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He lost a step. His bat is slowing down. He isnt getting the jumps he used to get. His slider is flat. His slow start is a liability. He has no position. He has lost velocity. What is he taking?Yes, even David Ortiz heard some of these comments about his career, and it wasnt that long ago.The reality is that players dont get to ride off into the sunset on their own terms without, at some point, being on the receiving end of such commentary. In fact, no one exits without cuts and bruises, maybe even a few arrows to the back. It doesnt matter how glorious, thankful or championship-caliber the ride was just moments before.David Ortiz is leaving at the top of his game, having the greatest over-40 final season in history. His hands are adorned with rings. He has brought victory and glory to his city, country and family. Then in this final campaign, he led the league in many major offensive categories and helped carry his team to a division title after it finished dead last a year ago. So why in the world would he leave with so much left in the tank?Because the opposite of a full tank is an empty one, and even he knows that with age comes holes in the fuel line. Its inevitable that you will eventually be overmatched, that you will spend more time getting ready for the game than playing in it, that you will stop being a starter if you keep going. Ever pinch hit in early April, in Boston, off of Wade Davis after sitting for four games? Go get em!Remember, two of the greatest performers of our time were Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, and they both hit close to .200 in their final seasons. We heard all about Jeters declining range and inability to hit at the top of the order; we heard all about A-Rods struggles and health issues. And Jeter had a world tour to go on while scuffling like he never had before. Then someone is on your heels to replace you (see Gary Sanchez), and this is while it takes three hours to get your legs ready just to play. That is where its heading.I caught up with Ortiz a few years ago before an interleague game between the Red Sox and the Cubs. As always, Big Papi was holding court with teammates, opponents, legends, 8-year-old fans and reporters. On this day, he was almost starting his farewell tour, telling Anthony Rizzo about the dos and donts of the game, talking to the Cubs middle infielders during the game. He could share institutional knowledge with an opponent and then bury him in the next breath in the ninth inning. The game, according to Ortiz, was meant to be passed on to everyone, not just those in your uniform.At one point, he came over to me to explain that he was old, in a jovial way that only Ortiz can pull off. These days, everyone in the bullpen throws hard, everyone! he said. I am running out of time.No one is harder on a player than the player himself. When you start and play 162 games a year, even a superior athlete at 22 years old feels the effect of the grind. It becomes difficult to tell the difference between a permanent reduction in skill and a blip. They feel the same during the exhaustion of a long season. They even look the same. Managers see it and give you a day off when youre a fixture in the lineup, but if it continues, and youre of advanced age, it will signify bigger issues. And baseball, like all sports, has a natural ageism to it. Managers and front offices know when youre supposed to decline, and they can map it as a function of age. Then life will imitate science.So at 40, your days are numbered, every slow day a marker for a larger issue. I tore a hamstring tendon just running down the line at 32 years old. Ortiz was hobbled with bad feet and heels. Youre the upside-down hourglass with no hope for anyone turning it right-side up. The question is how much can you produce before the sand runs out? Can you squeeze out another big moment or two? Does your contract give you coverage to play while the sand falls? Will they trade you at the deadline to rebuild?Ortiz followed what musician Daryl Hall once said when he was atop the music world in the 1980s: I stopped before it stopped me. Sure, most players have to worry about appearing ungrateful because the general sentiment is seeing the gift side of playing baseball, and to leave when you can still enjoy this fantasy life is hard to fathom. But fantasy is tied to performance. As players, we have expectations that we need to meet to continue in this game.Then, there is the challenge of fighting denial, a tool you use to keep on keeping on. I am not hurt, I am not slowing down, I am not going to lose. The willpower to overcome is a necessary trait, and this can carry you to play through the finish line until a limb falls off and you hit .156. Or until you just get released.And keep in mind, Ortiz has seen a lot. Two years ago, I spoke with Ryan Howard on the field. Howard had come up in my final season with the Phillies. He watched how I got phased out of the game. I was not performing