While reading this week that two very good players - Lance Berkman and Michael Young - had decided to retire, I started to wonder about the perfect way to go out.cheap jerseys . Berkman and Young both could have kept on playing, but decided the time was right. Ive alway been fascinated by Ted Williams final at-bat for the Red Sox. He homered off Jack Fisher of the Orioles in the bottom of the 8th at Fenway Park on September 28, 1960. "The Spendid Splinter" trotted out to left field for the start of the 9th, whereby his manager Mike Higgins took him out of the game so he could get one last ovation from the fans in the Bosox final home game of the season. Boston rallied for two in the bottom of the 9th to win 5-4. Williams opted to retire immediately and did not go to New York for the final series of the season against the pennant-winning Yankees. So Williams, arguably the best hitter of all time, ended his career with a home run. What I was surprised to discover is this isnt nearly as rare as I thought it would be. Twenty-three American League players have homered in their final at-bat and 22 have done it in the National League. The last to do it was Jim Edmonds on September 21, 2010. A couple of others who accomplished the feat had Blue Jays connections. Wille Mays Aikens slugged his final homer in a Jays uniform on April 27, 1985, and Tony Kubek, star shortstop with the Yankees who later worked on Blue Jays telecasts, homered in his final big league at-bat on October 3, 1965. The saddest of all though was the home run hit by Hall of Fame catcher Mickey Cochrane on May 25, 1937 off the Yankees Bump Hadley. Next time up in the game, Hadley nailed the Tigers player-manager in the head with a pitch. His skull was fractured, and it was weeks before Cochrane recovered. He never played again so for the record, his final official at-bat was also a home run. Mickey - for whom Mickey Mantle was named - returned and finished out the 1937 season as manager only of the Tigers before calling it quits at the end of that season. Cochranes .320 career batting average for a catcher was the all-time record, until the Twins Joe Mauer broke it in 2009. Hitting a home run in your first Major League at-bat is far more common. It has been accomplished 113 times - 47 in the American League and 66 in the National. Twenty-eight were hit on the very first pitch the batter saw. Four were grand slams and 19 of those who homered in their first Major League at-bats never hit another one in their entire careers. Three Blue Jays homered in their first at-bats. Al Woods hit a pinch homer in the Blue Jays first-ever game on April 7, 1977. Junior Felix followed that up nearly a dozen years later on May 4, 1989. J.P. Arencibia, the last in the trio, did it more than 11 years after Felix on August 7, 2010. All three homered on the first pitches they saw. This is the real rarity though, and I didnt even realize it had ever happened before. There are actually two players in Major League history who slugged homers in their first and last Major League at-bats. John Miller, a journeyman first baseman who later played five years in Japan, played parts of two seasons in the Majors back in the 60s. His first was with the Yankees where he hit a homer in his first Major League at-bat and then on September 23, 1969, he connected in his final Major League at-bat for the Dodgers. Oddly enough these were also his only two Major League homers. The first to accomplish the feat was a catcher by the name of Paul Gillespie who was a back-up catcher with the Chicago Cubs during the Second World War in 1942, 44 and 45. He connected for his first in 1942 and then belted his final home run in his final regular season at-bat on September 29, 1945. If you want to add a caveat to Gillespies mark, he did play in the World Series for the Cubs in 1945 - their last World Series appearance - and went hitless in the three games he played. I started with Ted Williams, so let me add this personal footnote. Im not old enough to have seen Ted Williams play in person, however there is a bit of a connection. The first Major League game(s) I ever saw was a doubleheader at old Tiger Stadium in August of 1968 against the Chicago White Sox. Pitching for Chicago in that first game was the man who gave up that final home run to Williams, Jack Fisher. He was nearing the end of his career which would wind up the following season in Cincinnati. This particular night in Detroit wasnt good for Fisher. He only lasted four innings and wound up taking the loss. Strangely enough he gave up a home run to the Tigers Gates Brown. Brown, a veteran by this time, is one of the 47 American Leaguers to homer in their first bat and so it comes full circle. Dud of a Deal Michael Youngs retirement re-ignites the debate over the worst trade in Blue Jays history. This one just might be it. The Jays sent third base prospect Young to Texas along with swing reliever Darwin Cubillan for right-hander Esteban Loaiza. Esteban was supposed to help round out the rotation when he was picked up on July 17, 2000 for a Blue Jays playoff push under manager Jim Fregosi. Instead Loaiza went 5-7 the rest of the way and was basically a non-factor. Adding on the next two seasons with the