He's still alive?

Hopefully they just mistook Randy Wolf for Jenkins and Wolf is actually retiring.

I hope that Mike Lamb gets to retire as a Ranger. To this day it kills me that Dean Palmer had to retire as a Tiger.

I hope that Randy Wolf and Jake Fox don't sneak into the Mike Lamb retirement party. That could be a mess. I still recall when Jim Hunter crashed the Rob Deer retirement announcement. Fortunately, Bob Moose got away just in time.

Two part question here:

1. What does it mean to "retire as a Brewer"? Do they actually have to sign him to a major league contract or something? Does he get to send in his retirement papers with a Brewers logo on it? Does he actually have to go to Milwaukee? How much paperwork is involved on the team's side?

2. When Melvin says "happy to oblige", is there any actual work or obligation from the team, or is it just being nice?

I get the sentiment, but it seems kind of pointless to me.

EDIT: although obviously #3 disagrees.

I don't see why this should be limited to professional athletes... I worked as a camp counselor during the summer when I was in high school. I fully plan to go back there when I'm 65 and ask them to rehire me so I can retire from the first place I earned a paycheck.

If he's not on the 40-man roster for a day, it doesn't count.

Yes, but is Jenkins a Hall of Famer?

He's still alive?

Never saw him retire

Never saw him retire

You'll see him do it as a Brewer.

I get the sentiment, but it seems kind of pointless to me.

I've always felt the same way but I was iN Fort Myers for Nomar's one day contract this spring and the ceremony before the game was actually fun.

Yes, but is Jenkins a Hall of Famer?

I think there was somebody here that considered Roger Maris to be about the equivalent of Geoff Jenkins as a ballplayer outside of 1961. Which, if you entirely ignore offensive context, isn't the most ridiculous comparison ever made - Maris's career line: .260/.345/.476 v. Jenkins: .275/.344/.490; Jenkins hit 221 HRs, Maris hit 214 excluding 1961; AROM actually has them very close in fielding too (48 fielding runs for Jenkins; 47 for Maris).

Of course, Maris isn't a Hall-of-Famer, and when you consider offensive context, the Maris/Jenkins comparison becomes a lot more ludicrous (career OPS+: 127 for Maris, 113 for Jenkins). So, no.

"What does it mean to "retire as a Brewer"?"

Nothing.

What's an all-star team of guys who returned to their Glory Days franchise at the end of their careers?

Fergie Jenkins. That's the only one I can think of off the top of my head.

Hank Aaron returned to his glory days town, but left his glory days franchise in doing so.

What's an all-star team of guys who returned to their Glory Days franchise at the end of their careers?

Ken Griffey Jr.
Tony Perez
Pete Alexander
Pete Rose
Eddie Collins
Reggie Jackson
Chuck Klein
Willie McCovey

Hank Aaron returned to his glory days town, but left his glory days franchise in doing so.

Ditto for Willie Mays, Jimmie Foxx, and (sort of) Babe Ruth. That would actually be a much better team.

What's an all-star team of guys who returned to their Glory Days franchise at the end of their careers?

Dick Allen and Jim Bunning both returned to the Phillies before retiring.

Not at all the same thing, but Sammy Sosa started and ended his career with the same team (the Rangers).

I don't see why this should be limited to professional athletes... I worked as a camp counselor during the summer when I was in high school. I fully plan to go back there when I'm 65 and ask them to rehire me so I can retire from the first place I earned a paycheck.

This is a great idea. After I close my law practice, I'm gonna sign a one-day contract with the produce market where I got my start, spending the day rounding up carts in the parking lot and mopping smashed grapes off the floor.

What's an all-star team of guys who returned to their Glory Days franchise at the end of their careers?

Reggie Jackson
Don Sutton
Willie McCovey
Early Wynn

Hank Aaron returned to his glory days town, but left his glory days franchise in doing so.



Ditto for Willie Mays, Jimmie Foxx, and (sort of) Babe Ruth. That would actually be a much better team.

Dizzy Dean and Rogers Hornsby too. Cy Young did it twice.

Ken Griffey Jr.
Tony Perez
Pete Alexander
Pete Rose
Eddie Collins
Reggie Jackson
Chuck Klein
Willie McCovey

Don Sutton.
Mordecai Brown
Early Wynn

Hank Aaron returned to his glory days town, but left his glory days franchise in doing so.

Ditto for Willie Mays, Jimmie Foxx, and (sort of) Babe Ruth. That would actually be a much better team.


Rogers Hornsby

Cokes around.

Dizzy Dean and Rogers Hornsby too.

And if you really want to stretch it, old KC Monarch Satchel Paige.

I've always felt the same way but I was iN Fort Myers for Nomar's one day contract this spring and the ceremony before the game was actually fun.

Yeah, but you can have a ceremony for a former player without going through the "retire as a..." rigamarole.

Hopefully they just mistook Brett Favre for Jenkins and Favre is actually retiring.

fixed

Of course, Maris isn't a Hall-of-Famer, and when you consider offensive context, the Maris/Jenkins comparison becomes a lot more ludicrous (career OPS+: 127 for Maris, 113 for Jenkins). So, no.

I was thinking the WAR might be pretty close but TZ doesn't see Jenkins as great (+48 overall) and sees Maris as just as good (+47 overall), so Maris is 20 wins ahead (in 1 season's extra PA but that's a small matter).

On the "return" team, Joe Morgan's an interesting case. He did go back to Houston for a season at age 36 ... and then he spent 3 of the next 4 years in the Bay Area where he grew up.

