Grateful For Mo

There are so many reasons why, as Yankees fans, we are grateful for Mariano Rivera, our Mo, our Sandman. I know personally, I would get goose bumps across my arms and legs when he would enter the stadium from the outfield.  He is a class act both on the field and off and as a parent, someone I was proud to share with my kids as they watched games with me.  Three words:  Grateful for Mo.  No one who has played in my life time deserves to be the Hall more than this great man, the ultimate professional, Mariano Rivera.

Perhaps the most beautiful tribute a teammate could give another is the piece Derek Jeter wrote about his friend, his peer, and now Hall of Famer.  In the Player’s Tribune yesterday, Jeter spoke from the heart about the man he played behind for 17 consecutive years.  “I never stopped being aware of this one: that on any given night…. if we could just get ourselves a lead….I had the best seat in the house to watch the greatest closer of all time. Hall of Fame teammate. Hall of Fame person.”

He knew, as did all of us, that Mariano was someone special. He is one of kind and we are all grateful for his contributions to the Yankees, where he gave his team every opportunity to win.  And they did win, championship after championship; a dynasty we had not seen since the days of Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra.  He was the go to guy and he got it done, consistently, quietly and graciously.

“Have you ever seen a Mariano Rivera autograph? Google it when you get a chance. With a lot of guys, their signatures are these quick little scribbles. But Mariano, man, if he’s signing something for you, he takes his time. He puts care into it, until he gets it just right — like with everything else he does. To me, right there … that’s Mo,”said Jeter.

Unanimously inducted in the Hall of Fame on the first year of eligibility, Mariano Rivera will be forever enshrined in the same museum as the greatest who ever played.  No one is more deserving than a man who learned to play baseball in his humble small village in Panama.  My kids saw him trot onto the field in 2008, the last year in the “old” Yankee Stadium.  He was like a giant from the family section seats my college students scraped up the money to buy my family and I in the final year in Yankee Stadium.  His signature “Enter Sandman” theme song bellowed through the speakers and my kids, then 7 and 11, just watched in awe.  I am grateful for that moment.  I am grateful for what he left us and how he mentored so many fans with his leadership, passion and work ethic.  Congratulations, Mariano.  We are grateful to you.  I am grateful for you.  Thank you for all you have given us and to the game of baseball.

–Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof