Top Ten Careers Cut Too Short 

10. Ken Griffey Jr. 

 09. Andrew Luck 

 08. Mike Bossy 

07. Gale Sayers 

06. Anfernee Hardaway

05. Sandy Koufax

04. Sterling Sharpe 

03. Sean Taylor

02. Bobby Orr 

 01. 

10. Ken Griffey Jr. 

Total Seasons 

22 

Teams

Seattle Mariners 

Cincinnati Reds 

Chicago White Sox 

Career Batting Average 

.284 

Career Home Runs 

630 

Career RBI's 

1836 

Career Accolades 

- 2016 Hall of Fame Inductee 

- 13x All Star 

- 10x Gold Glove Winner 

- 1997 AL MVP 

- 7x Silver Slugger

 

I struggled with whether or not to put Griffey on my list. He is one of my favorite athletes ever from a time where I actually watched baseball and the reason why #24 is my favorite number and number I used in sports my entire life. Easily the best baseball player I've ever seen with the most beautiful swing ever.

It was hard to include someone who played 22 seasons in the MLB though and made the Hall of Fame and that ultimately was my deciding factor.

The argument in favor of him being on the list though is all the missed games and the fact that injuries and even the strike hampered his career. Reading an article doing research was fascinating and pretty much extrapolated his numbers and games missed in his prime with his HR rate and had he been able to stay healthy and not miss so much time he would have been around 725 home runs for his career. So injuries possibly robbed him of 100 homers and probably multiple MVP seasons and potential records.

It was a weight internal argument for me , but the list was deep enough where I felt fine leaving him off. As frustrating as it is knowing what might have been.

That banner. Ouch.

Ken Griffey Jr. does not belong on this list. He played 22 seasons in the majors. Career cut short means your career ENDED....not that you missed time due to injury.

Should've taken a screen capture, or a gif from Blitz: The League.

May 14, 2020 21:14:43 GMT CM Punk'd said:

Should've taken a screen capture, or a gif from Blitz: The League.

...... shut up.

What is happening in here?

Isn't KGJr just like the Seattle Mariners version of Cal Ripken?

Griffey had his share of injuries sure, but still played until he was 40. I hope this isn't how this list is gonna go. If he had to retire at 30...I'd get it.

Maybe KGJr should STILL be playing?

I don't understand the measuring stick.

Shit, doesn't matter. I forgot to submit a list.

Oh well...

#1. Brock Lesnar in UFC, fucking diverticulitis
#2. Brock Lesnar in NFL, fucking... Meh, I dunno

D'oh. Forgot to get a list in for this one. I'll come up with something real quick just to see how it matches up with the PW list. Griffey will not come close to making it for reasons already stated.

My number 1 was in the vein of Ken Griffey Jr. but the rest had pretty definitive ends to their career. I wrestled with putting Griffey on as well but 22 seasons was just too much.

Len Bias has to be ranked kinda high here I thinks. @ck probably has him no.1 

Drazen Petrovic was another one kinda cut short but he had so much EuroLeague success just never got to fully show it all off outside of 2-3 seasons as a NJ Net. 

And don't forget guys who suffered career-ending injuries, like the ones suffered by Ryan Shazier, Darryl Stingley, and Dennis Byrd.

May 15, 2020 3:30:45 GMT Blindy said:

Len Bias has to be ranked kinda high here I thinks. @ck probably has him no.1 

Drazen Petrovic was another one kinda cut short but he had so much EuroLeague success just never got to fully show it all off outside of 2-3 seasons as a NJ Net. 

Not on my list

9. Andrew Luck 

Total Seasons 

6 

Team 

Indianapolis Colts 

Career Yards 

23,671 

Career Touchdowns 

171 

Career Interceptions 

83 

Career QB Rating 

89.5 

Career Rushing Yards 

1590 

Career Rushing Touchdowns 

14

Accolades 

- #1 Overall Pick in 2012 Draft 

- 4x Pro Bowl Selection 

- 2018 Comeback Player of the Year 

Luck definitely fits the category more , I was hot and cold on him through his career so wasn't sure if I wanted to put him on my list but ultimately his retirement shocked the shit out of me and the MAIN thing that sucks about his career ending when it did is that he was ready to have the best team he's ever had surrounding him and was probably due for a huge year and live up to that #1 status.

#9 is fine. Recency bias might play into it some but overall he retired 10 years too soon and had the potential to be an elite quarterback with the right team around him. He already showed those flashes behind some terrible lines and shitty weapons.

