Shaquille, You Shoulda Done This Sooner

I saw Mantle do it. I saw Namath do it (and I'm not talking about their working relationship as owners of a temp agency in the '70's called Mantle Men and Namath Girls), and I saw Willie Mays do it and enemies like Celtics center Dave Cowens, Orioles shortstop-third baseman Cal Ripken and pitcher Jim Palmer do it. Now I can say I saw Shaq do it. Hang 'em up way, way, way after he should've.   

Mantle, who not only hit for average but had gorilla power from both sides of the plate (and is the all-time leader in walk-off home runs with 13) and had race horse speed, could barely walk in his final season in 1968 and was exiled to first base. He destroyed any chance he had to finish with a .300 career batting average when he hit .237 that year.

By 1973, Namath's arthritic knees were about as bad as a Bangkok hooker's, and I'm not sure what was more excruciating to watch - him feebly scrambling away from Dolphins linebacker Manny Fernandez or his backup, Al Woodall attempting to hit tight end Rich Caster eight feet away. After getting picked 28 times in 1975 and 16 a year later, Namath finally bolted Broadway and finished up his Hall of Fame career in 1977 with the L.A. Rams where he played in just four games. Joe Willie in a Rams uni looked about as ridiculous as Prince Charles driving a Yugo.


But the most pathetic of all was seeing 42-year-old Willie Mays, arguably the greatest all around ball player ever, fall down while chasing a fly ball in the 1973 World Series against the Oakland A's. Say Hey Willie should've said "hey, that's it for me" after the 1967 season when he dropped from 37 home runs to 22. He hit just 40 more in his final three seasons.

Now we have the big, cuddly, lovable and quotable Shaq signing off after 19 seasons. How can anyone not like a 7-1, 325 pound guy who always seemed to have fun? Especially after making a fool of himself in the 1996 train wreck "Kazaam?" Or when was asked about then-rookie Yao Ming, O'Neal told a reporter, "you tell Yao Ming, ching chong yang, wah, ah so." And his legendary feud with Kobe and his antics with the media will be fodder for sports talk radio for years to come.

Let's face it. He was the centerpiece for three straight Lakers titles, four altogether. He led the league in scoring twice and finished with a 23.7 average. But his last decent year was 2008-2009 when he averaged 17.8 points and 8.4 rebounds for the Suns. When you start moving from city to city like an '80's hair band, you know you've hung on too long. He shuffled through four towns - Miami, Phoenix, Cleveland and Boston in his final seven seasons. And the past two years were a complete waste. He played in just 90 out 164 games and averaged 12 and 9 points respectively.

OK, Shaq scored lots of points - 28,596 of them. But do you remember how he scored them? For the most part, they were dunks or shots within five feet of the basket. He led the league in field goal percentage 10 times. No surprise with that size and strength. He couldn't shoot a jumper and had no hook shot like Jabbar. He was a complete lunatic at the foul line hitting just 53% - hell, I hit 75% when I played street ball in Queens. In fact, in 19 seasons he hit just one three-pointer! I'll never forget a playoff game during his final title year with the Lakers when he took a foul shot and chucked a line drive off the front of the rim. Phil Jackson sat on the bench with his hands palms-up and said, "What the hell was that?"

There are greats and then there are GREATS. But I have a lot more respect for a great who quits while he's still ahead.

Without a doubt Shaq will be a first ballot Hall of Famer. But just like with Mickey, Joe, and Willie,  it sure was hard to see him out there the last couple of seasons.