Goodbye To The Greatest

RAY STUBBLEBINE/REUTERS

There are few moments that you can point to while they’re happening and say to yourself, “I am witnessing history.” Last night was one of those moments. Last night, Mariano Rivera, the greatest closer to ever play, stepped off the mound after his final career performance at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. It was an emotional night for Mo, and a momentous night for Yankee fans, baseball fans and sports fans alike. The Sandman was taken out of the game with two outs in the ninth by long time teammates Andy Pettitte and the captain Derek Jeter. Together, the three men formed The Big Three of Yankees who all came up together through the system in 1995 and, aside from Pettitte’s brief stint with the Houston Astros, have been together for their whole careers. Rivera broke down as both Pettitte (who is also retiring after this season) and Jeter gave him two brotherly hugs as a thank you for all he’s done for them. This pitching change lasted just shy of five minutes, and featured tears (some from me, I won’t lie), cheers, joy, nostalgia, and sadness from both Yankees and Rays fans.

Even if you hate the Yankees, and believe me I know you are many, I implore you to find a stain on either Rivera’s career or his character, because I firmly believe there are none. There aren’t enough things that you can praise the man for. He is MLB’s all-time saves leader, with 652 with still three games left to play, and he’s ahead of the next active pitcher (Joe Nathan, 339) by over 300 saves. He did all this amidst one of the most controversial times in baseball, the infamous steroid era. This era besmirched the careers of greats like Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, even teammates Jason Giambi, Alex Rodriguez and Big Three companion Andrew Eugene Pettitte. Rivera came out unscathed and remained a model for not only aspiring baseball players, but aspiring men, embodying class, piety, humility, and respect. Sure the man blew the save in the 2004 ALCS which ultimately led the Red Sox to their first World Series victory in 86 years, but the next year he came back to Fenway Park on MLB Opening Day 2005 to sarcastic cheers from Red Sox Nation only to laugh, smile, and move on.

I’ve had various arguments with my friends as to where Mariano Rivera stands among the all time greats; whether or not he should be considered one of the best overall pitchers of all time. I really believe that he should. Many people put down the role of closer, saying that it’s not nearly as difficult as being a full time starter, and I agree with some aspects of the argument. Starting pitchers require more stamina on a regular basis, but relievers require more consistency on an even more regular basis. Starting pitchers pitch once every five days, maybe four when the team is on a post season charge, and on average they last about five to six innings a game. Relievers, especially closers, can in some cases pitch every day for almost a week (if your team’s on a hot streak), and throw at minimum usually one inning of work on average. Not only that, but being a starting pitcher is a lot less pressure. When you come in in the first inning, you have a clean slate: everyone is on equal ground. You can afford to maybe relax in the first few innings, maybe let up a few runs because you know your batters will have plenty of chances to defend you throughout the course of the game. No one expects a starter to go out and throw a perfect game every time. With closers it’s different. Every time a closer enters a game, the entire team is resting on their shoulders. The security of the victory is more or less solely in their hands. There is no other positions in all of sports I would argue that demands players to be as consistently clutch as people expect closers to be. Fans demand perfection from a closer every time he comes out.

For the most part, Mariano Rivera did just that. Over his unbelievable 19-year career, he has an 89% save percentage, with a career high of 98% back in 2008. He commanded the plate, he commanded respect, and he commanded the cut fastball like no one else has or ever will. Few pitchers if any have been as consistently clutch as Mariano Rivera has. He is a no doubt first ballot hall-of-famer and in my opinion, one of the best pitchers to ever grace the great game of baseball.

The retirement of both Rivera and Pettitte marks the beginning of a new age of Yankee baseball. These men, along with Derek Jeter, have been playing for the Yankees since before I even became a baseball fan. It’s difficult to imagine the team without them. As Ken Singleton put it during last night’s game, “…he’s gonna be one tough act to follow.”

With that, I just want to say, Thank you Mariano. For everything. We can only hope to ever find someone as brilliant as you, both in skill and in character.

Enter Sandman will never be the same.