I’ve said a lot of hateful things about the Yankees in my life. As a Red Sox fan who grew up watching the Yankees win World Series after World Series, it has been easy to hate them, well mostly their fans. But Mariano Rivera is and was different. He never acted obnoxious, never disrespected his opponents and always carried himself as classy as a human being could carry themselves. Even after a blow save, which rarely happened, he never reacted as if the world had just come crashing down. He never blamed teammates or asked for special circumstances. For 19 years he’s been a rock in the Yankee bullpen and last night he pitched in Yankee stadium for the last time. Derek Jeter and Andy Petitte came out to replace him and uncharacteristically, Mo broke down. It was a special moment for three players who grew up together in the major leagues. Those three have won multiple championships, are millionaires on top of millionaires and will probably grow old together. I may hate the Yankees, but you can’t hate on Mo Rivera. Guy has been the best closer in my lifetime and probably will go down as the greatest closer of all time.
