A press conference was held on August 18, 1992 for the Boston Celtics to announce the retirement of Larry Bird. Senior Executive Vice President Dave Gavitt spoke a few words, followed by team president Red Auerbach. Finally, Larry approached the podium and began to speak.
“Well, it’s a little rough today, but we’ll try to get through it the best we can.”
It was the end of an era, as one of the greatest players of an entire generation decided to step down after 13 seasons.
His final regular season game was four months prior, in Larry’s home state of Indiana. He nearly had a triple-double, with a stat line of 16 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists.
Before the announcement, there had been no pageantry and the Pacers hadn’t given Larry a silly gift like a key to the city or a hickory basketball.
The opposing Celtics did not celebrate the career of one of their players, and Pacers fans did not give him a standing ovation. Both teams played a regular season basketball game as if it were a regular season basketball game, and nothing more.
Fast forward 31 years to the Oakland-Almeda County Coliseum, and the Athletics are giving Miguel Cabrera a $90 bottle of wine in honor of his illustrious career. Earlier in the season, the Dodgers gave the Tigers slugger the Hollywood Star, and the Texas Rangers gave him a custom-made horse saddle.
Why did the teams do this and how did they know this would be his last season? This is because after the 2022 season, Miggy announced that the 2023 season Detroit Tigers the season would be his last.
It has become common for stars to announce their retirement before the start of their final season, then spend the season collecting gifts from every team they play.
In 2013, Yankees closer Mariano Rivera retired. The Boston Red Sox assigned him number 42 on their scoreboard, as he was the last MLB player to wear that number. The Minnesota Twins gave him a rocking chair made from exploded bats. When Derek Jeter followed in his teammate’s footsteps on tour the following year, he received anything from bronze bats to cowboy boots.
Isn’t it time to stop appeasing the egos of these prima donna mega stars? Is it too much to ask of a professional athlete to leave the game with the grace and class of Larry Bird? Apparently this is the case.
Miguel Cabrera won’t be the last professional athlete to pirouette around every stadium’s warning track to celebrate the swan song of his career. It is important that these people are celebrated every second of the day to remind them that they are better than most. They are idols worshiped by beer-guzzling grown men in baseball jerseys who shout obnoxiously from the cheap seats.
They are so smug. They’re so involved, or maybe deep down they’re just embarrassed and need reassurance that they’re important.
And I know I probably look like the grumpy old man who yells “Get off my lawn!” but I believe we are entering an era of athletes who received ninth-place trophies as kids and now want a reward for everything they do.
Miguel Cabrera is an extraordinary ball player. He deserves to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. I’m sure he’s an incredible guy and a great teammate, and if the Tigers want to throw him a going away party, I have no qualms about it, but he doesn’t need to be celebrated like a king by all the teams he played. I am not playing.
Following. Athletics gives Miguel Cabrera the worst retirement gift ever. Athletics gives Miguel Cabrera the worst retirement gift ever. dark
