Mariano Rivera tribute

I have to admit I was tearing up a bit when watching this last night.  It was an awesome moment.

I grew up only about 5 miles from where Mariano currently resides, and have seen him many times in public throughout the area. His son is a few years younger than I am and used to train at an indoor facility that I worked at several years ago.

There is a beautiful gym about equidistant from my house and Mariano's, and I used to get student discounts when I was home on college breaks from a buddy of mine who worked at the front desk. Unbeknownst to me, Mariano belonged to the same gym. During winter break of the 2011-2012 school year, I was on a squat rack in the downstairs section of the gym and Mariano was standing all alone in the area that is designated for stretching, approximately 30 feet from where I was. I minded my own business, not wanting to bother the man while he worked out. I happened to be wearing a t-shirt that day that revealed the Tommy John scar on my elbow when I gripped the bar to complete my exercises. At some point during my workout, Mariano must've noticed the scar and walked over to speak to me in between sets.

My heart skipped a beat when I suddenly looked up and was face-to-face with him. I had grown up a Yankee fan- idolizing the teams that became a dynasty in the late '90s- teams that, of course, featured Mariano. He politely rolled up his sleeve to reveal a similar scar on his elbow. He told me that he had the operation in 1992 while he was still in the minor leagues and he was fortunate to be able to avoid Tommy John because it was nerve damage instead of a ligament tear. He sat on the rack next to mine and we proceeded to chat for about 15 minutes- outlining the struggles of the surgery, the roller coaster that was the game of baseball and the unbelievable doors that the learning experience on the field opens. We never once spoke about his fame, fortune, or even his cutter (although that probably would've been smart in retrospect). He left me with a one-liner that has stuck with me to this day: "never take all this stuff for granted, man. Life is a blessing, whatever you do."

I cried the entire inning that he threw last night, knowing that it was signifying the end to an era. Mariano Rivera truly is a class act, and is the greatest of all-time. I don't know if he'd remember that conversation we had on the squat rack that morning, but I sure as heck will- forever.

I thought he was going to break down.  It looked like it for a moment.  I have no idea how he collected himself and pitched 3 outs. 

JH - That must have been some encounter, glad you got to talk to him. 

Doug Glanville wrote a nice piece on Rivera last year, the link is below.  There was another laudatory piece in the paper yesterday about the normal people that Rivera meets with as he visits some of the stadiums for the last time as a Yankee.  He must be a special person.

We saw him pitch in Tampa last March near the end of Spring Training.  It was hard to take it all in and I think that even that very distant encounter will be a lifetime memory for my boy.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytim...e/?ref=dougglanville

The Mariano tribute last night was awesome!  I only wish that Fox didn't break away to a commercial break after a couple warm up tosses.  I would have much rather had Fox cut to a commercial during Neil Diamond's debacle prior to Mo's "Enter the Sandman" walk up.  No offense to the fans of the Jazz Singer!  

I like "Sweet Caroline"...a lot.  But thats now twice I've seen him deliver a sorta cruddy performance of it at a baseball game.

That tribute was awesome.

Also, watching one of my son's fav players close out the game was awesome too. Joe Nathan is a lot like Rivera, quiet, goes about his business like a professional and never any bad news.

Wish that there were a lot more guys like them.