1 Charlie Kerfeld’s Tasty Bonus
After a spectacular rookie season in 1986, the rotund reliever needed a new contract. Kerfeld asked for $110,037.37 to match his number 37 jersey to pitch in 1987. On top of that, he received 37 boxes of orange Jell-O in the deal. The Astros would soon regret this delicious bonus, though; Kerfeld, who was famously caught eating ribs in the dugout that season, battled weight and injury problems and was sent down to the minors.
2 Support for Rollie Fingers’ ’stache
Former A’s owner Charlie Finley never thought of a gimmick he wouldn’t try, including a mechanical rabbit that delivered fresh balls to the umpire and hiring 13-year-old MC Hammer as his “Executive V.P.” In 1972, Finley offered his players cash to grow a mustache by Father’s Day, thereby giving birth to reliever Fingers’ trademark handlebar ’stache. The A’s went on to win the World Series that season, and Fingers’ contract for 1973 contained a $300 bonus for growing the mustache as well as $100 for the purchase of mustache wax.
3 Roy Oswalt’s Big Ride
Before Oswalt made a start in the 2005 National League Championship Series, Astros owner Drayton McLane promised to make the ace’s dreams come true if he won, specifically his life goal of bulldozer ownership. After Oswalt dominated the Cardinals to send Houston to its first-ever World Series, McLane came through with a Caterpillar D6N XL. Since Major League Baseball requires high-dollar gifts be disclosed, Oswalt signed an addendum to his contract, a “bulldozer clause,” authorizing the club to give him his new toy.
4 George Brett Becomes a Landlord
The contract extension George Brett signed with the Kansas City Royals in 1984 must have been one of the stranger deals in MLB history. The club agreed to give Brett the bat he used in the infamous 1983 “Pine Tar Game” as part of the pact, but that wasn’t the only odd perk. The contract also gave him part ownership of an apartment complex in Memphis.
At the time, Avron Fogelman co-owned the Royals. Fogelman had made his fortune as a lawyer and real estate baron in Memphis, so when the team needed a little extra incentive to get Brett to sign, they offered the third baseman a piece of one of Fogelman’s developments. Brett’s agent/brother Bobby negotiated the deal; he referred to the 1,100-unit apartment complex as “a nice little kicker.” Brett received a guaranteed cash flow of $1 million from the development and retained the right to sell his 10-percent stake to the Royals for $2 million.
Fogelman’s Royals used the trick a couple more times when they signed reliever Dan Quisenberry and outfielder Willie Wilson to similar deals that gave them stakes in the 700- unit Stewart’s Ferry apartment development in Nashville. (Quiz got 24.5 percent of the development, while Wilson got 9.5 percent.) Fogelman later told the New York Times that he might have given up too much in the hastily negotiated deals.
Alabama football coach Bear Bryant was once asked to contribute $10 to help pay for a sportswriter’s funeral. According to legend, he said, “Here’s a twenty, bury two.”
5 Curt Schilling Stays Skinny
By the end of his storied career outspoken hurler Curt Schilling had started to get a bit doughy. When the Boston Red Sox re-signed him to a one-year deal with $8 million before the 2008 season, it included a clause in which Schilling could pick up an extra $2 million if he made weight at six random weigh-ins over the course of the season. Schilling picked up a $333,333 check each time he didn’t tip the scales too far.
6 Michael Jordan Pulls in Cash in the Minors
This last one’s actually a basketball contract. Michael Jordan’s abrupt departure from basketball to play minor league baseball following the Chicago Bulls’ 1993 championship campaign struck most observers as odd. How could Jordan quit playing hoops and leave all of that money on the table?
As it turns out, His Airness was losing less cash than we all thought. Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf also owned the Chicago White Sox, the team Jordan was playing for in the minors. Even though Jordan was technically retired from basketball, Reinsdorf paid Jordan his $4 million salaries for the Bulls seasons he missed.
The first NFL pass that Brett Favre completed was caught by… Brett Favre (on a deflection).