SEATTLE – A lifetime of baseball memories ended with seven minutes on the field Friday night that Dan Wilson will never forget.
The Seattle Mariners’ veteran catcher caught the first inning of the Mariners’ 4-1 victory over the Oakland A’s, fighting through the stiffness of a surgically repaired right knee that hasn’t fully healed in order to experience his final moments as a player.
When it was over – a seven-minute inning while catching longtime teammate Jamie Moyer – Wilson’s 14-year major league playing career ended emotionally amid standing ovations from the crowd at Safeco Field and hugs from all his teammates.
In a return to the field orchestrated by Wilson, the Mariners’ training staff, manager Mike Hargrove and others who made it the most special moment of his career, Wilson caught the top of the first inning, then went back to the plate to warm up Moyer before the second.
After he made his final throw to second base, Yorvit Torrealba jogged from the dugout to replace Wilson.
Then, it got emotional.
Torrealba and Wilson hugged, and when they broke apart, Moyer was waiting about halfway between home plate and the pitchers mound.
Wilson met him and the two who have been teammates the past nine years embraced each other with intensity.
“Jamie and I have had a long history together here, and it’s nice toe be able to say thank-you,” Wilson said.
Then he told something that melted Moyer: “Pitch a shutout.”
“I’ve never thrown a warmup pitch with a tear in my eye,” Moyer said, calling it one of the most difficult days of his career.
“I wasn’t anxious for this day to come,” Moyer said. “That’s what sorrows me.”
Moyer was visibly overcome with emotion and, as Wilson made his way to the dugout amid more cheers from the crowd, the 42-year-old pitcher stood on the infield grass near second base with his chin quivering.
In the dugout, Wilson made his way down a receiving line of teammates, clubhouse boys, trainers, coaches and manager Mike Hargrove until he reached the steps leading to the Mariners’ clubhouse.
Waiting there were two of his former teammates, Edgar Martinez and Jay Buhner, to welcome him into their retirement club.
“Those guys were a huge part of those memories, and it was great to be able to give them a hug, too,” Wilson said.
“It was a great night all around. There are so many people who had to be in on this to let this even take place. For that to happen, I’m thankful. To be there with the great Seattle fans and my teammates and everybody involved, it was a special moment.”
After leaving the game, Wilson spent the rest of the night on the bench with his son, Elijah.
What they watched was one of the Mariners’ best efforts of the season.
Ichiro Suzuki, taking his chase for 200 hits to the final weekend, went 4-for-5 and now has 202.
Moyer lost a shutout when Mark Ellis led off the eighth inning a home run, but he pitched eight innings to finish with at least 200 innings for the fifth straight season. Moyer, whose contract is up after this season, finished 13-7 with a 4.28 ERA.
He, too, got a standing ovation from the crowd of 34,809 on what might have been the last night of his Mariners career.
“I haven’t thought about that,” Moyer said. “To me, it was Danny’s day. All day, I’d be thinking about him and the experiences we’d had. Then I’d be thinking about pitching the game. It bounced around like that from about 2 o’clock to about 5:30. Then I said, ‘It’s time to put your emotions to the side and focus on the game.’
Moyer did, pitching around two of Oakland’s five hits off him in the first inning.
In the second inning, emotions tugged at that focus, as it did to nearly everyone in the stadium.
“I think I had a lump in my throat for about 45 minutes,” Hargrove said.
The entire day was like that for Wilson, he said.
The crowd cheered him when he walked to the bullpen to warm up Moyer before the game, and they cheered him again when he walked back to the dugout.
“It kind of felt like a playoff game,” said Wilson, who has played in 30 of them. “You’ve got that butterfly feeling from the minute you wake up, and as you get closer to game time it gets more intense.”
Hours earlier, inside an empty stadium while the Mariners took batting practice, Wilson stood alone in the outfield.
“It was a time of reflection,” he said, “thinking about all the opportunities and good times we’ve had here.”
In seven minutes on the field that Dan Wilson, Jamie Moyer, the team and its fans won’t forget, it was over.
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