Mark Buehrle of the Toronto Blue Jays gestures to the cheering crowd after being taken off the mound by manager John Gibbons during the seventh inning of a game against the Tampa Bay Rays on October 2, 2015 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.Brian Blanco/Getty Images
It was a walk that he has practised many a time in his career as a manager, yet this one was different for John Gibbons as he went to the mound in the seventh inning on Friday night.
The Toronto Blue Jays manager was going out to take the ball from Mark Buehrle in what might have been the final start of his phenomenal career.
"He's had a tremendous career," Gibbons said of his 36-year-old lefty. "It's an honour for me to have had a chance to manage him his three years here. He's been one of the best in baseball year after year – his durability, wins. He does everything right.
"I had little goose bumps when I was taking the ball from him. He's a special guy. His career speaks for itself."
As he accepted the ball from Buehrle and gave him a pat on the back for a job well done, Buehrle did the same to his manager.
That is not something you see too often.
Then, as the cheers from a surprisingly solid Blue Jays fan base that had gathered at Tropicana Field to watch Toronto play the Tampa Bay Rays, Buehrle tipped his hat and gave a wave to family and friends as he made to walk to the dugout.
"I got my whole family here," Buehrle said. "Everybody came in for last series and they're out there cheering the whole game for me. And I like to recognize my wife and kids and family and brothers and just people who are here.
"It's a good feeling."
Toronto won the game, 8-4, and improved to 93-67 on the season. Buehrle got the win, to improve to 15-7, but it could be his final start.
With the post-season set to begin next week, the Blue Jays will be going with a four-man rotation and Buehrle appears the logical candidate to be lopped from the crew.
And with his contract set to expire after this season, his outing against the Rays might very well have been his swan song after a memorable 16-year Major League Baseball run.
Buehrle fell just short in his quest to reach 200 innings for the 15th consecutive year, which has been done by only three Major League pitchers since 1901.
His 6 2/3-innings gave him 198 on the season.
With two games left on the regular-season calendar, Gibbons has not ruled out the possibility that he might try and bring Buehrle back to pitch on Sunday on just one day's rest to try and put him over the top.
But the manager said that that will only happen if Sunday's game holds no consequences on the final standing.
"I don't know, we'll see," Buehrle said when asked if he is planning on lobbying for the Sunday start. "It's a short rest. Again, if the game comes down to mattering for having the best overall record, that's their decision.
"But if it doesn't matter and I can go out there and throw slower than I ever have before in my life, then I might lobby for it. I don't know. We'll see how I feel [Saturday] and again on Sunday."
Although the Blue Jays have already clinched first place in the American League East and will open the playoffs at home on Thursday, they still have a shot at finishing with the best record overall in the A.L.
That would guarantee Toronto home field advantage for the duration of the post-season.
With two games left to play, the Blue Jays remain tied with the Kansas City Royals, who defeated the Minnesota Twins 3-1.
Toronto owns the tiebreaker because of a better head-to-head record this year against the Royals. That means Toronto could clinch top spot as early as Saturday with another victory over the Rays and a K.C. loss.