Not his first team but certainly the one where he made his mark, Randy Hundley came back to the Cubs to the bitter end -- not necessarily a triumphant return though. Still, he's the only C nominated so far.

And add Glavine to the list (though are we counting cases where the team might have actually expected the player to not suck?)

Here's a question: over the FA era (and maybe the whole integration era), which are better: the sentimental return AS team or the one-team-only AS team. The latter starts off with at least Bagwell, Biggio and Ripken (and no doubt Jeter will join that team too but we can't say for sure yet). I can't imagine the one-team-only team will have much of a pitching staff though (eventually Mo in the bullpen).

Not his first team but certainly the one where he made his mark, Randy Hundley came back to the Cubs to the bitter end -- not necessarily a triumphant return though. Still, he's the only C nominated so far.

If Pudge had retired at the end of last season, that would have been perfect.

Phil Niekro

There are plenty more HOVG guys like Minnie Minoso, Orel Hershiser, David Cone who retired with their Glory Days team. Also Wee Willie Keeler and Eddie Murray.

For the "returned to the same city, different team," add Gil Hodges, Yogi Berra.

Then there's the much-rarer "retired with the archrival of their Glory Days team" -- Juan Marichal, Duke Snider, Roger Clemens, Jeff Kent

Al Simmons.

Tony Fernandez

Tony Fernandez

Fermandez had four different stints with the Blue Jays. I didn't know that until I just looked him up. I wonder who had the most different stints with the same club?

I wonder who had the most different stints with the same club?

As a player, check Bobo Newsom & the Senators.

Overall, Billy Martin - player, manager, manager, manager, manager, manager, & announcer.

Fermandez had four different stints with the Blue Jays. I didn't know that until I just looked him up. I wonder who had the most different stints with the same club?

Rickey Henderson was on the A's four different times.

Then there's the much-rarer "retired with the archrival of their Glory Days team" -- Juan Marichal, Duke Snider, Roger Clemens, Jeff Kent

I guess Jackie Robinson "retired with" the Giants, in the same sense that these other goofballs "retire with" teams for whom they never actually play.

Not his first team but certainly the one where he made his mark, Randy Hundley came back to the Cubs to the bitter end -- not necessarily a triumphant return though. Still, he's the only C nominated so far.

He gets nudged off by Gary Carter. Heck, he gets pushed aside by Jim Sundberg.

I don't see why this should be limited to professional athletes... I worked as a camp counselor during the summer when I was in high school. I fully plan to go back there when I'm 65 and ask them to rehire me so I can retire from the first place I earned a paycheck.

Word. I'll sign a one-day contract with the Olympic Greeting Card company for whom I sold cards door-to-door when I was nine.

I wonder who had the most different stints with the same club?

Bobo Newsom had 5 different stints with the Senators.

edit: Nevermind.

For the "returned to the same city, different team," add Gil Hodges, Yogi Berra.

Well, Berra never left the city. But if he counts, so does Ron Santo.

Thanks, guys. I should have known it would be Bobo, considering how often he got traded...

The Expos did that a lot. Apart from Carter mentioned above (I was at his last game in '92. The place went crazy when he hit a double over Andre Dawson's head for a double in the 7th, scoring the only run of the game), there's Tim Raines (although he retired as an Oriole). Rusty Staub and Andres Galarraga came back as old but not quite finished players. Mel Rojas and Oh Henry Rodriguez came back for disastrous stints.

If the Expos were still around, you can bet that Pedro would be on the team.

PRESS RELEASE
ST LOUIS, MISSOURI, USAC, EARTH
JULY 16, 2055

EARLY SABERMETRICIAN LICHTMAN TO RETIRE AS CARDINAL

Mitchell G. Lichtman once was a key participant in the sabermetric movement that revolutionized baseball in the early 21st century. On Sunday, his first Major League employer, the St. Louis Cardinals, will sign Lichtman to a 1-day consulting contract so that he can retire as a St. Louis Cardinal.

Although Lichtman hasn't been employed by a baseball team since the Mount Royal (Mars) Expos in 2035 and he freely admits that he doesn't understand hypergeometric latent-markov Bayesian time-varying mixture developmental trajectory models -- the basic tool of baseball statistics that every 13-year-old fan knows these days -- he says it's been his dream for the last 25 years to retire as a Cardinal. "St. Louis always felt like home to me and I'll never forget ..." after which his voice trailed off, unable to recall whatever it was.

Daniel Q. Szymborski III, head of the Cardinals' Simulated Baseball division and grandson of the first US (now USAC) Secretary of Simulations Daniel Q. Szymborski I, said: "I hadn't a clue who this Lichtman, or MGL as he was known at the time, was but my dad told me that he was a colleague of my granddad's before my grandfather's work proved that there was no point playing the games, we just needed to simulate them. (Obviously this was before the assassination of my grandfather.) The Cardinal family is always happy to welcome back one of its own."

When asked about Lichtman, USAC President Emeritus Tom Tango replied "Get off my lawn" which we did when he released the hounds.

Kenny Lofton ended his career with the Indians. He wouldn't be the worst defensive replacement/pinch runner in the world for the Return To Glory Days team.

Desnnis Eckersley came back for one last year with Boston. Whether his best years were as a starter in Boston or a reliever in Oakland is a matter of debate. BJ Surhoff, anyone? Two stints in Baltimore - one in his prime, and one at the end of his career.

Chuck Klein spent four different stints with the Phillies as well.