Mike Cameron Retires

by Matthew on Feb 19, 2012 10:30 AM PST in Around Major League Baseball

Now Jeff's Friday fun fact looms prescient, which it was not, as Mike Cameron notified the Nationals this morning that he is retiring from baseball.

OF Mike Cameron has notified the Nationals he will retire, bringing his impressive career to an end...Spring Training roster now at 54.

— Nationals PR (@NationalsPR) February 19, 2012

It's not altogether surprising since he was on only a Minor League deal and the Nationals have a crowded outfield, but it's... I don't think sad is the word since Cameron is leaving mostly on his own terms and in (assuming) good health and having made a fortune. His talents were often hindered in being fully recognized by the parks he played in. I have a feeling that in the greater context of baseball history, he will remain under appreciated, but I have also never seen anyone speak poorly of him and that counts too.

Goodbye, Mike. I wish the team I root for hadn't been so dunder-headed that they didn't see the value in keeping you here.

Tweet Comment 59 comments | 11 recs |

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The incredible catches, the four dingers, the foam M on his head while he poured champagne over it

The huge smile, the great attitude, the swinging Ks. All from a guy who replaced the irreplacable. You were awesome, Cammy. Thanks.

by lemonverbena on Feb 19, 2012 10:43 AM PST via mobile reply actions 12 recs

Farewell to a fine career.

Sad to see him go, he was one of those guys I really loved to root for. Thanks for all the good times Mike!

by C Dubya on Feb 19, 2012 10:47 AM PST reply actions

I absolutely love that final picture

by BaronVonBullshit on Feb 19, 2012 10:56 AM PST via Android app reply actions 4 recs

.

by msb on Feb 19, 2012 11:01 AM PST reply actions 21 recs

It's also notable that Mike Cameron reached the level of Super Saiyan without performance enhancing ki.

...and now I'm here

by CapSea on Feb 19, 2012 12:14 PM PST up reply actions 2 recs

Or hair.

by Agent_J on Feb 19, 2012 12:53 PM PST up reply actions

Whatever.

by ToddK on Feb 19, 2012 5:33 PM PST up reply actions

Had they kept him the last 10 years...

Would he be a “classic Mariner?” Would he (assuming similar production to what he had elsewhere) been a Mariners Hall of Fame candidate? I have to think he would.

by Agent_J on Feb 19, 2012 11:18 AM PST reply actions

I think he still deserves that honor.

by Wilder. on Feb 19, 2012 11:52 AM PST up reply actions

Absolutely.

@Goose1701

by Goose on Feb 19, 2012 1:37 PM PST up reply actions

Really?

I loved the guy, but I don’t see him as a Mariner Hall of Famer.

I feel like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football. Ugh

by HitKing69 on Feb 19, 2012 5:57 PM PST up reply actions

Only reason would be that he only spent four years here.

by Mariner John on Feb 21, 2012 2:55 PM PST up reply actions

To go along with that ESPN Mag issue:

Thank you Cammy for the great memories.

by Wilder. on Feb 19, 2012 11:49 AM PST reply actions

Cameron robbing the home run:

MLB.com

by Wilder. on Feb 19, 2012 12:05 PM PST reply actions 2 recs

The fact it was Jeter

made it all the better. What fantastic way to introduce himself to Seattle . . .

Anton Chigurh for GM!

by 300ZXNA on Feb 19, 2012 12:37 PM PST up reply actions

My favorite memory of Cam

Thanks for the handy link

by kschimke on Feb 19, 2012 1:25 PM PST up reply actions

Dave :(

by doublemazaa on Feb 19, 2012 1:37 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs

"I hate to say it, but it was a Griffeyesque catch! Make it Cameronesque now!"

Miss you Dave so so much.

@Goose1701

by Goose on Feb 19, 2012 1:49 PM PST up reply actions

One of my favorite Mariners memories

is going to that game. I was still royally ticked off about having some new guy instead of Griffey, and my buddy had just gotten done telling me about how Cameron was pretty good…then that happened.

And yes, doing it to Jeter was perfect.

