Goodbye # 42

[ugotme]

Goodbye to the greatest closer ever in baseball.
It is a sad day especially for Yankee fans.

My son was at the game on Sunday (9/22) honoring Mariano and said you could not describe it.

All of the teams the Yanks played this year treated him great in saying goodbye.

We will miss you Mariano. "Thanks for the Memories."

[DonH57]

As a Red Sox fan I have to agree 100 percent. He is a class act. I wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.

[kellyjam]

Met fan since 62. MR best I ever saw. Now the Yanks are entering the AM (after Mariano) age. lol

[anarick]

Goodbye to the greatest closer ever in baseball.
It is a sad day especially for Yankee fans.

My son was at the game on Sunday (9/22) honoring Mariano and said you could not describe it.

All of the teams the Yanks played this year treated him great in saying goodbye.

We will miss you Mariano. "Thanks for the Memories."



Of all the presents he got this year my favorite was the rocking chair made out of broken bats.

So long Mo. Baseball will miss you very much.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

I'm also a Red Sox fan and I hated what he did to the Sox. But I admire him for being the greatest ever at his job and as DonH57 said, he was a class act.

In the final game of the ALCS, Riviera blew a save that sent the Red Sox to the World Series which was the first one that they won in 86 years. In 2005 on opening day, the Red Sox were playing the Yankees at Fenway and they had the flag raising and ring ceremony. The Yankees were introduced one by one and had to stand on the third base line during the ceremony. When Marianno was introduce, he got a huge ovation from the fans reminding everyone of how he blew that save. He broke out into the biggest grin and waved to all the Red Sox fan. That's what the game should be all about.

[alc323]

From today's NY Times:

"For fans who grew up watching No. 42 or have followed him for the last 19 seasons, he has become the embodiment of the Yankees at their very best: not the big-spending, patched-together All-Star team, but the team that Rivera, along with Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada and Bernie Williams, defined. The team always came first for these homegrown Yankees, and they played with brotherly dedication and collective pride.

Rivera’s retirement is a melancholy moment for the Yankees and their fans. Williams retired in 2006, Posada last played in 2011, and Pettitte was scheduled to pitch his final game Saturday. Jeter will be the only one to return next year — and to a team in need of reimagining and rebuilding, and possibly fated to some long years in the baseball wilderness.

That the beloved and seemingly ageless Sandman is exiting this year not only means the end of a golden era, but also reminds us of the swift and unrelenting passage of time.No one has been more of a team player than the humble and loyal Rivera, and yet his was a strangely solitary job: taking the field not alongside his teammates but alone, at the end, with the heavy responsibility of saving the game for them all. Exit Sandman...on the way to Cooperstown."

Thanks for the memories, Mo...I miss you already!

[Fourpar]

I'm also a Red Sox fan and I hated what he did to the Sox. But I admire him for being the greatest ever at his job and as DonH57 said, he was a class act.

In the final game of the ALCS, Riviera blew a save that sent the Red Sox to the World Series which was the first one that they won in 86 years. In 2005 on opening day, the Red Sox were playing the Yankees at Fenway and they had the flag raising and ring ceremony. The Yankees were introduced one by one and had to stand on the third base line during the ceremony. When Marianno was introduce, he got a huge ovation from the fans reminding everyone of how he blew that save. He broke out into the biggest grin and waved to all the Red Sox fan. That's what the game should be all about.

:BigApplause::BigApplause::BigApplause:...