A few years back, a set of dentures inadvertently fell from the back pocket of aging pitcher Gaylord Perry as he returned to the dugout.
At the end of that season with the Seattle Mariners, Perry decided to face the tooth, the whole tooth and nothing but the tooth. He retired from the game.
Today, several other long-of-tooth players are dropping clues–perhaps not quite as conspicuously as Perry–that their glory days have come and gone.
Steve Carlton, George Foster, Graig Nettles, Steve Garvey, Ron Cey, Dave Concepcion, Carlton Fisk, Reggie Jackson . . . we`ve all heard the names, surveyed the evidence and arrived at conclusions. Not all oldies are goodies. But who can accurately draw the line between gradual erosion of talents and absolute professional embarrassment? Are the long-term, million-dollar contracts at fault? In short, when is enough enough?
As former outfielder Jay Johnstone put it: ”When you get older, you`re no longer a prospect, you`re a suspect. When you`re young and you`re in a slump, it`s okay and they say you`ll get over it. But when you`re old and in a slump, they say you`re done.”
Those were the whispers heard last season behind the back of Cey, the Cubs` 38-year-old third baseman.
”People have been saying that I`m too old for the last five years,”
said Cey, who has rebounded from a poor 1985 to a productive 1986. ”As long as you remain productive and work hard at what you`re doing, age shouldn`t matter.”
But the numbers haven`t been there to substantiate the salaries and patience for other former stars, such as the White Sox`s Carlton. He was released by the Phillies this summer after he refused to retire with dignity. He was signed by the Giants, where he continued to flounder. That same inconsistency has been shown with the Sox.
”I think Steve Carlton can still pitch,” said 45-year-old Reds player-manager Pete Rose, who has struggled to regain his top form. ”We faced him the night he struck out his 4,000th. I think he`s kind of lost some confidence in his fastball. I think he still has a good fastball and he`s got to utilize it.
”He threw some good fastballs at us that night . . . blew a couple of guys away. He blew Eric Davis away and he`s a pretty good fastball hitter. I think Carlton just has to tell himself that he`s still got a good fastball. Then the rest of the stuff will all work.”
Meanwhile, Rose continues to vacillate about his retirement plans. Reds`
first baseman Tony Perez, on the other hand, already has announced he will hang up the spikes at the end of the year.
Nolan Ryan of the Astros is 39 years old and has spent two tours on the disabled list this season. But he has a 9-8 record for the NL West leaders.
Cubs` manager Gene Michael played against Ryan several years ago. Last Wednesday night in Houston, against the Cubs, Michael saw Ryan win his 250th game.
Michael, 48, said he remembers being able to make contact against the major league`s all-time strikeout king when they played in the American League.
”When Nolan was with California, he could smoke it and I used to hit him,” Michael said. ”But I don`t know if I hit him for a high average. I know I could hit his fastball and make contact. I think I swung better than I hit him. I used to cheat on that fastball, just sit on the fastball and cheat. ”He got me out with that curveball, though. He has a great curve. Since he has been older, he added a change-up. He`s got to slow down sometime. But right now he looks just as sharp as he did when played against him. He`s amazing.”
Leaving the game with dignity is the dream of every athlete. Former Cubs` pitcher Milt Pappas did not have that honor and is bitter to this day.
”It crosses your mind that sooner or later you`re going to have to get out of the game of baseball,” Pappas said. ”I guess the key is that you want to go out in a dignified manner and go out with a bang as opposed to having the manager tear the uniform off your back before you make a fool out of yourself.
”Unfortunately, I didn`t have the case of the dignity, because I was in spring training with the Cubs in 1974 and had one of the best springs I ever had.
”There were 14 (pitchers) in camp and I had already won 209 games. I had won more than all the other 13 guys put together. I was throwing great and had a great spring. Then (former manager) Whitey Lockman called me in about two days before the camp was going to break and told me I was going to be released. I was in total shock. I didn`t know the reason why.”
When Pappas was told that he didn`t fit into the Cubs` plans, he responded: ” `Well, my friend, if I don`t fit into your plans then there`s something very wrong with you. I feel I`m as good or better than anybody you`ve got here. I`ve helped all the young pitchers out in spring training on my own time. I know I`m not going to be around forever. But this is not the way I should get out of the game of baseball.`
”I was only 33, so I felt I still had a few good years left in me. Why Whitey Lockman did that to me, to this day I still don`t know. That`s not the way a career should end.”
As a team player representative, Pappas said it became difficult for him to catch on with another ballclub.
”Back at that time, player reps were dead,” Pappas said. ”They were really looked upon by management as evil. That really hurt me getting another job.”
Johnstone, released by the Dodgers after last season, spent 17 years in the big leagues, including several years as a pinch-hitter with the Cubs.
”You know when you get older you have to do a lot more things to prepare yourself to play,” Johnstone said. ”I think a lot of these guys know deep inside that they have the capability to do what they did 10 years ago. But they might not be able to do it everyday. Pete Rose is a perfect example. He inserts himself in the line-up in certain situations when he knows he can be at his peak and at his best and still perform at the level he did 10 years ago.
”I think Steve Carlton realizes he doesn`t have that devastating slider he had 10 years ago, but he`s come up with another pitch. He still thinks he can get people out. When you see glimpses of that, you always know you still have something. It just comes down to putting it all together one particular time.
”George Foster has the ability to still hit the ball out of the ballpark. Given a chance now in the American League to be a DH 10 days in a row, he might be able to perform like the old George Foster. But as an older player sits on the bench, it`s very tough to come into a situation to pinch-hit or play once every 10 days. I think managers have to realize that. They have to play the veterans more regularly to keep them from getting too rusty. Johnstone said retirement ”was a tough adjustment for me. But I had something to fall back on. Maybe some of these other guys don`t have anything planned. They may be monetarily set, but once they get out of baseball, they might not have any other goal for themselves. That might be another reason for an older player to stick around for one more year, that one last chance for glory, just like in the movie `The Natural.`
”If you weren`t a competitive person, you wouldn`t be in the major leagues in the first place. It`s not just the money. Players like the adulation that comes from people cheering when you do something great. That`s very tough to have to give up.”