Dave :( Still can’t believe the team never got it done for him, but at least he got the fun of calling the stretch from ‘95-’03, when the team was anywhere between solid and great, we got the stadium, and it was constantly packed…

by Rachmaninoff on Feb 19, 2012 7:52 PM PST up reply actions

One of my fondest Mariner memories was from back in '02 or '03

I don’t recall what part of the season it was, or who the M’s were playing (I was only 9 or 10), but I was at the game. In the top of the first, Cammy robbed someone of a three-run homer, then made another spectacular catch in shallow Center, and completed the extremely rare Center Fielder unassisted double play by tagging second base on his way back into the dugout. Then, in the bottom of the first, he hit a three-run homer of his own, essentially completing a six-run swing in the M’s favor. Does anyone remember if this actually happened? It seems a little too awesome to be true.

by Willay on Feb 19, 2012 12:22 PM PST reply actions

I remember that unassisted double play

I was watching on TV. Runner either off with the pitch or just convinced the ball wouldn’t be caught (or both) and was pretty much all the way home by the time Cameron made the catch. It looked weird to see him running toward the infield with the ball when there were only two outs, but yup, there was number three! I imagine the baserunner (I don’t remember who it was either) was probably laughing amidst cursing at the time.

by Aly Edge on Feb 19, 2012 12:52 PM PST up reply actions

Looks like I was wrong, the double play was in the seventh, and it was a two run double, not a three run homer.

But it was all in the same game. Here’s the box score:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SEA/SEA200305230.shtml

by Willay on Feb 19, 2012 3:17 PM PST up reply actions

I am still pissed at Bavasi for not bringing him back when his contract was up

In my mind he wasn’t the guy who we got in the Junior trade: but instead he was Mike Fucking Cameron, the best centerfielder to roam Safeco Field in Mariner History

"Tell my tale to those who ask. Tell it truly, the ill deeds along with the good and let me be judged accordingly. The rest is silence." ~ Dinobot

by beastwarking on Feb 19, 2012 12:29 PM PST reply actions

I wish that I had discovered sabermetrics

back during the Griffey trade. I remember seeing Cameron’s BA and thinking we were totally screwed. Amazing to think that form a production standpoint alone we won the Griffey trade, let alone the fact that when you factor in salaries that was a huge win for the franchise. It wasn’t until a good 5 years after the Griffey trade that I realized that.

Anton Chigurh for GM!

by 300ZXNA on Feb 19, 2012 12:40 PM PST reply actions

I just remembered the hr to end the 19 inning game with Boston

and trying not to make too much noise because everyone else in the apartment complex was asleep.

by C Dubya on Feb 19, 2012 12:50 PM PST reply actions 1 recs

Yep

Dave sure was nice company that long night :)

by Aly Edge on Feb 19, 2012 12:53 PM PST up reply actions

I was at that game.

This is always the first thing I think of when Cammy is brought up.

by Kevman22 on Feb 19, 2012 1:01 PM PST via Android app up reply actions

My dad was at that game

But he had to leave after the 14th because he was with a friend who had to catch a flight. I imagine they said “oh we can’t leave, in case it ends next inning!” in the 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th. Probably a good thing they didn’t push it ;\

by Aly Edge on Feb 19, 2012 1:10 PM PST up reply actions

I was also at that game

The Red Sox fan in front of us didn’t say a word after the ball cleared the fence, and the Sox left the field before Cammy finished circling the bases.

by Breadbaker on Feb 19, 2012 4:04 PM PST up reply actions

I will never forget his face.

Such a gentle smile. Such a nice name.

by Call Jack. I'm on my way. on Feb 19, 2012 12:52 PM PST reply actions

Nobody captures the spirit and emotion of an achievement like this the way Hawk Harrelson does...

by ThundaPC on Feb 19, 2012 1:44 PM PST up reply actions

Aw dammit, I just watched this on mute and was excited to listen to it again later with Dave :(

by BigR on Feb 19, 2012 1:45 PM PST up reply actions

He does that on purpose for the opposing team

God I hate him

by OlSalty on Feb 19, 2012 1:48 PM PST up reply actions

Do White Sox fans even like him?

I mean, Dave was described as a raging homer in his day, but nothing like that blowhard.

by Aly Edge on Feb 19, 2012 2:05 PM PST up reply actions

Even the Chicago fans gave him a nice ovation after the 4th home run.

