Here's a way you could ask: "I know you don't play PL anymore, but I still do faithfully. If you ever have any items or gold you would be willing to send my way, I'd appreciate it. I can't seem to get any good drops lately!"

The ball is in their court, it's not high pressure and if they do, great, if not, it's no big deal.

I recently had someone who used to play very regularly and is a good friend tell me they wanted to give me their gold and items because they were done. I told them I'd take it so long as they knew they could have the gold and items (or whatever value I'd got from them) should they ever decide to return. Id rather have my buddy playing than a few million in gold so I wanted him to know that.