"The Mayor" hangs it up

Sean Casey, an Upper St. Clair graduate who spent 12 seasons in the major leagues, is retiring.

WEEI.com in Boston reported that Casey, 34, has signed on with the MLB Network, thereby making his retirement official.

Known as "The Mayor" for his outgoing personality and for being one of, if not the, nicest players ever to put on a uniform, he always seemed to have a smile on his face.

He was drafted by Cleveland in the second round of the 1994 draft and made his debut at the end of the 1997 season. he was traded that offseason to Cincinnati for pitcher Dave Burba and spent the next eight seasons as the starting first baseman for the Reds. His best season was 1999 when he batted .332 with 25 home runs and 99 RBI and made the first of his three All-Star games.

In 2001, he hit the first home run during the first game at PNC Park. Ironically, a collision at first base Sept. 16, 2005 at PNC Park ended that season as Casey had to be taken off the field on a stretcher.

Casey was traded to the Pirates during the winter meetings on Dec. 8, 2005 and was looked upon to revive the moribund franchise. But a back injury hobbled Casey and he only played in 59 games before being traded to Detroit for pitcher Brian Rogers at the trade deadline. He helped Detroit make it to the World Series that year and was 9-for-17 at the plate in the series but the Tigers lost to St. Louis, four games to one.

He played one more season in Detroit before playing last season in Boston.

Casey finished his career with a .302 average, 130 home runs and 735 RBI.

Good luck to one of the truly good guys the game has ever known.