2005 American League Retirements

The baseball torch is passed from season to season and in some cases, from game to game. In 1911, Cy Young pitched his final Major League game, lost 1-0, and ended the final season of his career with a losing record of 7-9 and an ERA of 3.77. Young's opponent that particular day was a first-year pitcher named Grover Alexander who received the win, added to his league leading shutout total, and went on to begin his career with a winning record of 28-13 and an ERA of 2.57.

Bob Gibson, who was easily one of the most intense competitors of all time, gave up a grand slam to the last Major League hitter he faced, Pete LaCock of the Chicago Cubs. Fifteen years passed and when the two faced off during an old-timer's game, Gibson hit LaCock on his back with a fastball.

Babe Ruth summed it up when he responded to a question about retirement by saying, "A ballplayer should quit when it starts to feel as if all the baselines run uphill." Baseball Almanac is pleased to present a comprehensive list of American League League players who hung up their spikes in 2005.

"You start chasing a ball and your brain immediately commands your body to: Run forward. Bend. Scoop up the ball. Peg it to the infield. Then your body says, 'Who, me?'" - Retirement comment made by Joe DiMaggio
 

American League Retirements

2005

23, 19 James Baldwin Baltimore Orioles P 34
37 Napoleon Calzado Baltimore Orioles OF 29
3 Midre Cummings Baltimore Orioles OF 34
58 Alejandro Freire Baltimore Orioles 1B 31
15 Ramon Nivar Baltimore Orioles OF 26
25 Rafael Palmeiro Baltimore Orioles 1B 41
28 Keith Reed Baltimore Orioles OF 27
39 Steve Reed Baltimore Orioles P 41
17 B.J. Surhoff Baltimore Orioles OF 41
75 Walter Young Baltimore Orioles 1B 26
40 Alejandro Machado Boston Red Sox 2B 24
31 Matt Mantei Boston Red Sox P 32
10 David McCarty Boston Red Sox 1B 36
59 Blaine Neal Boston Red Sox P 28
19 John Olerud Boston Red Sox 1B 37
46 Matt Perisho Boston Red Sox P 30
10 Shawn Wooten Boston Red Sox C 33
65 David Sanders Chicago White Sox P 26
10 Shingo Takatsu Chicago White Sox P 37
58 Kevin Walker Chicago White Sox P 29
9 Jason Dubois Cleveland Indians OF 27
16 Juan Gonzalez Cleveland Indians OF 36
8 Jeff Liefer Cleveland Indians 1B 31
32 Kazuhito Tadano Cleveland Indians P 26
52 Doug Creek Detroit Tigers P 37
51 Vic Darensbourg Detroit Tigers P 35
57 Craig Dingman Detroit Tigers P 32
53 Sean Douglass Detroit Tigers P 27
39 Tony Giarratano Detroit Tigers SS 23
50 Andrew Good Detroit Tigers P 26
4 Bobby Higginson Detroit Tigers OF 35
39 Jason Karnuth Detroit Tigers P 30
74 Ugueth Urbina Detroit Tigers P 32
50 Mark Woodyard Detroit Tigers P 27
19 Brian Anderson Kansas City Royals P 34
56 Jaime Cerda Kansas City Royals P 27
28 Ken Harvey Kansas City Royals 1B 28
1 Denny Hocking Kansas City Royals 2B 36
38 Ryan Jensen Kansas City Royals P 30
36 Calvin Pickering Kansas City Royals DH 29
46 Jason Christiansen Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim P 36
5 Dave Matranga Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 2B 29
38 Chris Prieto Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim OF 33
51 Zach Sorensen Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 2B 29
15 Brent Abernathy Minnesota Twins 2B 28
21 Bret Boone Minnesota Twins 2B 37
56 Travis Bowyer Minnesota Twins P 24
59 Dave Gassner Minnesota Twins P 27
16 Glenn Williams Minnesota Twins 3B 28
31 Jason Anderson New York Yankees P 26
27 Kevin Brown New York Yankees P 41
61, 58 Jorge De Paula New York Yankees P 26
29 Felix Escalona New York Yankees SS 27
17 John Flaherty New York Yankees C 38
58 Alex Graman New York Yankees P 28
38 Buddy Groom New York Yankees P 40
19 Al Leiter New York Yankees P 40
24 Tino Martinez New York Yankees 1B 38
46 Darrell May New York Yankees P 33
38 Ramiro Mendoza New York Yankees P 33
48 Paul Quantrill New York Yankees P 37
26 Rey Sanchez New York Yankees SS 38
4 Jermaine Clark Oakland Athletics 2B 29
44 Erubiel Durazo Oakland Athletics 1B 32
6 Keith Ginter Oakland Athletics 2B 30
26 Charles Thomas Oakland Athletics OF 27
12 Matt Watson Oakland Athletics OF 27
29 Bret Boone Seattle Mariners 2B 37
37 Pat Borders Seattle Mariners C 43
62 Jaime Bubela Seattle Mariners OF 27
10 Dave Hansen Seattle Mariners 1B 37
17 Shigetoshi Hasegawa Seattle Mariners P 37
35 Masao Kida Seattle Mariners P 37
56 Bobby Madritsch Seattle Mariners P 30
36 Jamal Strong Seattle Mariners OF 27
6 Dan Wilson Seattle Mariners C 37
24 Charles Johnson Tampa Bay Devil Rays C 34
47 Franklin Nunez Tampa Bay Devil Rays P 29
2 Alex Sanchez Tampa Bay Devil Rays OF 29
10 Chris Singleton Tampa Bay Devil Rays OF 33
29 Reggie Taylor Tampa Bay Devil Rays OF 29
53 John Webb Tampa Bay Devil Rays P 27
40, 98 Carlos Almanzar Texas Rangers P 32
39 James Baldwin Texas Rangers P 34
41 Juan Dominguez Texas Rangers P 26
51 Richard Hidalgo Texas Rangers OF 30
20 Marshall McDougall Texas Rangers 3B 27
57 Nick Regilio Texas Rangers P 27
48 Matt Riley Texas Rangers P 26
30 Ricardo Rodriguez Texas Rangers P 28
56 Michael Tejera Texas Rangers P 29
38 Justin Thompson Texas Rangers P 33
56 Andy Dominique Toronto Blue Jays C 30
4 Frank Menechino Toronto Blue Jays 2B 35
28 Greg Myers Toronto Blue Jays C 40
48 Matt Whiteside Toronto Blue Jays P 38
2005 American League Retirements



Find out which players made their Major League debut in the American League during the 2005 season as this group of players bid farewell to their field's of dreams.

Stan Musial ended his Major League career on September 29, 1963. His final hit was a single during the sixth inning off Jim Maloney which drove in his last RBI (which was Curt Flood).

Goose Goslin played for eighteen seasons and averaged one-hundred twenty-seven games played per season. In 1938, during his final at-bat, he twisted his back and was replaced at the plate by a pinch-hitter for the first time in his Major League career.