Seattle Mariners catcher Mike Marjama informed the team that he is retiring from baseball to take a position with the National Eating Disorders Association.
Marjama only 28 years old was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma on April 20th after making the team’s Opening Day roster. He appeared in 10 games this season, batting .111 with three doubles, two walks and six strikeouts.
Here's the story on Marjama announcing his retirement from baseball for a very unique reason. https://t.co/ieFQ23iWIQ
— Greg Johns (@GregJohnsMLB) July 7, 2018
Marjama told the Sacramento Bee last year that he battled an eating disorder when he competed as a wrestler at Granite Bay High School in northern California. He said he cut weight for wrestling and then kept dropping pounds, plummeting to as low as 130 pounds.
He required inpatient treatment, recovered and has been outspoken about the disorder since.
“When I had the eating disorder, I was stubborn. Now my eyes are open,” Marjama, who is now 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, told the Bee. “A lot of high school students have a tremendous amount of pressure on them. We all want to see things out of reality, and we don’t always see things fully clear. It was a hard time, what I went through, but it changed my perspective on life. It definitely helped me grow.”
Looks like it was time to hang up the cleats. This way he can make much more of an impact. I mean the guy was only batting .111.