Nobody ever wants to leave a good thing. A job, a game, a sport, you name it, if you enjoy what you are doing, who wants to quit? I give credit to Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina. Moose had been pitching for 18 seasons. He's 39 years old and last season he won 20 games for the Yankees. But after the 2008 season, Mussina felt he had enough. Mussina retires with 270 victories and would of no doubt gotten to 300 if he had kept pitching the next three years. He's coming off a 20 win season he was bound to win at least 15 or so the next couple of years. But apparently that wasn't enough to keep him on the hill, Mussina felt like he had enough and didn't need to worry about padding his stats or even if he gets into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Moose made his money and is ready for the next phase in his life. There are obviously very few athletes that know when they want to leave. For most you have to pull the jersey off their back and force them to retire. Michael Jordan, Willie Mays, Wayne Gretzky, are just some of the legends that refused to leave until they couldn't play the way they used to or the way we wanted them to. Jim Brown, John Elway, Barry Sanders, those are some of the names of players who walked away on top and left as the best.
It's not a simple thing to determine when you are no longer able to perform at the highest level. But who can blame athletes, the money, the fame, the fun. It goes away pretty quick. Moose will now graze in the pastures as he experiences next phase of his life.