February 05, 2007
Helling Hangs it Up
Rick Helling retired today, sort of.
Right-hander Rick Helling says he is retiring from Major League baseball after 12 years, to spend more time with his family.
That and nobody offered him a job. That's more like being laid off.
Helling has more 20-win seasons than Mike Mussina. Crazy, huh?
He didn't have a bad go of it for the Brewers in 05.
I edit a newspaper near Kishwaukee College in Malta, IL, where he pitched for a year. The end of that season brought on the weekly "Helling Watch" following his "exploits." Not a bad career.
I saw Helling in a pitcher's duel v. Kirk Rueter in 2002. Pretty unexpected, but he pitched a gem. Giants lost to the D-Backs 1-0. I followed him a bit afterwards and always thought he was underrated.
Surprising he could not find a job. He put together a decent couple of seasons for Milwaukee, certainly decent enough to be worthy of a 7th inning guy on a team somewhere. And he still had decent K rates, so it's not like he was living on magic and fumes.
Hey, somebody call the Nationals! They need pitching desperately.
Hey, being laid off after making a few million dollars is the American Dream. LOL
