Abrupt retirements

The Bjorn Borg one is very good.

 

Sidd Finch

 

He was coming off three straight seasons of 1,500+ yards. That was a dispute with management, no? And the thought he could make more money on TV?

 

That seemingly would make them, by definition, wrong.

 

It's strange that the obsession with Magic was whether he was gay, rather than whether he was an IV drug user.

 

I remember being really surprised as a kid when Phil Esposito retired in mid-season in 1981, less than a year removed from a 34-goal campaign.

Bobby Clarke suddenly retiring three years later at age 34 to become the GM of the Flyers was another such moment.

 

Another I just remembered ...

Jackie Jensen --- hit 28 homers and knocked in 112 runs with the 1959 Boston Red Sox, then abruptly retired due to a paralyzing fear of flying (this was right at the time when teams were beginning to travel regularly by air)

Came back for a year in 1961, then retired again. He was 34.

 

Next week at the Sixers' home opener (so, yeah, anything but abrupt):

www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2013/10/18/allen-iverson-to-officially-retire-oct-30-reports-say/

 

The statistics other than games played were not wrong. And the games played statistic was wrong because of a typo (that would have been pretty easily understood had anyone thought about it for 10 seconds). It's fixed, anyway. I apologize for the error.

 

Mike Reid.

And Double Down.

 

Obviously not nearly on the same level, but Garth Snow retiring as the Islanders' backup goalie to become their GM was, well, unexpected.

 

Didn't Clarke win the Selke his last season?

Also, Ken Dryden