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When Maine announced the signings of Guides legends Tino Suarez and Kyoden Kubota for the final weeks of the season, fans hoped to catch a glimpse of their longtime heroes before they rode off into the sunset.
When the team clinched the Ale division earlier in the week, that dream grew brighter.
The Guides soon announced that the longtime Maine battery mates would team up one last time under the Old Port Park lights, on the regular season's final night.
"It will be an honor to pitch in front of the fans here one last time," Suarez said after the announcement. "They're the best fans in baseball. They've given me so much over the years. I hope I can give them one more thing to remember."
But the 39-year-old Suarez's final outing was no cameo.
It was one, final, brilliant, brand-new episode of the Tino Suarez Show that Guides' fans had come to know and love.
After retiring the leadoff man on the first pitch Sunday night, the Whalers' Cris Moran reached second with a double after Guides' center fielder Daniel Larivee misplayed a line drive.
But that didn't faze Suarez in the least.
He retired the next 12 consecutive batters, a streak halted by Rod Miners' fifth-inning walk.
And after that, no other Whaler reached base.
Suarez went the distance in front of an increasingly joyous crowd, completing the one-hit shutout with a Chuck Durham fly out that sent the Maine audience into full pandemonium as Suarez's teammates mobbed him on the mound.
At the team's request, a Guides' clubhouse attendant dug up the pitching rubber immediately after the game. It was presented to Suarez by Kubota in the locker room.
With his trademark humility, Suarez was quick to credit his catcher, who contributed two hits, included a base-loaded double in the first that plated two runs, which turned out to be all Suarez needed.
"It was great being on the mound and throwing to Kyoden again. We've always been on the same page together out there. When we stepped on the field tonight, we knew we had the chance to do something special."
And they did.
After the game had ended, and the Guides had left the field, the Maine faithful remained standing and cheering, pleading for an encore from the Guides legends.
The veterans obliged.
Suarez and Kubota took a lap around Old Port Park, shaking hands with fans seated in the front along the way.
A final embrace.
And later, as the echoes of the last cheers faded away, and as those Old Port Park lights finally went dark, one couldn't have imagined a better way to say goodbye.
When the team clinched the Ale division earlier in the week, that dream grew brighter.
The Guides soon announced that the longtime Maine battery mates would team up one last time under the Old Port Park lights, on the regular season's final night.
"It will be an honor to pitch in front of the fans here one last time," Suarez said after the announcement. "They're the best fans in baseball. They've given me so much over the years. I hope I can give them one more thing to remember."
But the 39-year-old Suarez's final outing was no cameo.
It was one, final, brilliant, brand-new episode of the Tino Suarez Show that Guides' fans had come to know and love.
After retiring the leadoff man on the first pitch Sunday night, the Whalers' Cris Moran reached second with a double after Guides' center fielder Daniel Larivee misplayed a line drive.
But that didn't faze Suarez in the least.
He retired the next 12 consecutive batters, a streak halted by Rod Miners' fifth-inning walk.
And after that, no other Whaler reached base.
Suarez went the distance in front of an increasingly joyous crowd, completing the one-hit shutout with a Chuck Durham fly out that sent the Maine audience into full pandemonium as Suarez's teammates mobbed him on the mound.
At the team's request, a Guides' clubhouse attendant dug up the pitching rubber immediately after the game. It was presented to Suarez by Kubota in the locker room.
With his trademark humility, Suarez was quick to credit his catcher, who contributed two hits, included a base-loaded double in the first that plated two runs, which turned out to be all Suarez needed.
"It was great being on the mound and throwing to Kyoden again. We've always been on the same page together out there. When we stepped on the field tonight, we knew we had the chance to do something special."
And they did.
After the game had ended, and the Guides had left the field, the Maine faithful remained standing and cheering, pleading for an encore from the Guides legends.
The veterans obliged.
Suarez and Kubota took a lap around Old Port Park, shaking hands with fans seated in the front along the way.
A final embrace.
And later, as the echoes of the last cheers faded away, and as those Old Port Park lights finally went dark, one couldn't have imagined a better way to say goodbye.
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