MLB Hall of Famers who went from millionaires to bankruptcy

Gaylord Perry  

Gaylord Perry earned about $1.6 million during his 22-year MLB career from 1962-83. Perry filed for bankruptcy in 1986 – which was just a few years after his retirement from baseball. 

The 1991 Baseball Hall of Famer filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy because he couldn’t keep up with the cost of running his 400-acre North Carolina farm, according to the Los Angeles Times. Perry claimed in court documents that he had debts of $1.2 million.

“When you put $350 into an acre of corn and get $150 back, it doesn’t take long to say, ‘Hey, we can’t continue,’” Perry said to the LA Times… “Three years ago, I thought corn was going to be $4 a bushel and beans would go for $9 a bushel. This year, corn is going for $1.50 a bushel and beans are selling for $4.

Perry’s 500-acre farm and residence near Williamston, N.C. were sold to pay back his debts. When Perry’s dreams of farming fell apart, he began working several other jobs, including at Fiesta Foods (a Dallas producer of chips and taco shells).