Divisive umpire Laz Díaz gets last victory lap with Tigers (and does Justin Verlander a final favor)

Saturday marked not only Justin Verlander's farewell to baseball, but two other veterans' departures from the game. Pirates reliever Kirby Yates got the first start of his 12-year career, pitching 1 2/3 scoreless before leaving the mound with a tip of his cap and a nice ovation from the Tigers fans in attendance. He officially announced his retirement after the game.

Home plate umpire Laz Díaz accepted a buyout from MLB back in July, making Verlander's start his last behind the plate.

There's little love lost between many players of all kinds, managers, and Díaz. He's been the subject of more than one Jomboy lip reading, and did not go quietly into that good night, telling Bob Nightengale, "[The climate for umpires] is nasty. We don't get the recognition. Everybody is putting us down. Like with Angel (Hernandez) and C.B. (Bucknor), they got so much criticism, and they're great umpires. But everything is just so (expletive) negative."

Most fans would tend to disagree, but this is all very typical of an umpire infamous for his argumentativeness.

But Díaz had the game of his life. Both the Pirates and Tigers would lose their challenges by the end of the fourth, with Díaz going 4-for-4 on his calls. After the Pirates lost the last of the game and Díaz confirmed his call was correct, he was visibly elated behind the plate. Still on a hot mic from the announcement, he could be heard urging Max Clark back into the box. "Come on Max, come on Maxy!"

Baseball says farewell to umpire Laz Díaz alongside Justin Verlander in his last time calling a game

It's clear Díaz understood the gravity of the moment, too. After both teams burned their challenges, he was suddenly much more generous to Verlander. He gave him his fifth strikeout of the afternoon on a 3-2 pitch well outside the outside edge. But, hey, Tigers fans aren't complaining.

As Verlander walked off the mound with his daughter, Díaz gave him a hearty salute. The two of them had a conversation after Verlander's 1-2-3 first inning.

If Díaz wasn't already considering retirement, the implementation of the ABS system almost certainly encouraged him to hang up his cap. The aforementioned CB Bucknor, perhaps even more vehemently disliked than Díaz, also accepted a buyout.

But even if a Díaz call or two has made you want to scream at your TV at some point in his long career (it definitely has), it's impossible not to be happy for the guy. It was his last time out there, and he didn't disappoint.

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