MLB Community, which launched on Jan. 1, 2009, is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary in 2024. Via Friday, MLB Community will depend down the highest 15 moments it has lined in its historical past, through weeknight segments on MLB Tonight (6 p.m. ET), in addition to throughout its social platforms. And don’t neglect to catch MLB Community’s fifteenth Anniversary retrospective present — “MLB Community Legendary Moments” introduced by Budweiser, with Greg Amsinger, Sean Casey and Harold Reynolds — scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on Monday, Jan. 22.
The No. 4 second on the countdown: After 20 seasons, greater than 3,000 hits and 5 World Sequence championships, Derek Jeter says goodbye with a walk-off hit in his remaining sport at Yankee Stadium.
Jeter’s clutch knock was the kind of unforgettable ending that every one gamers hope to have on the conclusion of their careers. However such moments are uncommon.
We had been lucky to witness one other indelible ending in 2023 as Miguel Cabrera performed his remaining sport after 21 years within the massive leagues. Match with touching tributes and a turn-back-the-clock play at first base, Cabrera’s coda was particular and emotional. Though supervisor Jimmy Duggan from “A League of Their Personal” would disagree, there most positively is crying in baseball when it is time to stroll away. And the game is richer for it.
With Miggy’s day nonetheless recent in our minds, here’s a listing of the most effective farewell moments from star gamers in baseball historical past.
Miguel Cabrera, Tigers, 2023Cabrera’s final sport was a household affair. Some of the productive hitters of all time was launched by his three youngsters as he stepped as much as the plate for his first at-bat and was later joined by his household as he strode off the Comerica Park grass for the ultimate time through the prime of the eighth.
Coming into that inning, Cabrera knew he was going to play first base, a place the place he performed greater than 1,100 video games with Detroit however hadn’t performed since 2021 attributable to accidents. It was set to be a particular second, however Cabrera did not know simply how particular. His Tigers teammates shocked him by letting the previous Triple Crown winner run out of the dugout by himself and obtain one more large ovation from the followers he entertained for 16 years. Then the primary batter of the inning, the Guardians’ Steven Kwan, pulled a floor ball to first. In fact. Cabrera, filled with exuberance and 0 rust, backhanded the grounder with ease and raced to the bag to document the out. With that, Cabrera walked off the diamond for the final time.
Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina, Cardinals, 2022It’s exhausting sufficient to say goodbye to 1 franchise legend; Cardinals followers saluted three at one time in a regular-season house finale. Pujols and Molina had already introduced their intentions to retire, and it was unknown whether or not Adam Wainwright would be part of them after the season. So, as supervisor Oliver Marmol took the ball from the right-handed starter within the fifth inning, the trio walked off the Busch Stadium mound.
It wasn’t a very joyous scene as Wainwright, who would return in 2023, had simply allowed six runs in 4 2/3 innings. The unique plan was to have the three gamers exit at the beginning of the sixth, however to nonetheless have them exit collectively was excellent. In Pujols and Molina, St. Louis bid farewell to 2 stalwarts who mixed for 19 All-Star appearances and greater than 4,000 video games with the Playing cards.
Félix Hernández, Mariners, 2019It’s type of wonderful that Hernández was in a position to put collectively a reasonably first rate begin throughout his remaining look in Seattle — three runs allowed over 5 1/3 innings — contemplating how his feelings had been on the floor all evening lengthy. Properly earlier than the sport began, King Félix was wiping his eyes as he walked out for his warmup session within the bullpen. He let all of it go when he was taken out of the sport within the sixth inning, tears streaming down his face as he pointed towards the King’s Court docket part down the left-field line. After the sport, Hernández joined his adoring followers and unfold his arms vast over his baseball kingdom.
Hernández signed Minor League offers with the Braves and Orioles in 2020 and ’21, respectively. However he wore just one uniform in a Main League sport. His 418 begins are essentially the most by a Mariners pitcher.
Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners, 2019The begin of Hernández’s remaining season featured the departure of one other Mariners icon. Ichiro spent the vast majority of 2018 in Seattle’s entrance workplace, however he returned to the sector in March 2019 for a two-game sequence in Japan, bringing his profession full circle. Ichiro was handled as nothing lower than a conquering hero throughout his homecoming on the Tokyo Dome. He did not add to his profession complete of 4,367 hits break up between MLB and Nippon Skilled Baseball, however that did little to quell the cheers and tears from his nation of supporters.
Ichiro was the one participant on the diamond when he exited the second sport within the eighth inning. Each groups needed to provide him the highlight that he so deserved on this setting. He waved to the followers as he made his manner into the dugout, however these followers remained of their seats half-hour after the ultimate out with the intention to get only one extra have a look at their famed countryman. Ichiro then emerged to a different roar from the sold-out crowd and took a lap across the subject.
Joe Mauer, Twins, 2018Near the top of the 2018 season, Mauer stated he was nonetheless undecided about retirement. However Minnesota’s final sport of the yr supplied all of the clues that this may be the hometown child’s swan tune. Mauer was joined on the sector by his twin daughters earlier than the sport and garnered a standing ovation earlier than every plate look.
However the actual spotlight got here within the prime of the ninth when Mauer placed on the shin guards, chest protector and masks one final time. The one catcher to win three batting titles, Mauer had not arrange behind the plate since taking a foul tip to the masks and struggling a concussion in 2013. However he needed to finish his profession the place it started. Mauer caught one pitch from Matt Belisle — a fastball off the skin nook — earlier than heading to the mound, hugging his teammate and strolling off to the Twins’ dugout whereas the theme from “The Pure” blared throughout Goal Discipline.