[block quote]Sorry 'bout your damn luck[/block quote]
- James "Not Tim" Storm

I forgot about Andrew Luck, he might have had a shot at the bottom of my list. It was stunning how fast his career ended.

I did have 3 Football players on my list, but not this one. Though he definitely qualifies. I think this may become the norm, rather than the exception. Kuechly retiring was another eye opener.

I had both Griffey and Luck on my list.

Andrew Luck was super shocking and robbed me of money. Most surprising retirement in the NFL in my fanhood.

Griffey could've been the HR King and GOAT if injuries didn't destroy him. 22 seasons of Griffey were not 22 seasons of what Griffey could have been.

As for Drazen, I had him @ #2.

May 15, 2020 18:46:16 GMT @ck said:

I did have 3 Football players on my list, but not this one. Though he definitely qualifies. I think this may become the norm, rather than the exception. Kuechly retiring was another eye opener.

Patrick Willis before that and Chris Borland too. Willis made my list , loved that dude and Borland made me sad because he had a great rookie year and was a former Badger.

May 15, 2020 18:56:59 GMT KING KID said:

I had both Griffey and Luck on my list.

Andrew Luck was super shocking and robbed me of money. Most surprising retirement in the NFL in my fanhood.

Griffey could've been the HR King and GOAT if injuries didn't destroy him. 22 seasons of Griffey were not 22 seasons of what Griffey could have been.

As for Drazen, I had him @ #2.

Griffey didn't have a short career.  He had an injury filled career...there's a difference.

May 15, 2020 19:22:25 GMT @ck said:

May 15, 2020 18:56:59 GMT KING KID said:

I had both Griffey and Luck on my list.

Andrew Luck was super shocking and robbed me of money. Most surprising retirement in the NFL in my fanhood.

Griffey could've been the HR King and GOAT if injuries didn't destroy him. 22 seasons of Griffey were not 22 seasons of what Griffey could have been.

As for Drazen, I had him @ #2.

Griffey didn't have a short career.  He had an injury filled career...there's a difference.

I guess that's one way to look at it.

He wasn't extremely high on my list so don't blame me.

Andrew Luck made my belated list at #6. Recency bias be damned. Luck retiring before age 30 was shocking news.

While he did have some good years, he never quite lived up to "the next Peyton Manning!" hype he had coming out of Stanford. But as UT said, it's entirely possible he could have put it all together and ascended to that next level.

8. Mike Bossy 

Total Seasons 

10 

Teams 

New York Islanders 

Goals 

573 

Assists 

553 

Accolades 

- 15th overall pick in 1977 Draft 

- 7x NHL All Star 

- 4x Stanley Cup Winner 

- 1978 Calder Memorial Trophy 

- 1982 Conn Smythe Trophy 

- Most consecutive 50 Goal Seasons 

- Highest Career Goals Per Game Average 

I had Mike Bossy at #7. He had 1,126 points in 752 games. Only could play 10 seasons and retired at age 30. His back was so bad, he couldn't tie his skates. His high total for points in a season was 147 in the 81-82 season. Which most other seasons means MVP going away, but Gretzky had 212 that year, putting him 2nd. Out scored by 65 points. He was the motor that made that Islander dynasty go. He's one of the 50 goals in 50 games players...there's only five. He was at the top of his game when I started watching hockey with my dad. I'd ask, "Who are the Bruins playing tonight?" and if I heard, The Canadiens or Islanders, I'd get scared. I feared Guy LaFleur from Montreal and Mike Bossy from the Islanders. I knew we'd be in for a tough battle and most likely they'd score at least one goal. I respect the hell out of Bossy for trying to play through the pain.

I had Mike Bossy at 5. He was the best pure goal scorer in the history of the NHL (challenged now by Ovechkin) and was the quickest in history to 300, 400 and 500 goals. @ck hit the nail on the head, Bossy was the catalyst for that potent Islanders offense. He always found the right spot on the ice to get open and he had a lethal shot. It wasn't so much his velocity but his quick release and pinpoint accuracy that ravaged goalies. He had 50 goals in every season he played (a since broken record of 53 as a rookie) except for his last when his back was too far gone. He might have had some of Gretzky's records if he had stayed healthy.

Good stuff on Mike Bossy, guys. Until today I had only known the name in a vague sort of way.

Yeah for sure , I may not like hockey but it’s always fun learning something.