On Saturday, March 9th at the George M. Steinbrenner field where the Yankees are in the midst of spring training, closing pitcher Mariano Rivera officially announced his retirement, concluding the 2013 season. With his teammates by his side, Rivera discussed how honored he was to wear the pinstripes all throughout his career. Day of sadness? Maybe for his many fans who will miss him running up to the mound during the ninth inning to save the game; but for Mariano there is no sadness, just blessings. This brings an end to Rivera's amazing career, including seventeen seasons with the New York Yankees.
Pitcher Andy Pettitte recalls the days back in 1996 when Mariano Rivera was first starting in the major leagues. He had no remarkable pitches and his fastball didn't have much to it. "It was like, `Man, he'd better come up with a little bit more stuff to be able to start in this league,'" Pettitte said. The following year, Rivera was sent to the bullpen a year later and he has never looked back.
Who is going to replace the hopeful-future-Hall of Famer? Well, the question is simple. No one. The thing about Mariano Rivera is that he is not just one of the best closers of all time; nor is he just a great teammate. Rivera's integrity, sportsmanship, classiness, and dignity encompass it all. He is a role model to the young rookies just starting out in the MLB, and an inspiration to young little-leaguers who only dream of making it to the MLB. Yet, Rivera has never been named the AL (American League) MVP, nor has he ever won a Cy Young award.
His statistics speak for itself. Rivera is a seven-time pennant winner, five-time World Series Champion, and a 12-time All Star. In his seventeen years in the major leagues he has 608 saves, with an earned run average under 2.30. In his playoff appearances over sixteen years, Rivera has a .070 ERA and 42 out of 96 saves. As Yankees GM Brian Cashman stated twice, ""You'll never see that again, you'll never see that again."
We can only hope that Rivera gets what he deserves in his last year with the Yankees. He deserves to throw the last pitch in the ninth inning and save the game to win the 2013 World Series with the New York Yankees.
What a week! I have heard more news about the Yankees this week than many Mets fans have in the span of many months. Speculations about retirement, another injury added to the long list, and improvements on a few others. Since it has been quite an eventful week for the Yankees, I wanted to summarize an array of top stories in this blog post. Let's get to it!
- In the most-talked about sports news, Yankees closer Mariano Rivera is set to announce his plans for retirement today, following the 2013 baseball season. The teams scheduled conference will be held in Tampa, Florida at the George M. Steinbrenner Field, where the Yankees are in the midst of Spring Training. In his eighteen seasons in the MLB, all with the NY Yankees, Rivera is said to be one of the greatest closers of all time. Manager of the Yankees Joe Girardi stated, "Greatest closer of all time. No question in my mind." I will be writing a full blog about the press conference and Rivera's Hall of Fame career in the upcoming week.
In other news, Andy Pettitte says he ready to start pitching in Spring Training after bouncing back from an injury in the 2012 season. After pitching a stimulated game on Friday, Pettitte said his fastball was not as sharp as his previous game, but he feels ready to pitch in his first Spring Training game of the year next week.
- After a minor setback with right shoulder discomfort, Yankees bullpen pitcher David Robertson is one step closer to pitching in a Spring Training game again. Robertson has not pitched since March 1st due to the injury, but is said to be fully cleared for all baseball activity now.
- Good news Yankees fans! Derek Jeter is fully healed from his 2012 ankle injury. Upon his visit to Charlotte, North Carolina to see Dr. Robert Anderson, Jeter was cleared to return to camp. As Jeter stated, "As soon as I'm about to play, I'll play." According to Girardi, Jeter will only play designated hitter in his first appearance back with the team. He has yet to run the bases at 100% effort, but this is still encouraging news for the injury-filled New York Yankees.
- With Mark Teixeira out until May with a wrist injury, the Yankees now have a new contender for his position at first base. Along with prospect Juan Rivera, 13th-year veteran Dave Johnson had his tryouts with the Yankees this past Friday. Although he went 0-2 in his first day playing for the team, he had no mishapes that proved significant in Girardi's decision. Of course it is too early to tell who is in the lead right now for that position, all Johnson wants to focus on is what he wants to do; "What I want to do is show everything." That is what I feel," said Johnson. We hope he follows through with his words and puts them into action! Teixeira is a tough void to fill until May.
Well, that is all for this post! These are the top stories from Spring Training with the Yankees this week. Hope you like the new creative spin I added to this post. Feel free to comment with any opinions or new information!
