Those who follow baseball may remember Doug Glanville, who played for the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies and Texas Rangers from 1996 to 2004. He is writing a series of articles for the New York Times providing his insights into the sport.
The latest column “The Forgotten” shows how he and other athletes, like former Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair, found it difficult to transition from professional sports to the real world. I think many of us assume that pro athletes have it made, that the money they made as an athlete will help them survive in retirement. That is far from the truth, writes Glanville, who describes his own struggles as he found a new life after baseball.
What I found astounding were the statistics he quoted from the Professional Sports Wives Association. More than 80 percent of athletes are divorced and are a quarter of a million dollars in debt after they retire.
I know at times it’s difficult to be sympathetic toward millionaire ball players like Alex Rodriguez who divorced his wife recently, but Glanville’s article shows that in many cases, there is often more to their personal story than what fans see or read in the paper.
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