COLUMN: Rivera exits humbly, leaves legacy
“Exit light, enter night.”
Some people will know that those words are the lyrics to “Enter Sandman” by the heavy metal band Metallica. But, if you’re a baseball fan, you will know that those are more than just lyrics to a song. Those are the lyrics that bring in New York Yankees’ closer Mariano Rivera.
If the Yankees fail to make the postseason, Rivera’s final game at the famous Yankee Stadium will be tomorrow, Sept.26.
Rivera was honored during Sunday’s game against the San Francisco Giants with a pre-game ceremony that lasted just over 50 minutes.
Some past teammates and coaches of Rivera’s were also present at the game, including his former manager Joe Torre and former catcher Jorge Posada. He was also surprised with Metallica performing that infamous entrance song, live for him in the outfield.
He gave an emotional speech alongside his family to the sold out crowd at Yankee Stadium, where he thanked the fans for all that they had given him and said that they would always have a part of his heart.
Rivera spent 19 seasons playing in Major League Baseball, all of those years for the Yankees. Throughout his time as a pro, he has been breaking bats and shattering records. Every player who faces No. 42, hopes they will get a hit off of the Panamanian right-hander, but few have been so lucky.
He is the all-time leader in saves with more than 650 and 42 in the postseason, another record. Rivera needs just one pitch to get a batter out, the cutter. He places it anywhere on the plate but historically has been the most successful going in on lefties, jamming them and resulting in shattering too many bats to count.
However, he was never boisterous or cocky after saves. He simply would quietly pump his fist and then shake the catcher’s hand.
This helped him earn a lot of respect throughout the league. So, when the 43-year-old Rivera announced during spring training that he would be retiring at the end of the season, players and teams wanted to show just how much they respected him.
Everywhere the Yankees went, Rivera was given gifts and donations for his charity. Some of which included a rocking chair made up of broken bats from the Minnesota Twins, a bicycle and a fishing pole from the Los Angeles Dodgers and an entire pre-game ceremony dedicated to him by the Yankees’ rival, the Boston Red Sox.
Mariano will no doubt be missed by the Yankees’ fans and organization. There will never be another Rivera who dominates the game so much with a single pitch. But, it’s more than that for Yankees fans, it’s the connection that he has with them that will leave them with heavy hearts at the end of the season. It’s the saves in the World Series, it’s his community work, and the simple fact that he never patted himself on the back that made him adored by Yankees fans and respected throughout the league.
