"Every year," Chase Lambin said, "I think, 'This is the year. This is the year it's going to happen.'"

He's played in Brooklyn, Port St. Lucie, Binghamton, Norfolk, Zebulon, N.C., Albuquerque, Japan, Syracuse, and now Rochester. He's played in more than 1,000 games. He's been up to bat more than 4,000 times. He's been an All-Star in Class A, in Double-A, in Triple-A. He's never made it to the major leagues. He turned 32 in July.

He walked out of the clubhouse and through the tunnel to the dugout and onto the field to stretch. He jogged to a spot in shallow center and knelt in the grass and said a short prayer. This was how he started the last day of his 10th season in professional baseball.