Farewell tours in sports come and go. Some are painful – yes, we’re looking at you, Kobe Bryant. Some end in injury. Others end in defeat. Some end their careers as champions. Some wait too long to give it up.
And some farewell tours are just downright brilliant. They leave us near speechless, wondering why this man would leave a game he’s still dominating. Yes, we’re now looking at you, David Ortiz.
Ortiz has spent the better part of his 17-year career leaving his imprint on the game of baseball, forcing Hall of Fame hardliners to reconsider their stance on designated hitters getting enshrined in Cooperstown. His jaw-dropping October antics of the past should have prepared Red Sox Nation for this final curtain call, but it didn’t. There’s almost no way anyone could have expected the 24 home runs, .330 batting average, .673 slugging percentage Ortiz, 40, has already put up this season with retirement rapidly approaching.
With Ortiz’s surreal swan song as a backdrop, here’s a look at some other famously memorable (or forgettable) farewell tours.
Arguably two of the most competitive athletes to ever play, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant both probably tried to hang on a little too long. And it didn’t help that the teams they ended their careers on were historically terrible.
Jordan averaged a career-worst 20.0 points per game in his final year with the Washington Wizards. At 39, Jordan managed to play all 82 games of the 2002-03 campaign. Unfortunately, he was one of three players to average doubles figures on a team that stumbled to a 37-45 record and finished 24th of 29 teams in offensive production.
Bryant played in 66 games last season for the Lakers, who ended a franchise-worst 17-65 season with one feel-good moment after another. Bryant, a 20-year veteran, averaged 17.6 points per game and 2.8 assists, the third lowest assist total of his career. In the two seasons prior to his retirement, he played in just 41 games. Sure, Bryant scored 60 points in his final game, but he also took FIFTY shots.
Jordan and Bryant each spent nearly two decades terrorizing the rest of the league, combining for 11 NBA titles and six MVP trophies. But they finished their careers as mere shells of the giants they once were.
Despite the minor detail that he may have actually gotten away with murder at one point in his career, the farewell tour Ray Lewis embarked on in 2012 is likely envied by most men who played a professional sport.
The former Baltimore Ravens linebacker tore both triceps during a game midway through his final season and some doubted if the then 37-year-old would return at all. After missing the final 10 regular-season games, Lewis announced his plan to retire just before the Ravens opened postseason play. Baltimore, perhaps inspired by their fearless leader’s last hurrah, went on to win the Super Bowl.
Lewis led the defense in tackles in three of his last four games and capped his 16-year career at midfield of the Superdome in New Orleans, holding the Lombardi Trophy high above his head.
As is the case with most farewell tours these days, it was clear that Derek Jeter’s game was declining when he decided to hang it up. But it’s not always about how you start your retirement season. It’s about how you end it.
Jeter, a lifelong Yankee, marked his brilliant 20-year career with a memorable final home game. Although his retirement tour technically concluded with a 2-for-5 performance at Fenway Park three days later, it was Jeter’s final game in the iconic white and navy blue pinstripes that he will be best remembered for.
New York led the visiting Baltimore Orioles 5-2 heading into the ninth inning, but a three-run rally tied the game at 5, setting the stage for Jeter’s final at-bat. Jose Pirela singled to open the bottom of the ninth inning. Pinch-runner Antoan Richardson advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and Jeter took the first pitch – how fitting – off Evan Meek to right field, driving in Richardson for his third RBI of the night.
The image of a jubilant Jeter leaping into the air between first and second base one last time as his teammates surrounded him is one that will live forever in Goosebump City.
According to USA Today, David Ortiz is on pace to “smash” the Wins Above Replacement mark for players in their retirement season in the post-World War II era. His batting average is 50 points higher than his 162-game average. His slugging percentage (.673) and on-base percentage (1.096) going into Friday’s game would both be career highs if the season ended today.
The statistics are eye-popping, much like everything else Ortiz has done during his career in Boston.
There’s always been plenty of debate about whether or not he’s earned a spot in Cooperstown, his head cast in bronze along with the rest of baseball’s greats, a Red Sox hat fit snug on his head.
This is Ortiz’s curtain call; his one last answer to that question he’s heard for the better part of the last 10 years – do DHs belong in the Hall of Fame? At this point, it’s going to be tough to say no.
(Michelle Berthiaume can be reached at 369-3338, mberthiaume@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @MonitorMichelle.)