Five Ps that retired after launching beauties

Every player wants to retire while still near the top of their career, but the reality is that not many are that lucky. Tons of stars kept playing long after that, only to see their foot speed, hand-eye coordination, and talent fade over the years.

That’s why it’s so special when a star manages to get that last breath and relive their best days for the last time.

Here we leave you, then, with a look at 10 pitchers who said goodbye in style, leaving aside figures–hitters or pitchers–whose careers were cut short by tragedy (Puerto Rican Roberto Clemente or Cuban José Fernández , among others) or because they were expelled from baseball (members of the “Black Sox”, such as “Barefoot” Joe Jackson, Happy Felsch, Buck Weaver and Eddie Cicotte).

Koufax is the ideal example of a player who came out of baseball on top — even higher than Williams. The legendary left-hander led the majors in wins (27), ERA (1.73; career best), complete games (27), shutouts (five), innings pitched (323) and strikeouts (317), unanimously winning his third Cy Young Award and placing second in the voting for the MVP award. Koufax’s loss in Game 2 of the 1966 World Series to Jim Palmer and the Orioles, in which he allowed three unearned runs on three errors by Dodgers center fielder Willie Davis, was the only blemish on a season of dream.

But Koufax shocked baseball in November by announcing his retirement due to severe arthritis in his pitching arm. Koufax explained the decision to forfeit the remainder of his historic salary like this: “If there is a man who has a dead arm and you tell him he can get it back, but it will cost him a lot of money, he will give you every penny he has.”

Mussina’s final season may have been the most impactful on his path to the Hall of Fame. Mussina was a brilliant pitcher during his 17-year career, finishing in the top five in Cy Young voting five times, winning six Gold Gloves and coming out victorious in 250 games, but a 20-win season was what was missing In his senior year, Mussina became the oldest pitcher to have a 20-win season at age 39, in addition to completing 200.1 stretches and leading the AL with 34 starts. He became the first pitcher to retire after winning 20 games in a year since Koufax. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019.

Schilling emptied the tank in his 20th and final season in the Majors. Pitching well into his 40s, Schilling posted a 3.87 ERA (123 ERA+; his best in four years) with the Red Sox during the regular season before shining again in the playoffs. Schilling pitched seven scoreless stretches to seal Boston’s ALDS Game 3 sweep of the Angels and then rebounded from a difficult ALCS Game 2 start against Cleveland to win Game 6 – tying the record for most victories in a duel in which his team risks life, with four. A solid one-run start in Game 2 of the World Series against the Rockies helped his team lift the trophy, the third of Schilling’s career before hanging up the hooks.

French was a workhorse during his prime years with the Pirates and Cubs, throwing a screwball that helped him average 15 wins and 245 innings per season from 1931 to 1940. Many thought he ran out of gas at the end of 1941, then to be 5-4 with a 4.51 ERA. The Cubs put him on waivers, but learning to throw the knuckleball helped him resurface the following year with the Dodgers. French won his first 10 decisions and finished the season 15-4 with a 1.83 earned run percentage. That was his last campaign before enlisting for World II, at the start of a 27-year career in the Navy.

Tudor returned to the Cardinals after a year and a half with the Dodgers and time sidelined for Tommy John surgery and procedures on his shoulder and knee. Tudor’s fastball didn’t go over 78-80 mph, but he had a great start to the season, allowing only three runs in his first 28 innings. He finished with a 12-4 record, a 2.40 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP over 146.1 stretches of duty. He won the Comeback Player of the Year Award at National and later announced his retirement.