Walking away is hard. I've been playing this game since I was 7 years old. The competitor in me still wanted to play, but I just can't do it anymore. He played in 36 games last season because of a chronic injury to his left knee. Just recently, he told me, 'They're going to have to tear the uniform off me.
Retirement is never easy.
There might be no more difficult decision in a person's life. Now one of Trammell's contemporaries, Cal Ripken, is beginning to hear the whispers. Ripken, who turns 41 in August, is struggling this season, batting .215 in his 21st season with the Baltimore Orioles. The organization has made it clear he's being pushed aside to let younger players step up to the plate. I don't know, maybe other people can.