It was made official with his announcement on Saturday—at the end of the 2013 season, legendary New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera will call it a career.
In an announcement that was speculated on days before Saturday, Rivera told reporters that at the end of the season, he would close the book on a 19-season career that has etched thousands of milestone moments and created memorable images on the mound for Yankees fans since Rivera joined the Yankees in 1995.
"I'm retiring from the game that I love, that I have passion for and have enjoyed for so many years. I'm sorry guys that I didn't tell you before, but I wanted you guys to hear it from my mouth, not from other ones," Rivera said in his statement.
Rivera thanked the Yankees for the time he spent with the organization, calling it "a privilege and honor to wear the pinstriped uniform that I have proudly worn for so many years in good times, great times. It has been wonderful."
The all-time leading leader in saves, Rivera, 43, who has won five World Series championships with New York, is coming off ACL surgery in his right knee that kept him out of the Yankees 2012 season after a freak accident in the bullpen in May.
Rivera, a Panama City, Panama native, has been the staple of the Yankees bullpen since he was called up in 1995. Teaming as a setup man with former Yankees closer John Wetteland, the two formed a devastating 1-2 combo that helped the Yankees become mainstays in the playoffs and earning the franchise the World Series title in 1996, its first title since the 1978 season.
After being promoted to the closer's role in 1997, Rivera took off, his deceptively smooth 95-mile-per-hour high fastball helping to strikeout many big league batters through the years as he closed out the Yankees' World Series wins in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009. And his iconic entrance to Metallica's "Enter Sandman" in the ninth inning has become a familiar and welcome sight for Yankees faithful everywhere since that time.
In addition to recording a Major League record-608 saves and a 76-58 win-loss record with 1,119 strikeouts thus far, Rivera has also been named to the All-Star Game 12 times and won the 1999 World Series MVP award, the 2003 ALCS MVP trophy, and five Rolaids Relief Man awards, which are given to the top relief pitcher in either league.
In a career that has defined bullpen excellence, Rivera has stood head and shoulders above his peers. He provided fans with many memorable highlights, as when he closed out Game 6 of the 2009 World Series:
And few will forget when Rivera broke the all-time saves record of 601 saves on the mound at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 19, 2011.
"He is irreplaceable," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told USA Today. "You will never see that again. He is the greatest of all time."
Afterwards, Rivera returned to action for the first time since his ACL injury as the Yankees played a Grapefruit League game against the Atlanta Braves during spring training.
"It was great to be on a mound again," Rivera said afterwards. "Wonderful."
Yankees manager Joe Girardi said that the sight of Rivera and Derek Jeter, also coming back from injury after an ankle sprain took him out of the ALCS last season, playing well has been something the Yankees have gotten used to.
"To see Derek run OK and to see Mo do what he had to do, it's really positive for us," he said.
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