We all know he retired, so I'll pass along a story instead

Turns out the BTB was scooped by some guy named Tom on Salomon Torres retiring from the Crew. So instead of watering down the blogosphere with a heartfelt goodbye or who should replace him or if he was destined to be the set-up man in 2009, I'll spare you the boredom for now and pass along an amusing story. It's not thrilling or gripping or sad. It's amusing.

After the Phillies ended the Crews postseason run in Game 4 of the NLDS at Miller Park, all of the fans started to bang their thunderstix together as a final "adios" to the Crew in 2009. As my roommate's favorite band Fall Out Boy would write, "Thanks for the memories!" My friend and I had strategically left our section in the Terrace after being told by the Debbie Downers sitting behind us to sit down on several occasions, so we could beat the rush of fans exiting the park.

We took in the final inning from the SRO section directly behind home plate on the Field Level and made our way to the section directly behind the Brewers dugout once the game ended. The sections surrounding the Crew's dugout remained packed with die hards, hoping that maybe some of the players would pop back out for a final goodbye in 2008. (Having been in losing locker rooms of professional sports teams before, I was foolish to think this would happen). The team never came back out.

But while we were waiting with hopes that they would, the bullpen guys were first making their way across the field and Carlos Villanueva and Torres entered the dugout waving to the crowd that was loudly applauding them. Torres tossed his hat up into the crowd and it was like he threw it on a bee line to my friend. Torres has a tiny head. It didn't come even close to fitting either of us and my friend sure as hell wasn't giving it to the kid that asked him, "Maybe it fits me?" Players must get new hats every game as it was brand new aside from the small "16" written under the bill.

So my friend has the last hat Torres ever wore as a Brewer and Major Leaguer. While I don't expect Cooperstown to text him anytime soon, it's an amusing story.