Ozzie made more than $31M during his MLB career, so he shouldn't be broke. Guess he isn't very sentimental about awards hardware.

A bunch of his business ventures have failed in the last couple of years so it wouldn't surprise me if his debt obligation forced this.

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif.

from TFA. I know California and if he's living there, he ain't exactly struggling yet. This is a nice part of the world to live.

this was a relative steal at $3,307...

https://catalog.scpauctions.com/LotDetail.aspx?lotid=21447&auctionid=24&page=0&sortby=0&displayby=2&lotsperpage=100&category=1

Ozzie made more than $31M during his MLB career, so he shouldn't be broke. Guess he isn't very sentimental about awards hardware.

He does a lot of ads for a divorce attorney in Missouri, and he personally vouches for his services, so I'm guessing that is a reason.

Someone should have told Glenn Beck the gloves are not REAL gold.

He does a lot of ads for a divorce attorney in Missouri, and he personally vouches for his services, so I'm guessing that is a reason.

So let's do simple maths. Gross $31 mil, taxes(U.S. rates, I'm guessing, let's say 40% on average), so that's $12 mil gone, agent(what 5-10%), so that's another $4 mil let's say. Divorce, wife gets half of leftover, so that's another $7 mil. He's left with $8 mil to live on for the next 40 years...it really ain't too much if you make a bad investment or two. That house in Laguna Niguel could easily run you $3-4 mil and if you bought at the wrong time; well....

Ozzie Smith sells Gold Gloves for cash

How did Ozzie fit such a big glove into the little prepaid, pre-addressed envelope?

And isn't it dangerous to carry around that much cash?

#7, he retired in '96, so assuming his investments did nothing more than keep up with inflation, that 8MM is actually about 12MM.

It really all depends on how leveraged he was when everything went south and how he liked to spend his money when it wasn't in an investment. If he's selling his stuff after holding onto it for decades that isn't a good sign.

He thought he was doing so on the advice of Hank Aaron, but in reality it was M.C. Hammer.

I was surprised to see that he had been given 2006/2011 world series rings, since I was under the impression that his spat with LaRussa meant that he wasn't going to have anything to do with the franchise until TLR left. I certainly can't remember him being around at all those years, other than the occasional "drop by the booth and chat" kind of thing. Never saw him at spring training, etc.

Sounds like he'll be in ST next year, though. Good news.

Had the Fielding Bible Awards been around when Ozzie played, he could have auctioned off Dewan's congratulatory fax too.

So let's do simple maths. Gross $31 mil, taxes(U.S. rates, I'm guessing, let's say 40% on average), so that's $12 mil gone, agent(what 5-10%), so that's another $4 mil let's say. Divorce, wife gets half of leftover, so that's another $7 mil. He's left with $8 mil to live on for the next 40 years...it really ain't too much if you make a bad investment or two. That house in Laguna Niguel could easily run you $3-4 mil and if you bought at the wrong time; well....

Players, especially star players, make a lot more money than their published BBREF salaries.

"#7, he retired in '96, so assuming his investments did nothing more than keep up with inflation, that 8MM is actually about 12MM."

That would also assume that his living expenses over the last 35 years were zero.

People have blown bigger fortunes than Ozzie had in shorter amounts of time. Others have turned such fortunes into much bigger ones. Not enough info here, but the fact that he's selling his GG's is not a good sign.

I'm fairly sure Ozzie had a few endorsement deals over the years... and FWIW - his appearance fee looks like its $20k-$30k a pop....

That would also assume that his living expenses over the last 35 years were zero.

It would also assume his savings prior to '96 earned zero. Say he saved a mere $100,000 every year he played since his first big contract in 1983, and that money earned a measly 5%. That would be worth nearly $5 mil right now.

It is easy to mock Smith for blowing a lot of money, but I bet he's had a good deal of help disposing of his riches. Obviously, we don't know his family/friends situation, but for a lot of pro athletes their success is treated similarly to how people react to someone in their circle winning the lottery. Wonder how many of those folks who've hit him up for a "loan" over the years have paid him back? It is a shame people can't just congratulate a guy on his good fortune and instead look to take advantage of him. Leagues & (some) agents have gotten better in recent years and teaching players to protect their earnings, but player still needs to make final decision to follow that advise.

