The New York Yankees are now eliminated officially from the postseason and with an uncertain offseason ahead with Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Joe Girardi, the team is going to milk the retirement and final appearances of Mariano Rivera for all they are worth, including against the Rays on Thursday night in the Bronx.
In grand fashion, after coming in for the eighth inning, Mariano Rivera was taken out of the game by the players he came up with, as Andy Pettitte and Derek Jeter came out to relieve him in the ninth inning for another pitcher so he could get another standing ovation.
Rivera has been getting gifts from around Major League Baseball all year and after he was honored at the Stadium on Sunday in the final game against the San Francisco Giants with an elaborate ceremony and performance, he now will get the chance to pitch (or play outfield!) in his final game in the Bronx at Yankee Stadium.
The game for the Yankees will be broadcast on the YES Network at 7:05 PM and the call on the radio will be from John Sterling around that time as well. The Yankees gave Rivera a great send off on Sunday, giving him a number of custom gifts as well as a performance from Metallica, who played their "Enter Sandman" song live as he came out of the bullpen. The performance was great and Rivera's speech after he was introduced was fantastic as well.
Rivera was given a plaque back in monument park and he likely is one of the only or the first players to have his number retired before he is actually retired. Rivera is one of the greatest pitchers of all-time and will be remembered as the greatest closer, as he is the all-time leader in saves in the regular season and the playoffs. Rivera has five World Series titles and there likely will never be another player of his stature in the game.
Rivera has done it mostly with two pitches, but everyone remembers the cutter, which is his signature and one of the toughest pitches to hit in baseball. Rivera has been classy all throughout this year, meeting with fans, workers and other teams all around the league when the Yankees visit and he has been honored with all types of gifts, including chairs made out of broken bats, guitars and even cowboy boots when in Texas.
The Yankees had a tough season while dealing with injuries and while they will miss the playoffs, on silver lining is the fact that Rivera will finish his career with 42 career postseason saves, the same as his number, which was the same number as Jackie Robinson. The Yankees were ranked 16th in runs scored this season and 23rd in batting average and the offense was inconsistent as they had to make up for the losses of Curtis Granderson, A-Rod, Jeter, Mark Teixeira and Francisco Cervelli at various times.
The game on Thursday night will be special for Rivera, and it remains to be seen whether he will play the outfield or not, something he has expressed a desire to do for his entire career. Now that the Yankees are eliminated from playoff contention, there is a chance that Girardi could make the move, but either way, Rivera will be pitching on Thursday if he gets the chance. After that he will have three more games against Houston, which also fittingly where Andy Pettitte will get his last start as a Yankee on Sunday.
