Most major leaguers begin their baseball lives head and shoulders above other players. They may have dominated Little League; at school, they might have stood tall even as freshmen among seniors; later, maybe they were a very high draft pick. Even so, there’s always a moment when they realize there is, and always will be, someone better.
It is the end of the regular season, and time for goodbyes. I remember walking off the field in 2002, after we played our last game. One of my Phillies teammates said it was “a sad time” because you will never play with this same group again. So we gave out big hugs, knowing this nuclear family would forever be dispersed.