Mariano Rivera: The greatest

Often times habit is a stronger feeling than love.  This is sometimes the case for married couples that fall out of love, but have grown so accustomed to a life together that they never take the steps to split up.  For me, this is also the case with Mariano Rivera.

I've spent most of my life vehemently rooting against the New York Yankees (and the Red Sox) and all of their supporters.  Everything about the franchise reeks of greatness and I’ve always been jealous of their rings, historic players, and of course, roll call.  Year after year, I watched Derek Jeter, Mo, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, and Joe Torre win the World Series -- or come pretty damn close.  And what was worse, they all seemed like good guys; it was almost impossible for me to rationalize my hatred before A-Rod came along.

Over time I abandoned my foolish feelings and acquainted myself with Mariano Rivera’s annual stay among the top of save leaders.  And while I don’t think the role of a closer deserves all the praise it gets, like everyone else, I was stunned by Mo’s continued ability to be the best of his trade by using one pitch.  Much like I grew accustomed to watching Mo shut it down each time he went out in the 9^th inning, I also came to love watching his cutter move those vital inches away from a right-hander or in on the hands of a lefty.

A haunting image courtesy of Egotastic!

So when I heard the news that Rivera hurt his knee shagging fly balls, I brushed it off; he is invincible.  Maybe he would spend a couple of weeks on the DL, for the first time since 2003 mind you, but soon enough he would be back in his spikes in front of 50,000 in New York.  It wasn’t until I saw the video (see bottom of page) when my stomach turned over.  My reaction was nearly identical to A-Rod’s and I’m sure thousands of others, “Oh my god.”  It was hard to see this man who I’d grown to respect so much curled up on the warning track waiting for help to arrive.

With a torn ACL Rivera has no chance of returning this season and will probably miss the World Baseball Classic in 2013 if Panama qualifies.  Even if he were able to return in 2013, retirement seems likely for Rivera.  Some have speculated that Rivera will see this injury as a message from God that his days playing baseball are behind him.  If this is the case, so be it, #42 couldn’t have gone out with a better man.  If not, I look forward to seeing the greatest closer dominate until he turns 50.