For most players who end up making it to the Toronto Blue Jays, academics aren’t necessarily always the most important thing in their lives.
But former star pitcher Ricky Romero, who played for the team from 2009 to 2013, decided that a few extra years at school after his MLB career couldn’t hurt.
Leaving Cal State Fullerton in 2005 and eventually being drafted by the Blue Jays, the now 40-year-old father of three is in the finishing stages of his sociology degree at his old school.
“Bummed I won’t be there tomorrow with Jays fans watching opening day at the Rogers Centre. My school got in the way!” Romero wrote on X. “But on a positive note, graduation is only a few weeks away!”
Originally picked out of high school by the Boston Red Sox in the 37th round, Romero opted to head to college for the first time in hopes of improving his draft stock.
Romero was a star in his three seasons of college baseball, eventually getting drafted at sixth overall by Toronto in 2005.
On the whole, Romero was 51-45 with an ERA of 4.16 and 622 strikeouts in 129 appearances for the Blue Jays in his career, being named Toronto’s Opening Day starter twice in the process.
Projected to be one of the best pitchers in Blue Jays history at his peak, Romero never found his footing as a major leaguer after a sudden drop off the cliff in the 2012 season.
After making the All-Star Game in 2011 and starting the next year 8-1, Romero suddenly hit a wall, winning just one more game over the next two seasons and never returning to the major leagues again.
Romero struggled through the minor leagues over the next four seasons, eventually joining the San Francisco Giants after the Jays released him in 2016.
“I was hoping for a happier ending, but not every story has to have a happy ending. I’m just grateful that I have a story at all,” Romero wrote in a retirement letter for Sportsnet in 2019.
Joy R. Absalon-Imagn Images
