Joining Sammy Sosa in the “I am announcing my retirement even though most people thought I already had” club is three time All-Star Bret Boone. Bret, who had his best season with the Seattle Mariners in 2001 when he hit .331 with 37 homers and 141 runs batted in, also snagged four Gold Glove awards in his fourteen year career. 

Bret had been attempting a comeback with the Washington Nationals this year, two years after abruptly retiring before the start of the Mets’ 2006 season because of a private battle with alcoholism. Bret’s drinking had been a problem since his halcyon days with the Mariners when he would drink 12-15 beers after a game. His drinking didn’t effect his play then, but as he got older it did, and he lost his enthusiasm for the game.

Luckily for Bret, who came forward about his problem this spring to promote alcohol awareness, he went to rehab in San Diego last year. It was a humbling experience at first he told mlb.com:

“You are sitting there going, ‘I’m Bret Boone. What am I doing here?’ that’s your initial reaction.” Before long, however, he embraced the treatment. “I’m proud I did that,” he told mlb.com’s Bill Ladson, ”I went through it and took the step to cut this thing off.”

Bret, whose father and former major leaguer, Bob, is the assistant general manager of the Nationals, failed to make the big club out of spring training. He played a dozen or so games with the AAA Columbus Clippers, hitting .261, before leaving the minor league team on April 18th to train on his own.

Now that Bret has hung ‘em up he plans to build a new home, to spend more time with his family, and to get back into the game in another capacity, perhaps as a broadcaster. 

Slammin’ Sammy announced today that he will retire for good after playing for the Dominican Republic in next March’s World Baseball Classic. “It would be great if folks can see me for the last time wearing the uniform of the Dominican Republic National Team,” Sammy told a newspaper in his homeland.

While he hasn’t ruled out playing one last season in the Bigs this year, the former Cubs’ star has generated little interest from teams and is not going to beg for a job. Said Sammy: “I’m not looking for a job. In fact I have told my agent to stop offering my services to MLB teams.”

Sammy, following a dreadful 2005 campaing with the Orioles, made a successful comeback with the Rangers last season driving in 92 runs and hitting 21 homers, one of which was his 600th of his career.

It will be interesting to see if Sammy is elected to the Hall Of Fame. He certainly has the credentials as he lodged three seasons with 60+ homers, won an MVP award, and made seven All-Star teams, but he has long been dogged by controversy. The slugger was suspended for using a corked bat, and long suspected of having used steroids (though no definitive proof ever surfaced). 

So long, Sammy. No matter how you did it you were one of the most dominating players I ever saw put on a uniform!