Abrupt retirements

Right. Jordan's first retirement had nothing near the same "holy shit" factor.

Sure it was obvious Jordan could play for a few more years and the baseball stuff sounded like bullshit, but it was also obvious he had more than enough money he could walk away and sit on the beach the rest of his life any time he felt like it.

Magic's was, "holy shit!"

 

What made Magic's retirement a "holy shit" moment was because people were shocked that he had HIV.

Jordan's retirement was a bit surprising, but I think a lot of people understood his father's death had been hard on him and he needed a break from the NBA.

 

Some others who haven't been mentioned:

Jackie Robinson --- was traded to the Giants following the 1956 season, but quit instead to become an executive for the Chock Full O' Nuts coffee company

Kenny Stabler --- turned the ball over three times in the fourth quarter of a mid-October loss to the Cowboys, retired four days later

Allen Iverson (although I don't think he actually retired immediately, he definitely quit abruptly)

Bjorn Borg --- was only 26 years old

Back to the original post, Dye did not really retire, it's that he was old and a terrible outfielder and no one wanted to sign him at his asking price. There's a difference between him and guys like Barry Sanders and Marvin Hagler, who clearly had plenty of good years left in the tank.

Yeah, and Magic went on the Arsenio Hall Show the next day and denied he was gay, and the crowd erupted in applause (it's about about the 3:50 mark):

 

Jake Plummer was a pretty big one that seems to go overlooked.

 

Brandon Lloyd

 

Brett Favre.

 

Allen Iverson still hasn't retired.

 

Versatile, your Schmidt stats are wrong. He played 108 games in 1988 and 42 in 89 when he retired. His numbers did drop off dramatically in 88, but they weren't so bad for the year he retired, although not great.

 

And by abrupt, you mean every year for nine years...

 

I'll never forget that press conference. I've been to a few retirement pressers where athletes just sit there and sob, but I remember watching Schmidt's on TV and it rattled me at the time.

 

Babe Ruth --- quit on June 2, 1935, following an argument with Boston Braves owner Emil Fuchs, who had supposedly signed him with the promise to eventually make him manager

 

My stats are not wrong. I left off the zero from 150.