Chad Jennings

cjennings@lohud.com

For Mark Teixeira, the decision was settled months ago, and the grand finale was a walk-off grand slam on Wednesday. His final game was largely ceremonial, little more than a final wave on his way into whatever's next.

"It wasn't as weird as I thought it was going to be," he said. "It was like, now that day is finally here."

His final game was an 0-for-3 punctuated with two signature plays in the field, including a diving stop to his right, which seemed appropriate. He will finish with 1,862 career hits, exactly one hit for every game played. After a fly ball in the bottom of the sixth, Teixeira told manager Joe Girardi that he was ready. He'd play the field for one more out, and when Tyler Austin stepped onto the field to replace him, it really did feel like a changing of a guard.

"Tyler Austin and Rob Refsnyder and Aaron Judge, these guys are me 15 years ago," Teixeira said. "Just trying to make their way in the game."

At some point, Teixeira said, he'd like to serve as an instructor; something similar to what Alex Rodriguez is doing in instructional league. It won't be this offseason, and it might not be next year, but at some point he'd like to work with young hitters again. For now, he wants to get involved with Georgia Tech again. He wants to explore some business opportunities and continue philanthropic efforts. He's been approached about media opportunities, and he wants to see where that goes.

But for now...

"I'm not leaving my house tomorrow," he said. "I told my wife, if it's nice outside I'll play outside with the kids, but I'm not leaving the house. I'm not going anywhere. I just want to enjoy doing nothing for a day. Tuesday, I'm going to play golf."

That's what it's come to for the Yankees. It's golf season. Boxes and suitcases filled the clubhouse tonight, and players talked about catching flights or making long drives. Brian McCann said he hopes the Yankees don't want to trade him, Austin said he's looking forward to a fresh opportunity in spring training, and CC Sabathia said he's looking forward to a healthy offseason.

"You start thinking about next year right now," Girardi said.

And so it ends.

"(The Yankees) are the team that I'll always be remembered for, I think," Teixeira said. "In my mind, I'm going to live here for a really, really long time and be coming to Yankee Stadium and take my kids to games here. Hopefully if they honor the 2009 World Series sometime soon I'll be back with all my old teammates. I'll always be a Yankee."

Cessa's encouraging debut comes to solid end

Solid final start for Luis Cessa, who went 5.2 innings and allowed four runs. He walked none and struck out six. He retired 11 of his first 12 batters, and in nine starts this season, he had a 4.01 ERA with a 1.06 WHIP. He looks like a legitimate rotation possibility for next year.

“Coming into the season, I didn’t know much about him because he wasn’t in our organization," Girardi said. "So, for me, I got to see him in spring training and was pretty pleased with what he did, but we knew he had to develop his breaking ball to be a starter. I think it’s going to come down to a little bit better command with his fastball on the first-base side, and the development of his changeup. His changeup, when he throws it and throws it right, the bottom drops out of it. That will be a big pitch for him."

McCann reaches 20 homers again

Needing one home run to reach 20 for the ninth year in a row, Brian McCann went deep in the fourth inning. After a strong first half that had his OPS over .800, McCann really struggled after the All-Star break. He said reaching the 20-homer mark again -- the 10th time overall -- didn't mean much.

“Not really," he said. "Down the road, I’m sure it’ll mean more, but it doesn’t mean much right now."

McCann and Gary Sanchez made these Yankees the third team in baseball history to have two catchers each reach 20 home runs in a season. The 1965 Braves (Torre/Oliver) and the 1961 Yankees (Howard/Blanchard) were the others. McCann is the fourth catcher in history to have four seasons of at least 20 home runs, joining Yogi Berra, Johnny Bench and Mike Piazza.

Odds and ends

After being potentially jinxed by me pregame -- I assumed he wouldn't pitch today, and so brought it up at his locker -- Richard Bleier pitched a scoreless inning to finish the season with no runs allowed in his last 13 appearances after the All-Star break. The guy who had never before been invited to big league camp finished with a 1.96 big league ERA.

pitched a scoreless inning to finish the season with no runs allowed in his last 13 appearances after the All-Star break. The guy who had never before been invited to big league camp finished with a 1.96 big league ERA. Two more hits for Brett Gardner who finished the season hitting safely in 13 of his final 15 games. Jacoby Ellsbury also had two hits tonight and had multiple hits in four of his last six starts.

who finished the season hitting safely in 13 of his final 15 games. also had two hits tonight and had multiple hits in four of his last six starts. With an RBI single of Zach Britton in the eighth, Didi Gregorius finished this year hitting .393 against left-handed pitchers -- 11-for-28 -- from September 15 through the end of the year. He hit .324 against them for the year, the highest by a Yankees left-handed hitter -- minimum 125 at-bats against lefties -- since Robinson Cano in 2007.

finished this year hitting .393 against left-handed pitchers -- 11-for-28 -- from September 15 through the end of the year. He hit .324 against them for the year, the highest by a Yankees left-handed hitter -- minimum 125 at-bats against lefties -- since Robinson Cano in 2007. Two more runners thrown out by Gary Sanchez. He snapped an 0-for-15 with a base hit in the eighth.

Final word

We'll give the final word to Girardi:

“There were a lot of changes. I think that’s what I’ll remember. A lot of guys coming and going. Big time players retiring. Those are the things that I’m probably going to remember. There are some things that I’m going to remember about certain players. The comeback that CC had and what he did for us this year. Sanchez bursting onto the scene. But there were a lot of changes here, and that’s probably what I’ll think about most.”