Hey, Millionaire! Sports stars seem to know how to lose millions of dollars better than
anyone else. And Major League Baseball players are no different. It doesn't
matter how great they are on the pitch, they can still go bankrupt. Baseball is
one of the highest-earning sports because all players' contracts are fully guaranteed. Plus,
the low risk of injury means a much longer career than you normally see from players in
sports like hockey or football. But even that didn't stop these MLB legends from
going broke. Let's take a look at our list of the dumbest baseball players who went broke.
7. Lenny Dykstra Lenny Dykstra was hitting
spectacular home runs for the New York Mets during their now legendary 1986 World Series. But these
days, he's better known for how he blew it after retiring. His status as a top player for the Mets
and the Phillies earned him at least $36.5 million over his career. But he had no trouble losing
it all. He opened several successful car washes after retiring and became known as a surprisingly
successful, self-taught investor. But it wouldn't last. He enjoyed a lavish lifestyle, but it was
legal issues that eventually led to bankruptcy. He was sentenced to jail time, not once, but
twice in 2012. He first got 3 years for car theft. That's already bad, but he was also sentenced in
a separate trial to 6.5 months in jail after he pled guilty to bankruptcy fraud and money
laundering. You'd think he'd learn his lesson after that, but he didn't. In 2018, an incident
with an Uber driver got him into hot water again. This time, he was cleared, but it apparently
cost him a secret deal with Amazon that would've earned him millions. I'll bet he regrets it now.
6. Denny McLain Denny McLain was well on
his way to becoming a Hall of Famer after his incredible run in the late '60s. But,
by 1970, his life was very different. He was actually suspended from the League for gambling
activities. That was the beginning of the end for McLaine. After coming back from suspension,
he never won another game. He filed for bankruptcy during his 1970 campaign,
and it only got worse after that. He served multiple jail sentences for racketeering,
drug dealing, and extortion. In total, he was sentenced to a whopping 23 years in
prison over multiple sentences. Plus, his meat processing factory also went bankrupt in 1974.
He was last arrested in 2011 for an unpaid debt, but the charges were dropped. I guess,
with all the problems he's had after retiring, dropped charges can be considered a win now.
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5. Scott Eyre
It seems like you really have to be careful who you trust with your money. Scott Eyre wasn't the
most successful baseball player of all time, but he made a good chunk of cash during his career.
He probably could've retired happily with the money he made as a player - if he hadn't trusted
the wrong person. Months after celebrating the Phillies' World Series win in 2008, his money was
gone. Sadly, he'd invested his fortune with Robert Allen Stanford - the creator of the Stanford
Financial Group. You'll probably have heard that name before. That's because they executed one of
the largest Ponzi schemes in history, adding up to a total of $8 billion in stolen investments. Eyre
was caught in the middle of this giant fraud. All his money was now lost due to the fake investments
he'd been sold. His accounts were all frozen, except one with just $3,000 in it. That month,
he was already talking about how he was down to his last $13. He was offered an advance on his
2009 salary to help him out, but that would be his last year to earn money as a player before
retiring. These days, he works as a coach, making a modest living compared to what he could've had.
4. Jack Clark Jack Clark was such a feared
slugger that he earned himself the nickname "Jack the Ripper." But even though his career lasted
from 1975 until 1992, it didn't save him from his very expensive love of luxury cars. He owned 18
of them, worth between $26,000 and $700,000, and a $2 million luxury home in 1992 when he first filed
for bankruptcy. He owed $400,000 in back taxes, and that's not even mentioning the huge amount of
credit card debt he'd racked up. He eventually got back on his feet, but he was filing for bankruptcy
again in 2018. This time, he owed a whopping $550,000, while he and his wife only earned
$120,000 per year combined. That's got to hurt, even if it was almost completely his own fault.
Who's your favorite baseball player? What about your favorite baseball player who
went broke? Drop their names in the comments! And
keep watching - we're getting close to finding out who took our number 1 spot!
3. Rollie Fingers Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers
and his mustache earned an impressive $5 million over his career. He retired in 1985, and just four
years later, he was forced to file for bankruptcy. He had collected almost as much debt as his career
earnings - he owed an unbelievable $4.5 million! But how can anyone reverse their fortunes at that
speed? Mainly, it was just poor investments. He was spending a lot on buying, fixing, and
then selling old houses, but he obviously wasn't selling them at a high enough price. Then there
was the small matter of six-figure sums spent on Arabian horses. I don't know about you, but I
don't think any horse is worth that kind of cash. He also lost an incredible amount of cash on wind
turbines, but your guess is as good as mine. In total, his wife estimates that he lost at least $4
million! Eventually, he was forced to play in the MLB Senior League because he so badly needed cash.
2. Livan Hernandez Livan Hernandez was a
prolific player, appearing in 500 games across 17 years! Of course, that kind of hard work
earns a lot of money, and it's estimated that $53 million from his contracts alone! To us,
that sounds like way too much cash to lose. But Hernandez had no problem blowing it all. In 2017,
just five years after retiring, he filed for bankruptcy. And it wasn't a small problem
either. He owed over 50 people money by that time! That included back taxes, more than one
credit card company, and other companies, all adding up to over a million dollars. And that
doesn't even include one businessman who tried to help him out with a $200,000 loan that Hernandez
couldn't pay back. Hernandez also said at the time that he had no bank account and,
if you saw him driving a car, it actually belonged to his friend - he was just borrowing it. He also
said he was only making money as a pitching tutor via his secret, cash-only business. I
don't know if the cash-only business was the cause, but his bankruptcy request was rejected
by the judge after Hernandez failed to supply the right documents. I hope he's doing better now.
And finally, the dumbest MLB player who went broke is...
1. Pete Rose All baseball fans will tell you that
Pete Rose has always been controversial. But even though he still holds the record for all-time hits
at a staggering 4,256, he was still banned for life in 1989. And it all comes down to gambling.
He was first accused of gambling on games while he was managing the Cincinnati Reds. That's what
earned him that lifetime ban. He accepted the ban but denied that he'd ever gambled on games. He was
lying. It took over a decade before he finally spilled the beans in 2004. He really had been
betting on his own team all along. But that wasn't the only trouble he'd got himself into. Just one
year after his lifetime ban, he was sentenced to jail time for tax evasion. He did 5 months in
prison for it. And if you're thinking he learned his lesson, you're wrong. In 2018, the news media
got its hands on Rose's divorce documents that revealed a lot about him. Apparently, even though
he was still earning a whopping $1.2 million every year, he was blowing most of it on gambling. As if
that wasn't bad enough, he'd racked up significant debts with casinos, and he owed loads of back
taxes to the IRS. No wonder his wife wanted to get out. He's still banned from the Hall of Fame
today, and his divorce added to his money problems thanks to the fees he now owes to attorneys.