David Ortiz, Pink Sox, 2016Sometimes, you do not know when the top goes to return. Such was the case for Oritz, who was eliminated for a pinch-runner within the eighth inning of ALDS Sport 3 between Boston and Cleveland. The Pink Sox had been hoping to mount a rally to maintain their season alive, however it was to not be because the AL Central champions accomplished a sweep at Fenway.
Each season-ending loss within the postseason comes with dejection, however this loss additionally meant the top of the street for a participant who rallied his workforce and his metropolis not like anybody in current reminiscence. Following the defeat, Ortiz returned to the sector, stood atop the Fenway mound and acknowledged the hundreds nonetheless in attendance whereas holding again tears.
Derek Jeter, Yankees, 2014″Properly, the script is there. The final web page is in Derek’s palms.”
That is how Yankees play-by-play announcer Michael Kay set the stage for Jeter’s remaining at-bat in Yankee Stadium. Tie sport. Backside of the ninth. Successful run on second base. It had all of the makings for a Hollywood ending within the Bronx. Unleashing his traditional inside-out swing, Jeter lashed the primary pitch of the at-bat into proper subject. His 3,463rd profession hit scored Antoan Richardson and gave one other victory to the participant who has been part of extra victories than every other Yankee.
After Jeter’s teammates mobbed him, the star shortstop walked over to the spot on the infield that he manned for 20 years. He went right into a crouch as he tried to soak within the second and accumulate his feelings. It was an acceptable capper to The Captain’s house profession.
Mariano Rivera, Yankees, 2013There was not often ever a motive for Rivera, the game’s best nearer, to get replaced through the center of an inning. However he was on Sept. 26, 2013, and it resulted in some wonderful theater. With two outs within the prime of the ninth and the Yankees trailing by 4 runs, New York determined to make one other name to the ‘pen. Nonetheless, this name got here from Jeter and Andy Pettitte, who went to the mound to usher their longtime teammate into retirement.
Rivera, who stated he was coping with a “bombardment of feelings,” smiled when he first noticed the duo. However as soon as Jeter advised him that it was “time to go,” the right-hander started sobbing as he fell into Pettitte’s embrace.
Though Ripken was penciled in because the AL’s beginning third baseman, he formally started the sport at shortstop — the place he revolutionized — after just a little persuasion from Alex Rodriguez. Then Ripken created Midsummer Basic magic in his first plate look as he crushed a house run on the primary pitch he noticed.
Ripken was taken out of the sport earlier than the highest of the sixth and was promptly honored alongside Tony Gwynn. They might be related once more in 2007 after they had been the 2 members of that yr’s Corridor of Fame class.
George Brett, Royals, 1993Four days earlier than the Royals’ house finale, Brett introduced that he would retire on the finish of the season. That turned what would have been a quite meaningless contest between Cleveland and Kansas Metropolis right into a celebration of the best participant in Royals historical past. Brett’s teammates honored him by writing “5” on their socks, and the pregame ceremony featured a message from President Invoice Clinton.
After the sport — which noticed Brett hit a game-tying RBI single within the eighth inning en path to a Royals’ walk-off triumph — the 13-time All-Star hopped right into a golf cart and rode round Kaufmann Stadium as applause rained down upon him. On the finish of his journey, Brett ran over to house plate, obtained down on his knees and kissed the dish.
Ted Williams, Pink Sox, 1960Unlike each different entry on this listing, there wasn’t a ton of fanfare surrounding Williams’ final sport. There have been about 10,000 folks inside Fenway Park to see him off, and Williams had a considerably frosty relationship with Pink Sox followers and media by the top of his profession anyway. Nonetheless, the Splendid Splinter placed on a present, punctuated by a well-known remaining at-bat that noticed him drill an extended house run to right-center subject. That was adopted by a four-minute delay as followers clamored for Williams to return out for a curtain name. He remained within the dugout.
The 1960 season was a misplaced one for Boston, however the 42-year-old Williams ended it with a .316 common and a 1.096 OPS in almost 400 plate appearances. Simply one more reason why he might have been the best hitter who ever lived.
Babe Ruth, Yankees, 1948Perhaps you do not know that Ruth’s taking part in profession led to 1935 with a Boston workforce that was not the Pink Sox. By ’48, he was stricken with most cancers and not the larger-than-life man he turned with the Yankees throughout their Nineteen Twenties dynasty. Nonetheless, 14 years after taking part in his remaining sport with the Bronx Bombers, Ruth returned to the home that he constructed and donned the pinstripes once more because the membership retired his No. 3 jersey.
Ruth was in a position to step into the batter’s field and take just a few hacks for the photographers who captured yet one more look of the swing that made him an iconic American determine. Ruth handed away about two months after the ceremony.
Lou Gehrig, Yankees, 1939The final spot on this listing is saved for one of the vital well-known speeches in sports activities historical past. On July 4, 1939 — “Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day” at Yankee Stadium — The Iron Horse approached the microphone by house plate to handle the greater than 40,000 folks in attendance. Gehrig was identified with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis just a few weeks previous to his speech. He knew his profession was over. He knew the illness would finally take his life. However with an unmatched combination of braveness and beauty, Gehrig paused to assemble his feelings after which advised everybody why he was the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.
