San Francisco Giants' Sergio Romo retired from the game of baseball but not before a spectacular send-off from the field. The 40-year-old stood before an emotional crowd on March 27 after making his final professional pitch. Fitted in the Giants uniform, Romo also sported a cap that was filled with autographs from his little fans, Yahoo Sports reports.
More from Mom.com: Padres Ball Girl Saves Baseball Fan From Fly Ball
The now-retired baseball player made a deal with every kid who asked for his autograph during spring training — they had to sign his hat in exchange for him signing their piece of memorabilia. The hat had roughly 50 signatures and was quickly coined a "treasure" by Romo.
Every time a kid asked Sergio Romo for an autograph in spring training he asked them to sign his hat first. He wore this to the mound tonight: pic.twitter.com/O3CXB5BLyr
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) March 28, 2023
"I know I was only there for roughly a week, but I was trading autographs with kids," Romo said, according to NBC Sports. "They asked me, 'Hey, can you sign this?' I'm like, 'Well, can you sign mine first?' I figured if this was the last hat I was going to wear in the big leagues and be able to compete in, I figured it would be nice to not go in there alone."
After being taken out of the game during the seventh inning, Romo was met with a standing ovation, waving the endearing cap to his fans and holding back tears. It was the final game of Romo's 15-year MLB career.
More from Mom.com: How to Be a Sports Mom
"Tonight was just another example of that type of support that I had," he said. "I was lucky to have that support and it never wavered. It never mattered which jersey I wore afterward running in here, it was almost like people were still pulling for me even though I was now playing against their team. I'm thankful for it all. I'm blown away. This is my end, this is my storybook ending."
