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When I left work Thursday night, the New York Yankees were two outs away from a 5-2 victory over Baltimore in what would be Derek Jeters final home game of his Hall of Fame career. At that point, he had two RBIs and a run scored, but that wasnt dramatic enough for the baseball gods. Adam Jones cracked a two-run homer off of Yankees soon-to-be free agent closer David Robertson and then Steve Pearc,e briefly a Yankees teammate of Jeters, slugged a game-tying solo shot. After driving home in silence as I often do after a long day to wind down, curiosity got the best of me and I turned on the radio and started twirling the dial to see if I could pull in the Yankees broadcast. After a few seconds, I found it and was shocked to hear the Os had tied the score. In fact, by this time, Brett Gardner was laying down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move the go-ahead run to second with one out. That brought Jeter to the plate. Whether you love the Yankees or you hate the Yankees, you had to be pulling for Derek Jeter in that moment. Then it happened. He sliced the first pitch from reliever Evan Meek to right for the game-winning RBI single. I almost had to pull off the road to drink in the moment, wishing I was one of the 48,613 on hand at Yankee Stadium. Half of me hoped Jeter would skip the trip to Boston and end his career right there, but thats not the Jeter way and he will serve as the Yankees DH in the three-game series at Fenway this weekend. Jeters heroics made me think back to the great Ted Williamss final game at Fenway Park on September 28, 1960. The Splendid Spinter had had a terrible season by his standards in 1959 and had been implored by the Red Sox management to retire. He stubbornly refused and came back at age 42 to hit .316 with 29 home runs, vaulting him over 500 for his career.In his final game at Fenway, the Red Sox were playing a Baltimore Orioles team that had pummelled them 17-4 the day before. There were different accounts of how many fans actually witnessed that game. Many sources claim 14,175, but author John Updike who was at the game, and wrote the classic piece for New Yorker Magazine, Hub fans bid Kid Adieu claims there were only 10,454 on hand. In any event, Williams gave them what they came for. In the eighth inning, he smashed a solo homer off off Jack Fisher into the Red Sox bullpen that cut Baltimores lead to 4-3. Williams chugged around the bases never looking up and never acknowledging the fans. Williams had had a tumultuous relationship with the fans, who quite often booed him earlier in his career and once vowed never again to tip his cap to them. He came out to play left in the top of the ninth, but was immediately lifted so the fans could cheer him one more time. It hardly mattered after the home run, but Boston did come back to win in the bottom of the 9th, 5-4, thanks to a botched double-play grounder, where the relay throw was fired into the BoSox dugout. That was the final game of Ted Williamss career as he opted not to go to New York for the final three games against the AL pennant-winning Yankees. The National League legend who stood along side Williams in the glory years of the 40s and 50s was Cardinals great Stan the Man Musial. He played his final game, also at age 42, on September 29, 1963. It was the final game of the Cards regular season at home at old Busch Stadium. There were 27,576 in the park that day. Musial had a single in his first at-bat, but the game quickly settled into a pitchers duel between the Cincinnati Reds Jim Maloney and the Redbirds Bob Gibson. Finally, in the bottom of the sixth, in a scoreless tie, Musial strode to the plate and delivered a go-ahead RBI single. After a prolonged standing ovation, manager Johnny Keane lifted Musial for a pinch runner. Ironically, the second baseman who made a futile dive to knock down Musials final hit was all-time hits leader Peter Rose, who was in his rookie campaign. The game didnt finish at 1-0. In fact, it went 14 innings before the Cardinals finally prevailed 3-2. Gibson went nine innings and struck out 11, but, of course, didnt get the decision. There was a Canadian connection to this game, as well. Dr. Ron Taylor, the Toronto native, who later was one of the Blue Jays physicians, was in his first full season with the Cards and took over from Gibson and pitched two scoreless innings. Three legends who played their entire careers with one franchise - three of the greatest organizations in baseball. Jeter may not rank with the likes of Williams and Musial, but considering he delivered a walk-off single for the victory and it was in New York, in front of the largest crowd and a huge TV audience, it may turn out