Tim Salmon, my favorite athlete of all-time, is set to retire this Thursday.

He stayed with the Angels during his entire 15 year career, and was a Moneyball-player before anyone knew what that meant. Nothing about him was flashy, and he wasn't particularly fast or athletic, but he drew a lot of walks, had good power, played good defense, was a smart baserunner, and was healthy and cheap during his peak years.

His moment in the spotlight came when he hit his 2nd homer of Game 2 of the 2002 World Series, the game-winning homerun of an 11-10 Angels win. (In this game, Barry Bonds had a ridiculously long homerun off Troy Percival, and the cameras showed Salmon saying, "That's the longest ball I've ever seen hit.")

He's also a Christian who led the Angels' bible study group, created charities for disadvantaged children, and donated 100 tickets of every home game to youth groups and charities. He was a great role model, and I doubt I'll follow anyone else's career as closely as I followed Salmon's.