Today I want to take the opportunity to say thank you to one of my favorite ex-Reds. Sean Casey is retiring from baseball at the age of 32. The Mayor is hanging it up after 12 seasons in the big leagues. He’ll walk away from the game as a .302 hitter. It brings to mind the old story that Cap Anson wanted “Here’s lies a .300 hitter” on his tombstone”. Sean Casey can make that claim as well, though from all I know of him, there are far more meaningful things he’d want said of him.
He was universally known as one of the nicest, most genuine, most gracious players in Major League Baseball. He never quite got the recognition he deserved, but to put him in context, his numbers (.302, .367 OB%, .447 Slugging) are eerily similar to those of Mark Grace (.303, .383, .444). Grace achieved more notoriety because he played in Chicago, but the two essentially had the same career, with Casey retiring a little younger. Now he can be seen on the MLB network paired with another of my all time favorites, Barry Larkin. He’s one of the lucky ones to walk away on his own terms, not because his skills had diminished, but because his kids need their dad around.
Congratulations, Sean. Thanks for all the doubles up the gap. Thanks for making us proud.
Links:
An interesting comparison between Adam Dunn and Ryan Howard. Someone will get Dunner on the cheap, and be very glad they did.
Here’s another shameless plug: VOTE FOR 18to88.com IN THE FO Poll. Thanks.
Tony’s new book is out. I can’t wait to read it.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