to be the most memorable final game of the three. At the very least, it will give a new generation a Williams or a Musial moment of their own to talk about for years to come. - The Cleveland Indians pitching staff has an mpressive record within its grasp this weekend over its final three games at home against the Tampa Bay Rays. They are within nine strikeouts of the all-time record set only last year by the Detroit Tigers with 1419. Some would argue Clevelands pitchers had to be that good since the Indians lead the Majors in errors at last count with 113. - Just in case they should meet in the postseason, keep in mind that the Los Angeles Angels took the season series from the Oakland As, 10-9 by winning seven of their last nine meetings. - And a belated happy birthday to one of the Jays all-time fan favourites, John McDonald, who turned 40 on Wednesday and is going to be playoffs again with the Angels after getting his first World Series ring last season with his hometown team, the Red Sox. . Marek Hamsik, who had earlier missed a penalty, headed Napoli in front in the 23rd minute and Pandev added a second goal five minutes from halftime. Alessandro Matri got Juventus back into the game just after the break but Pandev was on hand to score again in the 68th. . And theyre pointing to the NHLs biggest market: Toronto. With Gretzky paid out for what is believed to be $7 to 8 million, Gretzky may be eager to get back into the NHL and TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports that the Maple Leafs are very much interested in The Great Ones services. . Ashley Wagner will skate in the womens short program for a U.S. team thats in seventh place. Davis and White won the silver medal at the Vancouver Games and are two-time world champions. . Ireland was the last unbeaten side in the championship after France fell to Wales on Friday, and was favoured to end a three-match losing run to England with a side with more than twice as many caps, rampant momentum, and added incentive to celebrate Brian ODriscolls world record-tying 139th test cap. .com) - Bradley Beals 22 points and seven rebounds helped the Washington Wizards erase a halftime deficit and top the Utah Jazz, 93-84, on Sunday.Indianapolis, IN (SportsNetwork.com) - Rodney Stuckey scored a game-high 22 points, Roy Hibbert recorded a double-double, and the Indiana Pacers cruised past the New York Knicks 103-82 on Thursday. Hibbert totaled 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers, who snapped their three-game home losing streak by dominating the second and third quarters. Solomon Hill and David West each scored 10 points for an offense that connected on 53 percent of their shots and owned a 50-26 edge in the paint. Not even a surprise start by Carmelo Anthony could keep the Knicks close. The All-Star forward was questionable on the second game of a back-to-back and finished with 18 points, but New Yorks defense did not duplicate its efforts over the past two weeks. We ran out of gas, to be honest, Anthony admitted. It was one of those nights where we took a step backwards. During a five-game stretch that saw them go 4-1, the Knicks allowed just 91.4 points per game -- more than 10 points fewer than their season average. They reverted back to their sieve-like ways against the Pacers, who scored 67 points during the second and third quarters on 63 percent shooting. The Knicks actually led by 11 early on, and Anthonys 12 first-quarter points carried them to a 29-22 lead at the end of the frame.dddddddddddd Indiana began its turnaround midway through the second with a 12-2 run that Hibbert capped with a putback dunk. The slam gave the hosts a 48-41 lead, and it was a 54-49 difference in the Pacers favor at the break. Hibbert scored on four of the first five possessions in the third quarter, then started a 10-0 run with a layup. C.J. Watson and Stuckey each hit from long range during the surge, which ended with the Pacers ahead 76-56. Three more 3-pointers -- two from Hill -- fueled a 12-0 run that made it a 30- point game, and the Knicks were able to rest Anthony in the fourth with no chance at making a comeback. Every game is important for us from here on out. ... Our goal is to make the playoffs, and were right there, said Stuckey, whose team is currently 12th in the Eastern Conference. Game Notes Luis Scola was given a night off for the Pacers, ending his consecutive games played streak at 277, which was the second-longest active streak in the NBA ... Lou Amundson scored 17 points for New York, which is a league-worst 1-11 on the second game of a back-to-back ... Including the playoffs, the Knicks are winless in eight straight trips to Indianapolis. ' ' '
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