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. 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 Nike Shoes . And follow TSN.ca right through Wednesdays 3pm et trade deadline for all the updates. Blue line help for Red Wings? In addition to what he reported in Insider Trading, TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun wrote on ESPN. Cheap Nike Shoes From China . The same cant be said of last Saturdays 2-2 draw at Olympic Stadium against a very weakened New York Red Bulls side and one which had three stalwarts in Henry, Cahill and Olave back home in Harrison, NJ. https://www.wholesalenikeshoesauthentic.com/. Switzerland faces Belgium or Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals in April. Serbia dropped into the World Group playoffs in September. A confident Chiudinelli and Lammer defeated veteran doubles player Zimonjic and young Krajinovic 7-6 (3), 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2. Discount Nike Shoes . -- Arkansas didnt need a spectacular dunk to beat No. Cheap Nike Shoes For Sale . -- Michael Bennett gambled last off-season that playing on a one-year deal in Seattle would pay off in the future with the long-term contract he always wanted.SEATTLE -- Working both sides of the plate and mixing in his changeup, Indians starter Josh Tomlin had little trouble keeping the Seattle Mariners at bay Saturday night. Tomlin threw the second complete game of his career, throwing a one-hitter with a career-high 11 strikeouts in Clevelands 5-0 victory over Seattle . Tomlin (5-5) didnt walk a batter and a leadoff single by Kyle Seager in the fifth inning was the only blemish on his evening. It was the second complete game of Tomlins career and the first one-hitter by a Cleveland pitcher since Billy Traber did it against the Yankees on July 8, 2003. "He commanded so well," manager Terry Francona said. He was expanding (the strike zone). He showed in to keep them honest and then hed go away. A little farther. A little farther, just leading guys to pitches. "That was just a tremendous outing." Its only the third time since 2002 that a pitcher has recorded a one-hit shutout with at least 11 strikeouts and no walks. St. Louis Shelby Miller struck out 13 in a 3-0 victory over Colorado on May 10, 2013. San Franciscos Matt Cain equaled Tomlin with 11 strikeouts in a 5-0 win over Pittsburgh on April 13, 2012. "I felt good and I knew I was commanding the ball well to both sides of the plate," Tomlin said. "I had to have a good changeup today to get them off everything else." The Indians jumped on Mariners starter Roenis Elias (7-6) for a pair of runs in the first inning. Asdrubal Cabrera doubled and scored on a single from Michael Brantley. Brantley advanced to second on the throw home and scored on a double by Carlos Santana to give the Indians a 2-0 lead. Mike Aviles singled with one out in the fifth and came around to score on Michael Bourns double. A balk by Elias moved Bourn to third and Cabreras sacrifice fly scored Bourn to givee the Indians a 4-0 lead.dddddddddddd Meanwhile, the Mariners couldnt solve Tomlin. He retired the first 12 batters he faced with some help from right fielder Ryan Raburn. He tracked down a deep line drive from Seager with a diving grab on the warning track in the second inning. "Great catch," Francona said. "Im glad it doesnt get lost two hours later because that was a really nice play." Seager singled to lead off the fifth and took second on a wild pitch and advanced to third when the throw from catcher Yan Gomes sailed into centre field. He was stranded when Tomlin struck out Michael Saunders to end the inning. "Our at-bats were not at-bats we want to talk about," Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon said. "We want to forget about them. It was one of those nights." Gomes homered off Elias in the sixth inning to extend Clevelands lead to 5-0. NOTES: Tomlin is 4-1 with a 3.41 ERA in five career starts against Seattle and 3-0 with a 2.12 ERA at Safeco Field. ... Indians RHP Justin Masterson is on track to start Tuesday against the Los Angeles Dodgers after pushing his scheduled spot in the rotation back two days due to a sore knee. ... It was the second time this season that Seattle had been held to just one hit. Garrett Richards, Joe Smith and Ernesto Frieri of the Los Angeles Angels combined to one-hit Seattle on April 9. ... LHP TJ House (0-1, 4.88 ERA) will be activated to start Sundays series finale with Seattle. He will face Mariners ace RHP Felix Hernandez (9-2, 2.24 ERA). ... McClendon said after the game the team is expected to call up RHP Taijuan Walker from Triple-A Tacoma to start Monday against the Houston Astros. ... The Mariners are 43-38 at the halfway point of their season. Its the first time the team has been over .500 through 81 games since 2009 (42-39). ' ' '