Meet Mike Donlin: The Only Pro Athlete in a Team Sport to Retire Three Times

Written by Lachlan Sherriff

Coming out of retirement is always frequent in sports. We recently saw Tom Brady do it. Some athletes do it twice, including Gary Ablett Sr, Landon Donovan and most famously, Michael Jordan. Only Mike Donlin knows how it feels to do it three times.

The former baseballer had four separate stints in the MLB, the most out of any professional athlete in a team sport ever.

First Stint: 1889–1906 Donlin’s first, and longest stint begins in 1899, when the St. Louis Perfectos signed him from a minor league baseball team in Santa Cruz. Donlin batted an average of .323 and .326 but left for the Baltimore Orioles in 1901 for more playing time. Unfortunately, the Orioles released him after a year due to off field behavior. After his release, Donlin played out two years as a Cincinatti Red, before playing another two as a New York Giant. In the 1905 season, Donlin batted at an incredible .356 while winning the World Series. He then missed the following season with a broken ankle, but he thought his work in the 1905 season was enough to guarantee him a major contract. The Giants disagreed and refused to pay him his requested wage, and out of spite Donlin retired at 28. Second Stint: 1908 Donlin would be back soon, in 1908 after sitting out one year. Donlin re-signed with the Giants and batted at a .334, but due to a loss of passion for the game, he retired from baseball to instead pursue a career in acting, something he had started an interest in over his one year absence in 2007. Third Stint: 1911–1912 After two years in acting, Donlin decided to try his hand in baseball again. He once again went back to the Giants but since he could not produce the numbers he once could, New York shipped him of to the Boston Rustlers after only twelve games. To Donlin’s credit, he batted a respectable .315 in Boston, but once again demanded too high of a pay check, so he instead signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates placed him on the waivers in December, and the Philadelphia Phillies signed him. Donlin, however, had no interest in playing in Philly and did what he did best. Retired. Fourth Stint: 1914 In 1914, aged 36, Donlin decided to give baseball one last try. He signed with the Jersey City Skeeters, a minor baseball team in New Jersey, and also joined a travelling team who played exhibition matches in Africa, Asia and Europe. Giants manager John McGraw, who also ran the travelling team, signed Donlin to the Giants for the fourth time. After playing 35 games and only batting .161, Donlin finally quit baseball for good.