Ivy grows on the outfield walls at Wrigley. A Green Monster guards Fenway’s left field. Fans gobble Dodger Dogs in Chavez Ravine. During my time as a baseball fan there have been a handful of constants that have made the ever-changing game feel familiar and comfortable.
Those traditions are unchanging and will continue long into the future. Other baseball certainties that I grew up with have, sadly, begun to fade away. Chipper Jones doesn’t patrol third base in Atlanta anymore. Manny’s done being Manny and, as of Thursday, Mariano Rivera is no longer the closer in the Bronx.
It is the latter that I will miss the most. Rivera was a solid in the middle of a fluid sport for 17 years. The story was almost always the same. The bullpen door opened to reveal Rivera, who then jogged calmly to the mound amidst the strains of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”
“Say your prayers little one…”
The pride of Panama City, Panama then usually proceeded to carve through opposing hitters with his mind-bending cutter, leading to yet another Yankee victory. It is that cutter and that heavy-metal tune that Rivera is famous for. Since the late-nineties they have been as familiar to baseball fans as “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”
All of that ended on Thursday. Rivera recorded four outs in the Yankees’ final home game of 2013 and was escorted off the field for the last time, fittingly, by Derek Jeter and Andy Pettitte, while 48,000 fans roared their final goodbyes. The sentiment of the moment overcame the pitcher and he wept into Pettitte’s shoulder in a rare show of emotion for a man known for calm in the face of overwhelming pressure.
It is a safe bet that Mo’s tears were not the only ones shed during the occasion. This is because Rivera is not only one of baseball’s all-time greats and a shoo-in first ballot Hall of Famer, but one of the most respected and beloved players of his generation.
The proof of that distinction can be found in the yearlong farewell tour that commenced when Rivera announced in March that this would be his final season.
Throughout the 2013 campaign, the Yankee great has been showered with gifts in his final appearance at every ballpark. In Minnesota, he received a rocking chair made of bats that he broke during his career and the Rays commissioned a sand sculpture of his likeness. Even the Red Sox put their bitter rivalry with New York on hold long enough to honor Rivera with the pitching rubber from the Fenway Park bullpen, among other presents.
The most poignant tribute came during the All-Star Game in New York. On a field of stars, Rivera shone brightest and stood completely alone at the beginning of the eighth inning as fans and players alike gave him a standing ovation. After he retired the side in order, he received a handshake and an embrace from each and every American League player. Appropriately, Rivera was named MVP in the AL’s win.
In the end, it is probably his peers that can best sum up Rivera’s legacy.
“He’s the best I’ve ever been around,” said Joe Torre, Rivera’s manager of 13 seasons. “Not only the ability to pitch and perform under pressure, but the calm he puts over the clubhouse. He’s very important for us because he’s a special person.”
Rivera’s fellow Yankee great, Derek Jeter simplified Torre’s point: “He’s the most mentally tough person I’ve ever played with.”
Many have speculated that Rivera was the most valuable Yankee during their reign of the late ‘90s and early 00s’. Count teammate Alex Rodriguez among that group. “To me, he’s the greatest modern day weapon I have seen or played against,” Rodriguez said. “He has been the heart and soul of the New York Yankees dynasty.”
The view from the opposing side of Rivera’s pitching was far less rosy but, even as he beat them, players acknowledged Mo’s greatness. “When he throws it, you think it’s straight,” said 14-year major-league infielder Tony Womack of the closer’s infamous cutter. “The next thing you know, it’s on your thumbs.”
The baseball world will remember Mariano Rivera for any number of facets of his career. It will remember that Rivera is the all-time leader in saves (652) and postseason saves (42). It will remember him as the pitcher with 13th lowest ERA of all time (2.21) and the lowest ERA+,205, of any pitcher in baseball history.
It will remember him for his incredible longevity. He had at least 28 saves every season from 1997, when he took over as the Yankee closer, until 2011 and then did it again this season with 44. During that time, his highest ERA was 3.15. Rivera seems like he could continue pitching at a high level as long as he likes, even now at the age of 43, but he doesn’t want to. He will also be remembered for that; he is a man who walked away while still at the top of his game.
Baseball will remember him as the most dominant postseason pitcher of all time. In his 96 playoff appearances (another record), he posted an ERA of 0.70 and allowed hitters to bat just .176 off of him. And again, there are those 42 saves, in 47 chances. Even in his most notable playoff hiccup-he gave up a World Series walk off hit to Arizona’s Luis Gonzalez in 2001-he jammed the hitter with a nasty cutter and was the victim of a Texas-league blooper.
He will be remembered as a fitting final player to wear the number 42 before it is retired permanently from active duty. Much the way Jackie Robinson was, Rivera is an ambassador of the game. In the closer’s case it is in his native Panama, where he donates hundreds of thousands of dollars each year through the Mariano Rivera foundation.
After all is said and done, it is likely Rivera will be best remembered as a player who was the greatest of all time at what he did, but never once acted like it. He did his job with class and dignity day in and day out for 17 years and he handled every moment, even those that didn’t exalt him, with a grace that any player could aspire to.
He was the consummate professional and baseball fans, not just those in New York, but everywhere, were lucky that he embraced our game. It will be strange seeing someone else on the mound for the Yankees in the ninth, but Rivera has earned a dignified jog from the bullpen into the sunset. While he leaves, let’s sing once more, with feeling:
“Exit light, enter night. Take my hand, we’re off to never never-land.”
Dylan Sinn is a freelance contributor for CraveOnline Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSinn or “like” CraveOnline Sports on Facebook.
Photo Credit: Getty
