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. Edmonton Oilers Shirts . 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. Fake Oilers Jerseys . The government says top golfers are expected to compete in the PGA Tour event at the Ashburn Golf Club in the suburb of Fall River from July 3-6 and again next year. Wholesale Oilers Jerseys . -- The Oakland Raiders expect to have starting right tackle Tony Pashos back for Sundays game against the Houston Texans. https://www.cheapoilers.com/ . 25 against Miami. Hillis left Browns Stadium about two hours before kickoff, a decision that has led to speculation he was upset over ongoing negotiations with the club on a contract extension.BOSTON -- While Tampa Bay star Steven Stamkos injury was on everyones minds, the Boston Bruins were able to get back to playing hockey a lot quicker after it happened. Patrice Bergeron and Daniel Paille scored 20 seconds apart a few minutes after Stamkos was taken off the ice on a stretcher with a broken right leg, and the Bruins beat the Lightning 3-0 on Monday afternoon. Stamkos was hurt with 7:11 to play in the second period. He entered the day tied with Pittsburghs Sidney Crosby as the NHLs leading scorer. Stamkos got tied up with Boston defenceman Dougie Hamilton and crashed into the right post. His left skate appeared to hit the post first before his right leg crashed into it around the shin area. He tried to get up twice before going down to the ice in pain, grabbing his leg just above the ankle. When he left the ice on a stretcher, players on both teams tapped their sticks on ice as the fans applauded in tribute. The Lightning confirmed on the teams Twitter account that Stamkos suffered a broken right tibia. No further information was available. "A player like that, I dont know how serious it is, but it looks pretty serious to me," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "You dont want to see that." Its bad news for the Lightning and for Canadas Olympic team. Stamkos was considered a lock to represent Canada at the 2014 Sochi Games. Tuukka Rask stopped 28 shots for his 18th career shutout and second this season. Jarome Iginla added an empty-net goal with 59 seconds left. Anders Lindback, playing just his fifth game of the season, made 23 saves for Tampa Bay, which had a four-game winning streak snapped. "Injuries happen. Hes gone a long time in his career without being seriously hurt," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "Theres no sugarcoating it. Hes a huge part of our team. You can make an argument here that if you were going to hand out the MVP in our league now, you can give it to him. Is that a hole in our team? Yes, it is." The Bruins jumped ahead with just under three minutes left in the period when Bergeron scored off the rebound of Torey Krugs shot that caromed off the skate of Loui Eriksson. They made it 2-0 when Paille broke in down the right wing, shifted to his backhand and slipped a shot past Lindback iinside the right post. Oilers Jerseys 2021. During the play, Tampa Bay defenceman Sami Salo also appeared to hurt his right leg and had trouble making it to the bench. He was briefly assisted by one of the referees on the ice and didnt return in the third period. "Well, I mean that is a big blow for them. Nobody wants to see that happen to anybody," Iginla said. "He was obviously in a lot of pain and I didnt hear for sure what happened to him, but I imagine its got to be, for him not to get up, hes a tough player and plays hard and stuff. So he must have been in some serious pain." Tampa Bay veteran Martin St. Louis didnt know how bad the injury was, but felt his team still played tough. "I thought we played hard. We just couldnt get the puck in the net," he said. "We really cant think about (Stamkos injury) now. Weve got a game to play (Tuesday). Were going to be playing a lot of hockey. I dont know how bad it is. Its tough to comment. "We lost him tonight for a period and a half. I think its a big part of our team. I thought we battled." It was Tampa Bays second loss in nine games. The Lightning came into the day leading the NHLs Atlantic Division, but the loss of Stamkos will be a major blow. "Now weve got to pick ourselves up and see what were made of," Cooper said. "Its a tough one for the game. You want to see guys that have It and Steven Stamkos has It. Now well see what were made of. You talk about a test, this is a test." Boston won its third straight. NOTES: Stamkos streak of scoring a goal was stopped at six games. ... Boston won its seventh straight against Tampa Bay. ... The Bruins Krug, Dennis Seidenberg, David Krejci, Johnny Boychuk and Matt Bartkowski each bought $2,500 of tickets that were given to military members and their families, who had a chance to meet the players after the game. ... It was the 80th meeting between the franchises. Boston has won 51. ... The Bruins wore military-style camouflage jerseys during warm-ups. ... It was the Lightnings second of a three-game road trip. They play at Montreal on Tuesday night. ... Boston is off until hosting Columbus on Thursday. ... The game was the opener of an NHL-NBA doubleheader. The Celtics were slated to face Orlando at night. ' ' '