Jays, he went 25-28 with a 4.96 ERA. Then in 1993, he had the best year of career after signing with the White Sox, winning 21 games and coming close to winning the Cy Young Award. Young, meanwhile, played 14 seasons, was versatile enough to play all four infield positions and wound up with a career .300 batting average. Hes not a Hall of Famer by any means but was a classy talented player who would have been of far greater value to the Blue Jays than Loaiza was. Michael Youngs best friend in his early years in the Jays organiztion was Vernon Wells. Still not sure yet if Vernon is going to try to play out the final year of his contract or like Young, call it a career. wholesale jerseys . Bautista led off the 10th inning with his second homer of the game, lifting the Toronto Blue Jays to a 5-4 win over the Cleveland Indians on Saturday night. nfl jerseys china . Aduriz headed home Markel Susaetas cross in the sixth minute to open the scoring at San Mames Stadium. He bettered that with a long-range blast that went in off the goal frame in the 18th, and converted a penalty in the 72nd after Diego Mainz was sent off for fouling Aduriz with only the goalkeeper to beat.CARLSBAD, Calif. -- Dori Carter might have gotten a bit ahead of herself late in the second round of the Kia Classic. She still left everyone else behind Friday. After birdieing six of the first seven holes on the back nine, Carter bogeyed the final two holes for an 8-under 64. The round was her lowest in competition and broke the Aviara course record. Winless on the LPGA Tour, the former University of Mississippi player had 11 birdies and three bogeys. At 10-under 134, she had a two-stroke lead over Stacy Lewis and Cristie Kerr. "No matter what happens this weekend, I cant believe Im here," Carter said. "This is my first time. I mean, this is an experience for me. Its kind of like I cant lose. ... I have no reason to be uptight or anything because this is my first time. Im OK with that. Im OK with feeling like no matter what happens." She didnt fret about the closing bogeys. "Im not even going to sweat that the rest of the day," Carter said. "Im just so happy right now just to be here in this spot. ... My puttings always been my issue. Today, obviously, putting was fine. So, thats a big confidence boost for me." She tied for 68th in the season-opening event in the Bahamas and tied for 28th in the Womens Australian Open, then played three Symetra Tour events. Last week, she failed to Monday qualify for the Phoenix event, flew to Florida for the Symetra Tour event, then made another cross-country trip to California. "Thats my life," Carter said." From Valdosta, Ga., Carter made a 35-foot putt on the par-3 third hole for her first birdie, holed a couple of 20-footers, hit close on some holes and holed out from the fringe on the par-4 15th. "Kind of a fluke," Carter said about her birdie on 15. "The pin was sitting on this little knob on the front left of the green and I hit it in the rough and I had to kind of roll it up to the front. I got my putter, my caddie and I just said, Why dont you just putt it. I was probably like 10 yards short of the green and rolled it all the way in. It bent in the hole. ...jerseys from china. . That was like, I cant believe this." Lewis shot 66, and Kerr had a 68. The third-ranked Lewis had seven birdies and a bogey. She tied for second last week in Phoenix, her fifth runner-up finish since winning the Womens British Open last year. "It was just a really solid day," Lewis said. "Again, hit the ball really good like I did yesterday and, just the greens were so much better this morning. I mean it was a couple of shots difference, I think, playing in the morning versus the afternoon. Just played a little bit smarter, got on the right side of holes and just hit a lot of good shots." She noticed Carters low round. "I was surprised actually to see the number she shot," Lewis said. "Its very impressive. You know, its a hard golf course. You can make a double pretty quick." Kerr holed out for eagle on the par-4 first -- her 10th hole of the round -- and had three birdies and a bogey. "Couldnt see it go in, unfortunately, but it was a great 7-iron, perfect club," Kerr said. "I just said, Get close, and it went in." She won the Kingsmill Championship last year for her 16th LPGA Tour title. Former Southern California player Lizette Salas was 7 under after a 68. "I have my fans out here this week," Salas said. "Ive been just so blessed to have the support from my family and my community. Im just out here having fun." Karrie Webb, coming off a victory Sunday in Phoenix in the JTBC Founders Cup, rebounded from an opening 75 with a 68 to move into a tie for 26th at 1 under. The 39-year-old Hall of Famer also won the Womens Australian Open last month. Kia endorser Michelle Wie also was 1 under after a 71. DIVOTS: Beatriz Recari, a playoff winner last year, missed the cut by a stroke with rounds of 71 and 76. ... Yani Tseng was tied for 22nd at 2 under after her second straight 71. She won the 2012 tournament for the last of her 15 tour titles and has dropped from first to 46th in the world in a year. ... Sixteen-year-old Lydia Ko also was 2 under after a 68. wholesale jerseyscheap jerseys ' ' '
