MLB: Enough with the Farewell Tours

We have seen quite a few farewell tours in the MLB recently. it is time to say that enough is enough.

It is understandable that people will want to see the superstars of the MLB one last time during their final season in the game. It is one last chance to witness greatness in action, to see the players that we will be telling our grandchildren about when they inquire about the legends of our times. There is the hope that, in that final appearance, they will do something legendary, something that we can say that we witnessed and have the feat ingrained in our memories.

Ideally, that is what a player’s final season should be like. It is a chance to celebrate the greatness of that individual, to bask in their glory one last time. However, over the past few seasons, it has morphed into a side show, with these players being dragged before an audience they have no real connection with to receive miscellaneous gifts from teams they barely played against.

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Take, for instance, David Ortiz. He was brought out before the fans at Petco Park, and given a surfboard with an image of himself from the All Star Game. While it was a nice touch to have former Red Sox announcer Don Orsillo and teammate Mark Loretta on hand to make the presentation, it is not as though Ortiz has a connection to San Diego. In fact, prior to last night, he had appeared in four games at Patco Park, recording one hit. I’m sure a check to his preferred charity would have worked just as well.

It is not just Ortiz. Cubs backup catcher David Ross has become a celebrity in his final season, as his teammates and Cubs fans praise his career. If Ross can get a farewell tour of sorts, where will the madness end? Should we celebrate when some anonymous middle reliever that no one will remember five seconds after their final game decides to hang up the cleats? Even the retirement tours and ceremonies for Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera felt forced.

Yes, it is understandable that the greats of the game should have their chance to be celebrated before the fans. And yes, those key rivals, or those cities where the players made an impact, should certainly take the moment to honor their adversary. However, if a player has made fewer appearances in a stadium than Three Finger Brown had digits, maybe a check will suffice.

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These retirement tours are great in theory, but sometimes enough is enough. Honor those MLB legends in places that they made an impact, but let us leave the ceremonies be for those teams they barely played against.