As 2014 winds to a close, TSN.ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. TSN.ca's writing staff reflects on the best baseball moments from the past 12 months including Jeter's farewell, a Blue Jay marathon, Bryce Harper going heads-up against Hunter Strickland and more!

Derek Jeter leaves the game in style
By Ryan Horne

Derek Jeter will always be known for having a flair for the dramatic, but what he did in his final at-bat at Yankee Stadium was truly remarkable.

Heading into the top of the ninth inning, in Jeter’s last home game in his illustrious 20-year career, the Yankees were leading the Baltimore Orioles by a score of 5-2.

It may not be a storybook ending, but at least Jeter and the Yankees would get a win, right? Wrong.

Closer David Robertson proceeded to give up a two-run homer to Adam Jones and a solo shot to Steve Pearce, all with two outs, to tie the contest heading into the bottom half of the inning.

Cue Jeter.

With one out, Jeter walked to the batter's box for the final time at Yankee Stadium with thousands of flashbulbs and cell phone cameras going off simultaneously. “The Captain” lined the first pitch he saw to right fight and scored pinch-runner Antoan Richardson to win the game and send the crowd into a state of bedlam.

"Sort of an out-of-body experience," Jeter said after the game.

Even if you never rooted for Jeter - or the Yankees - that moment is one any sports fan would appreciated to its highest degree.

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The Greatest Finish We will Never See
By Shane McNeil

The Giants’ 2014 World Series title will be largely remembered for Madison Bumgarner being nearly unhittable in three appearances. But here’s the rub: The one hit he did allow could have cost the Giants the series or at least forced extras in Game 7.

Bumgarner had retired 14 straight before Alex Gordon stepped up with two outs in the ninth. He solved Bumgarner with a soft liner to left-centre. The ball bounces past Gregor Blanco giving Gordon an extra base before Juan Perez boots the pick-up.

Gordon hustled his way to third, but by time he gets to the bag, the relay is already on its way into the infield and any thought of coming in to score is quelled when he’s held up at third.

Now, I’m not for a second suggesting Gordon should have been waved home. He wasn’t gunning it the entire way and if the relay from shallow left were anywhere close to on-line he’d have been out by a substantial margin.

But isn’t that a play you’d love to have seen unfold to potentially decide a Championship?

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Clayton Kershaw is Unhittable
By Jed Bick

Clayton Kershaw had a year to remember. He won his third Cy Young Award unanimously, was named the National League MVP and was the first pitcher in MLB history to win four-straight ERA titles.

But the apex of his astonishing season came on June 18 when he no-hit the Colorado Rockies. If not for a Hanley Ramirez error, the game in fact would have been perfect. Kershaw did not allow a walk and struck out 15, the first time this feat was accomplished in the history of the MLB.

This was probably also the only time watching an accomplishment such as this was a superior experience on television. 

Kershaw might have thrown a no-hitter, but Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully delivered a perfect broadcast. After the final pitch was thrown and the no-hitter was secured, Scully said, “He’s done it”, then let the crowd take over as the players stormed on to the field. It was not until about half a minute later that Scully began to sum up the situation.

The whole call was at a normal tone, he did not go ballistic like some other homer broadcasters would. It was like any other game, which made the experience that much more pleasurable in a way only Scully could produce.  Or maybe Scully knew that for someone as magnificent as Kershaw, a no-hitter is basically “any other game”.

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The Jays and Tigers Play a Marathon
By Mike Beauvais

Baseball commentators like to joke about extra-innings games, calling them “free baseball” for fans. It’s highly doubtful that players view them in that manner.

The Toronto Blue Jays and Detroit Tigers had one of those games on Sunday, August 10.

The match-up appeared to be going the Tigers’ way. With newly-acquired starter David Price on the hill, the Tigers jumped out to a 5-0 lead after four innings and were cruising, but the Jays would chip away. Dioner Navarro hit a two-run home run in the sixth to make it 5-2. The following inning, the Jays pulled within one at 5-4. Then, in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, Reyes would single again to score Anthony Gose to deadlock the game at 5-5…where it would stay for 10 more innings.

When it was all said and done, both teams had used eight pitchers each. The Jays used 22 players of their 25-man roster. The teams were beyond gassed.

After 19 innings and six hours and 37 minutes, the Jays would claim a 6-5 victory when Jose Bautista singled off of Rick Porcello to score Munenori Kawasaki and mercifully end matters. It was the longest game in Toronto Blue Jays history.

It was only one game over the course of 162, but on that hot afternoon in Toronto, the Blue Jays and Tigers waged a war of attrition that drowned out the outside world. Standings and pennant races be damned, the game was only about the here and now and the two teams standing – just barely by that point – on the field.

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Bryce Harper can Clearly Hit Hunter Strickland’s Heater
By Shane McNeil

Let’s start this out with the fact that Bryce Harper is kind of a punk. A lot of people have problems with his attitude, swagger or whatever it is you want to call it.

I have gone on the record before with the fact that I clearly do not. 

That said, he is possibly the most exciting player in baseball and proved it during the NLDS against the San Francisco Giants.

Giants fireballer Hunter Strickland earned some Game 1 kudos for escaping a bases-loaded jam by whiffing Ian Desmond on four pitches, the last three (strikes, all) hitting 98, 99 and 100 mph on the gun.

Problem is: Bryce Harper can hit a fastball.

Leading off the very next inning, Harper hit a bomb that justified the very existence of vines. The kind of shot that you would believe just never came down.

Strickland, though, took exception and stared Harper down as he took his victory lap around the bases.

So, what was Strickland’s response? Serving up another one in Game 4; an AT&T splash landing to tie the game. Harper watched the bomb. Then he watched Strickland. Then he chirped Strickland some more from the dugout. 

He may not be classy, but good lord is Bryce Harper a lot of fun.