Kevin Pasley

Only two players in baseball's long and storied history have the distinction of belting a home run in their final big league at bat and having their uniform number retired.

Yep, just two.

Well, sort of.

The first player to accomplish these unique feats is baseball legend Ted Williams. The "Splendid Splinter" hit home run number 521 of his Hall of Fame career on September 28, 1960, off the Baltimore Orioles' Jack Fisher at Fenway Park in his final big league at bat. His uniform number 9 was subsequently retired by the Boston Red Sox.

The other player?

Why, it's none other than Kevin Patrick Pasley.

Who?

A right-handed hitting catcher, Pasley played in the big leagues for parts of four seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Seattle Mariners.

On October 1, 1978, Pasley hit his first and only home run of his big league career off the Texas Rangers' Fergie Jenkins in what turned out ot be his final official at bat.

And, on July 6, 1980, Pasley joined "Teddy Ballgame" in one of baseball's most exclusive clubs when the Dodgers finally retired uniform number 4; the number donned by Pasley in 1974 and 1976 to 1977 and, of course, Hall of Famer Duke Snider from 1947 to 1962.

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[1] -----. "Home Run in Last At Bat." Baseball Almanac
< http://baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats18.shtml >
[2] Hoffer, Richard. "A Couple of Giant Problems Are Solved." Los Angeles Times, July 7, 1980, D1.