At least they seem to appreciate history being made

by bomdal on Feb 19, 2012 3:02 PM PST up reply actions

And a lot of fans were still around late in a game where the visiting team put up 10 runs in the first.

by quacker27 on Feb 19, 2012 3:16 PM PST up reply actions

The most amazing part to me is that three of them were in almost the exact same spot

by OlSalty on Feb 19, 2012 1:45 PM PST up reply actions

Man, he hit those a long way.

by quacker27 on Feb 19, 2012 3:15 PM PST up reply actions

Thank you Jim Parque!

by Milendriel on Feb 19, 2012 4:56 PM PST up reply actions

Not having watched it, I can only guess that this video would be of his 4th jack in the game against the White sox in '02.

by ToddK on Feb 19, 2012 5:39 PM PST up reply actions

I always wondered...

what would have happened if he swung at the 3-0 fastball down the middle on either his 5th or 6th a bat. I believe he walked that a bat, and I seem to remember the Chicago fans booing. Classic!

by Zewerr on Feb 19, 2012 5:55 PM PST up reply actions

*at bat (x2)

by Zewerr on Feb 19, 2012 5:56 PM PST up reply actions

Mike Cameron is awesome.

The end of a great career.

My Twitter Feed, King Felix's Court

by Griffin Cooper on Feb 19, 2012 2:00 PM PST reply actions

Hope the M's can have him visit Safeco this season, as part of the 35th anniversary stuff

Classy, upbeat, talented man. Best of luck to him in his post-baseball life. I would be behind retiring #44 in his honor, after the M’s retire #11 and #51.

by Chris_FB on Feb 19, 2012 2:40 PM PST via mobile reply actions

Total best of luck in the rest of his life to a class act and phenomenal player

His first game as a Mariner he became my first man-crush before I (or anyone, probably) had ever heard or used the term “man-crush”. I hope we get some (official) recognition here in Seattle for him for all those great years.

by Kingdomer on Feb 19, 2012 3:22 PM PST reply actions

I feel like you're all forgetting about his prodigious accomplishment with Florida last year.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=18836733&topic_id=&c_id=mlb&tcid=vpp_copy_18836733&v=3

by FaceRuiner on Feb 19, 2012 3:30 PM PST reply actions

My favorite Mike Cameron moment was still when we beat the Sox in '00

As he leaped over center field and just partied with his fans in Lookout Landing. Anytime you read about “how can anyone replace a legend?” the answer is simple: play like Mike Cameron. Godspeed, Mr. Cameron.

by Breadbaker on Feb 19, 2012 4:06 PM PST reply actions 2 recs

Well said.

by The Cheese on Feb 19, 2012 7:21 PM PST up reply actions

Thanks Mike.

You were a favorite then and those four homeruns are something I will never forget.

by Omerta on Feb 19, 2012 5:04 PM PST reply actions

From 2001:

When an announcement was made concerning Cameron’s selection at Safeco Field during a game involving minor league prospects, there was a huge ovation and a handwritten banner with Cameron’s name was added next to the printed banners with the names of the other AL All-Stars.

by msb on Feb 19, 2012 5:17 PM PST reply actions

Cool for days.

That’s how I just described him to my wife.

by sigalert on Feb 19, 2012 6:13 PM PST via mobile reply actions

But not the aloof sort of cool...

He wasn’t leaning back, judging the uncool around him. He was having way too much fun for that. He was the type of cool that would high five the nerd and make his day, or go out and do something ridiculously uncool just because he could.

by Sidi on Feb 19, 2012 7:06 PM PST up reply actions

As we know, Cammy once said...

“Let me enjoy my enjoyment.”

by msb on Feb 19, 2012 7:12 PM PST up reply actions

He retires just shy of the exclusive 300-300 club.

Only 7 players in MLB history have made it: Bobby Bonds, Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, Andre Dawson, Alex Rodriguez, Reggie Sanders and Steve Finley. Among active (or recently active) players, Cameron (272 HR and 297 SB), Carlos Beltran (302-293) and Bobby Abreu (284-393) are knocking on the door. Alfonso Soriano (340-264) probably isn’t making it, unless his speed recovers (7 steals the last 2 years combined). Derek Jeter is going to need some more years to reach the HR milestone, sitting at 240 now.

Anyhow, arbitrary round numbers aren’t all that big a deal, but it still shows how Cameron is in some excellent company. Especially since he was as good a fielder as any of them.

by Suburban Shocker on Feb 19, 2012 8:55 PM PST reply actions

Personal Cammy memory

Cameron hit a walk-off grand slam on April 22, 2003, but I never got to see it, because it occurred in the same minute as the birth of my oldest son. So thanks, Mike, for adding an extra exclamation point to the evening. Godspeed in your retirement.

by fiftyone on Feb 19, 2012 10:03 PM PST via mobile reply actions