well, I was 34 years old, and our team was not going anywhere. I helped Marlon Byrd take and keep my job, I smelled the roses, I took time to thank everyone, and then I realized I was close to the end. Howard saw how I pinch ran, pinch hit, how one day I had to face a super ace, like a Brad Radke, after no one told me until I got to the park that I was starting. You start to feel like age is pushing you downhill, and the powers that be are tilting the hill to accelerate it. I am sure when Ortiz was younger, he remembers how veterans got pushed out of the game. He filed that away. Even how his former manager, Terry Francona, ignominiously left Boston. Players pay attention because they know one day that will be them.Ortiz ended on top, and what he probably already knows is that the the top is just an illusion. It is thinking you have reached the peak on a foggy day when visibility is low. You have so little perspective when the curtain falls. But for sure, life will bring new challenges, he will struggle with certain adjustments, it will still feel unresolved even if he is happy in another world. Because like most ballplayers, you love the game, you love to perform, you love the uniform, and when you hang it up in your closet, permanently, when all of your young adult life was invested into this game, you will feel vulnerable.Ortiz decided to write the final chapter of his career book, not have it written for him, and even if a ghost writer would have said glowing things about him, it would have mattered if in his final season he hit .212. So to exercise some semblance of control, you set artificial targets for the end of your career, saying to yourself that you will play until you have no job, until your body fails you, until the passion dies, until you hit a milestone, until the uniform is ripped off your body, until you stink, until, until, until -- but true to David Ortiz, he decided to be the entertainer until the end. One who lives by the adage: Always leave them wanting more.Custom Giants Jerseys . Mitch Holmberg added a goal and three assists. Connor Chartier also scored for the Chiefs (3-0-0). Luke Harrison spoiled Garrett Hughsons shutout bid with a power-play goal at 13:17 of the third period. The Spokane goaltender finished with 28 saves, including a Brandon Fushimi penalty shot in the second period that would have tied the game 1-1. Cheap Custom Giants Jersey . The winner Saturday will remain in the elite 10-team field next year. "We talked about wanting to be disciplined and stick with our game plan and good things will come," Draisaitl said, who had two goals for the victors. http://www.customsfgiantsjersey.com/ . Isner, ranked No. 14, won his eighth career singles title and took the title in New Zealand for the second time after his victory in 2010. The match was similar to Isners quarterfinal victory over fifth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber which went to three sets, all tiebreaks and contained no breaks of serve. Giants Jerseys China . The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling "puts an end to my dreams of being a top player," the 27-year-old Troicki said in a statement. "I worked my entire life for it, and it has been taken away from me in one afternoon by a doctor I didnt know," said Troicki, whose ranking peaked at No. Mel Ott Jersey Large . -- There were so many positives from the Orlando Magics first victory of the season that it was hard for coach Jacque Vaughn to stop praising his players.The theory that turnover margin usually determines who wins an NFL game was proven in Week 12.Heading into Green Bays game at Philadelphia on Monday night, all 15 matchups on Thanksgiving weekend were won by teams with a superior or even turnover differential.San Diego was the most opportunistic with a plus-3 margin in its win at Houston -- the Texans first home loss this season.(It) put us in tough spots, Texans defensive end Jadeveon Clowney said. But it happens and youve got to go out there and bow up ... weve just got to control the game. The defense has to go out there and play better every week.The Patriots were a plus-2 in winning at the Jets. Miami (over San Francisco), the Giants (over Cleveland), the Titans (at Chicago) and the Steelers (at Indianapolis) also were plus-2.San Francisco lost a fumble at the Miami 16, and had a deflected pass intercepted to give the Dolphins the ball at the 49ers 26.ddddddddddddWhen you lose the turnover battle, youre not going to win, 49ers coach Chip Kelly said. We had two critical turnovers.At plus-1 were the Lions against the Vikings, the Ravens vs. the Bengals, the Saints vs. the Rams, the Buccaneers over the Seahawks, and the Chiefs against the Broncos in the only overtime game of the week.Even in turnovers were the victorious Cowboys against the Redskins, and the Bills vs. the Jaguars. Neither of those matchups had a turnover.Also even were Atlanta in its win over Arizona and Oakland in beating Carolina.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '