February 23, 200620 yr http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/sports/ba...ll/13937595.htm Fed up with the pain, Dreifort calls it quits BY BOB LUTZ The Wichita Eagle Darren Dreifort is going to have arthroscopic surgery on his knee in a couple of weeks. It will be surgery No. 16. Shoulder, elbow, hips, knees. Dreifort should have his own surgical wing. But Dreifort isn't having this latest surgery so he can attempt to revive his big league baseball career. He's having this one so he avoid having his knee replaced for now. Saying he is weary of all the medical attention, the 33-year-old Dreifort, an All-America pitcher at Wichita State in the early 1990s, announced his retirement Wednesday. Dreifort pitched in the majors for nine seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the team that chose him in the first round of the 1993 draft, second overall behind Alex Rodriguez. But five of those seasons were cut short by an assortment of injuries. And the Dodgers, who signed Dreifort to a five-year, $55 million deal after the 1999 season, never got bang for their buck. In his typical low-key way void of fanfare, Dreifort, 48-60 for the Dodgers, said he decided to retire after suffering a shoulder injury late in the 2004 season but just got around to making an announcement. "I've been dead set on this for a while," he said. "I've been working out and throwing a baseball this winter, but not necessarily to get myself into any kind of baseball shape. Just to keep things functioning." Dreifort didn't even contact his agent, Scott Boras, until earlier this week. He was a free agent this offseason but said he was unaware of any offers. And anyway, he knew there was no way he was going to try another comeback. Dreifort's much-repaired arm felt fine, he said. He is able to throw a baseball -- albeit at far less than the 95 mph velocity he showed off when healthy -- without pain. It's the knees that are shot. "I almost quit before that last season I played (2004)," Dreifort said. "I almost left during spring training. But I finally just decided to give it that year and see how it goes." Dreifort pitched in 60 games for the Dodgers that season, all in relief. But he didn't make one pitch without feeling pain. Somewhere. "It just didn't make any sense to keep doing this," he said. So for now, Dreifort will spend time with his wife, Ann, a former WSU basketball player, and their three sons: Jake, 4; Ford, 2; and Ben, 6 months. "Right now it's like 'Monsters. Inc.' at our house," Dreifort said. "Thank goodness the youngest isn't walking yet or it would really be chaos." The family moved to Austin, Texas, in May but spent only seven months there before moving back to the Los Angeles area. "We got to Austin and gave it a shot," Dreifort said. "But I don't think we realized how much like home the Pasadena area had become to us. We spent a lot of time here over 11 years." The Dreiforts also have a home in Wichita and return occasionally. But don't expect to see them here often. The reason: Dreifort's joints. Cold weather wreaks havoc. "When it's cold or it rains or there's a sudden change in temperature, it's painful," he said. "And it's painful all day long, every day. That doesn't really appeal to me."
February 23, 200620 yr Author definately near the top of the list for one of the worst contracts ever. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Indeed, was going to say that.
February 23, 200620 yr The one thing I remember about Dreifort is his bat for some reason. My dad is a Dodgers fan, and back in the day we just used to leave gamecast on his computer. I swear the few times I paid attention when Dreifort was pitching, he'd go deep.
February 24, 200620 yr This is an odd story...I thought he retired right after he signed that contract.
February 24, 200620 yr QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Feb 23, 2006 -> 06:03 AM) definately near the top of the list for one of the worst contracts ever. It stinks cause he was a really good guy.
February 27, 200620 yr The one thing I remember about Dreifort is his bat for some reason. My dad is a Dodgers fan, and back in the day we just used to leave gamecast on his computer. I swear the few times I paid attention when Dreifort was pitching, he'd go deep. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Maybe b/c he hit 2 HR a total of 1,000 feet against the Cubs in a gme in August 2000
March 1, 200620 yr Scott Boras is STILL laughing all the way to the bank. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> And still a prick
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