It is easy to mock Smith for blowing a lot of money, but I bet he's had a good deal of help disposing of his riches. Obviously, we don't know his family/friends situation, but for a lot of pro athletes their success is treated similarly to how people react to someone in their circle winning the lottery. Wonder how many of those folks who've hit him up for a "loan" over the years have paid him back? It is a shame people can't just congratulate a guy on his good fortune and instead look to take advantage of him. Leagues & (some) agents have gotten better in recent years and teaching players to protect their earnings, but player still needs to make final decision to follow that advise.

Basically every player with significant earnings should do a Bobby Bonilla style salary deferral. If you defer $20M in salary at ages 25-34, to pay off at ages 51-75, you can buy a lot of income.

$1M p.a. deferred in ages 25-34, at a 5% deferral, will generate almost $2.0M in annual income from ages 51-75. It's a win-win for the player and team.

There was an SI article about how quickly many or most athletes go broke. It's amazing. You guys should read it. The average new millionaire athlete is like the average lotto winner, just hellaciously stupid with spending and investments, stupendously prone to fraud. They often invest virtually none of their money in the market and all of it in supersketchy small businesses and such.

he retired in '96, so assuming his investments did nothing more than keep up with inflation

Given that he's now selling off his awards, I would assume his investments did quite a bit less than that.

There was an SI article about how quickly many or most athletes go broke. It's amazing. You guys should read it. The average new millionaire athlete is like the average lotto winner, just hellaciously stupid with spending and investments, stupendously prone to fraud. They often invest virtually none of their money in the market and all of it in supersketchy small businesses and such.

...and without Dykstra's Players Club around to steer them right, it's only getting harder.

Wow, his autographed 1996 helmet went for over $20,000...

Last game-worn glove, autographed, went for $23K.

A nice piece is the team-signed Braves jersey given to Ozzie at his last game in Atlanta, with autographs from a few HOFers and HOVGs: Glavine, Smoltz, Chipper, McGriff, Andruw Jones, Bobby Cox, etc. Only went for $3500K, seems low compared to some of the other stuff...

Lowest-yielding item: Four-hundred and some-odd dollars for the lamest of the "farewell" gifts presented to Ozzie by opposing teams, this one from the Marlins (no surprise), a simple framed photo of Ozzie at the plate. The Cubs gave him a framed No. 1 from the Wrigley Field scoreboard, the Pirates gave him a large crystal No. 1, the Phillies gave him a weird porcelain bowl that at least embodied something historical and unique about Philadelphia. But a framed photo? Seems kind of like an afterthought...

I'm sure the Marlins probably felt like the new hire who in their first week is asked to chip in to pay for a coworker they've barely ever interacted with retirement party and gift.

In fairness to the Marlins, I doubt there was adequate time to get an Ozzie Smith retirement gesture in front of the Miami council for public money offsets...

Maybe he's just a sabr-geek and doesn't place any personal value on Gold Gloves.

I'd be pretty sure he wouldn't be doing this unless he needed the money. He's had a failed restaurant, a divorce, and no one has hired him for one of those high-paying announcer jobs or even as a coach since he's retired. I think he tried to do a little writing or blogging, but that probably didn't pay much. So he's been reduced to pitch man revenue and appearance fees, which probably wouldn't keep up with his expenses.

I was surprised to see that he had been given 2006/2011 world series rings, since I was under the impression that his spat with LaRussa meant that he wasn't going to have anything to do with the franchise until TLR left. I certainly can't remember him being around at all those years, other than the occasional "drop by the booth and chat" kind of thing. Never saw him at spring training, etc.

The Cardinals award WS rings to their living HOFers. Essentially he got those because he's a made man.

no one has hired him for one of those high-paying announcer jobs or even as a coach since he's retired.

That really is surprising, if you think about it. He hosted This Week in Baseball for a while, so you'd think he'd be able to talk in front of a camera for somebody. Alternatively, as the greatest ever at an aspect of the on-field craft, you'd think he'd get a chance to coach it...

Wasn't he the host of the short-lived "Baseball Bunch" reboot?

How much money did he lose down the bottomless pit?

So this is like the guy on the FanDuel.com ads who won $247,000 last year and bought 'a new house, a 65 in LCD TV, and took a really nice vacation with his wife'?

The Cardinals award WS rings to their living HOFers. Essentially he got those because he's a made man.

That's pretty cool... or at least, it would be if it were a point of concern for my team of interest.