade school to the game, and planned to have them hold up a sign saying ‘Go Devil Rays’ ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-retirement-in-sports-history/577840/63 "2011-04-13T04:35:07Z")
Remember Mark Martin’s Tribute to the Fans Retirement Tour 2005? It was so successful, he came back for 2006. After that, he nearly won the Daytona 500 in 2007. He even managed to win 4 or 5 races and finish second in points in 2009. He’ll be at Talladega this weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-retirement-in-sports-history/577840/64 "2011-04-13T18:47:12Z")
> [@markdash](#): > > Roberto Clemente. That was not pathetic. Heroic if anything. And so sad. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-retirement-in-sports-history/577840/65 "2011-04-13T18:52:33Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > There also was Joe Louis. he went on war bond raising tours during WW2. and raised a lot of money. He Heb toured the war camps and entertained and greeted the troops. > Then after the war, the IRS nailed him for back taxes and he was broke. So he came back and ruined his legacy by taking bad beatings. He was a overweight old man fighting on and on. Even worse, some of that money he had not paid taxes on was money had voluntarily donated to the US for the war effort. Since the US was not a recognized charity, he could not even claim a deduction. They hounded him for the rest of his life, although there wasn’t a chance they could collect. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-retirement-in-sports-history/577840/66 "2011-04-13T21:04:52Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Muhammad Ali hung on too long. True. I’m surprised Dundee even trained him for the Berbick fight after Ali was denied a US license and had to fight in the Bahamas. The thing about Ali’s last fight is that he was actually competitive, mostly because of his thorough grasp of boxing fundamentals. Realizing that Ali would have easily owned Berbick given any semblance of his former physical tools makes watching the final bout just that much more difficult. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-retirement-in-sports-history/577840/67 "2011-04-13T21:45:30Z")
And in the vein of tragic retirements, [Steve Little](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Little_(American_football)). A promising college kicker who was a bust in the NFL. Hours after he was cut by the St. Louis Cardinals, he was in a car wreck that left him paralyzed, and he spent the next 18 years being cared for by his brother. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-retirement-in-sports-history/577840/68 "2011-04-13T23:29:07Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > And in the vein of tragic retirements, [Steve Little](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Little_(American_football)). A promising college kicker who was a bust in the NFL. Hours after he was cut by the St. Louis Cardinals, he was in a car wreck that left him paralyzed, and he spent the next 18 years being cared for by his brother. This is what I was coming in here to post. The reason this stands out in my mind is because I grew up in St Louis and remember what a lousy kicker he was. I had gone off to college when the accident happened and my brother wrote me a letter telling me about how Little had been cut by the team, went out and got drunk, then drove his car into a highway sign on the interstate. My brother finished with the comment “I can’t believe it! He hit the post again!” ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-retirement-in-sports-history/577840/69 "2011-04-14T01:52:15Z")
How about Quincy Carter? (I suppose at age 33, a comeback is not entirely out of the question) but this guy managed to get himself fired from 6 different teams in 6 years for drug use! Seriously? A damn shame he had to go out like that, because he was, at one time, quite a talented quarterback. Absolutely no good reason he shouldn’t be playing in the NFL right now, except he couldn’t seem to stop smoking weed! What a waste! ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-retirement-in-sports-history/577840/70 "2011-04-14T01:54:29Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > This is what I was coming in here to post. The reason this stands out in my mind is because I grew up in St Louis and remember what a lousy kicker he was. I had gone off to college when the accident happened and my brother wrote me a letter telling me about how Little had been cut by the team, went out and got drunk, then drove his car into a highway sign on the interstate. My brother finished with the comment “I can’t believe it! He hit the post again!” Your brother has incredibly bad taste. He’s also very funny though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-retirement-in-sports-history/577840/71 "2011-04-14T02:04:58Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > went out and got drunk Widely believed, but to be fair to Little, never actually proven. And in one of those bizarre side stories, Cardinals owner Bill Bidwill, widely regarded as one of the cheapest bastards ever to own a sports team, kept Little on the team health insurance even though he’d been cut from the team before the accident. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-retirement-in-sports-history/577840/72 "2011-04-14T14:29:13Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > In that vein, I’d like to nominate Asashoryu as #3. Who? Exactly. A Mongolian sensation who shot up the ranks of Japan’s most venerable sport, sumo. Unfortunately, that “sport” is more like [pro wrestling](http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201102060136.html). What do you do when the whole sport is dirty? (And I never like Asashoryu. He seemed to much of a prick.) ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-retirement-in-sports-history/577840/73 "2011-04-14T14:46:45Z")
> [@TokyoPlayer](#): > > Unfortunately, that “sport” is more like [pro wrestling](http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201102060136.html). > > What do you do when the whole sport is dirty? > > (And I never like Asashoryu. He seemed to much of a prick.) I recently watched [Freakonomics](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freakanomics) and there was a bit about the cheating in Sumo wrestling. A wrestler needs to win 8 out of 15 matches to avoid demotion, wrestlers who are at 7-7 in a tournament are winning far more than they should against opponents who already have 8 wins. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-retirement-in-sports-history/577840/74 "2011-04-14T15:49:50Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Don’t forget Ryne Sandberg’s first retirement from the Cubs in June 1994. He quit in mid-season to “spend more time with his family”, while his wife stood by, beaming, at the press conference in a gaudy sundress. Seven days later he got divorced. (That’s right, _days_, not months or years.) It’s widely rumored that she slept with at the very least Rafael Palmerio and Dave Martinez. They were both long gone from the Cubs in 1994, but maybe her trip around the clubhouse didn’t stop there. Yuck! ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-retirement-in-sports-history/577840/75 "2011-04-14T16:51:31Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > It’s widely rumored that she slept with at the very least Rafael Palmerio and Dave Martinez. They were both long gone from the Cubs in 1994, but maybe her trip around the clubhouse didn’t stop there. Yuck! Didn’t Palmerio do some commercials for Viagra, or some similar drug? Guess the product works… ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-retirement-in-sports-history/577840/76 "2011-04-14T23:29:18Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > I recently watched [Freakonomics](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freakanomics) and there was a bit about the cheating in Sumo wrestling. A wrestler needs to win 8 out of 15 matches to avoid demotion, wrestlers who are at 7-7 in a tournament are winning far more than they should against opponents who already have 8 wins. The system is set up to encourage cheating. For all the ranks below _juryo_, the wrestlers are unpaid, then suddenly at the _juryo_ level, they get a monthly salary of US$12,500. They call the difference between the _juryo_ and the next lower rank, _makushita_ the difference between heaven and hell. It didn’t help that the association, when it decides on the matches has traditional paired someone who already has 8 wins (and thus will not face demotion) with a wrestler who is 7 and 7. So, it only makes sense for people on the edge of demotion to pay cash for a win. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-retirement-in-sports-history/577840.md?page=3)