There was no lead to be held.
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| A pitching change the will go down in history |
There was no save to be recorded.
There was just a legend, trying to find the strength to fight back his emotions and record the last out of his major league career in a place he called home for 19 years.
It took 1,115 appearances, 652 of which resulted in saves, but finally the magnitude of the moment had altered Mariano Rivera's 'ice cold' nerves.
But then he looked up and spotted two familiar faces ascending the dugout steps, walking towards the mound.
Out came his best friends, Derek Jeter and Andy Pettitte, dressed in Yankees sweatshirts and assigned by Manager Joe Girardi to retrieve the baseball and make a pitching change. Rivera heard his lifetime teammate Derek Jeter tell him it was "time to go" and that was all Rivera could handle. He buried his face in Pettitte's shoulder and cried, hugging his teammate for what felt like forever, but in a good way.
"They both came to get me out, and I was thankful they came out." Said Mariano, who recorded four outs in a row in the Yankees 4-0 loss to Tampa Bay to leave his lasting impression on Yankee Stadium. "I needed them there, and they were there. I was bombarded with emotions and feelings that I can't describe. Everything hit at that time. I knew that was the last time. Period. I never felt like that before"
Andy embraced his teammate, while describing his love for him and his appreciation for all of their seasons together in New York. Mo' wiped away his moist eyes and nodded to Andy as he finally let go, and then started the long walk back to the dugout for the very last time alone, as a sellout Yankee Stadium crowd of 48,675 roared the name of the icon for four straight minutes.
MARIANO! MARIANO! MARIANO!
"I didn't expect for him to be quite so emotional," Pettitte said. "He broke down and just gave me a bear hug, and I just bear hugged him back. He was really crying. He was weeping. I could feel him crying on me."
The whole decision to choreograph the ninth inning pitching change with the last three members of the Core Four was planned by Manager Joe Girardi, who needed consent from the umpires... but of course they didn't mind.
"He made my job fun. He made my job easy." Said a teary-eyed Joe Girardi in a post game interview. "But probably more important than that, he made our lives better. We're going to miss him."
"If your going to take a guy out, it might as well be Mo'," Jeter said. "I'm happy I was able to do it. We've all grown up together. It's too bad good things come to an end."
After Rivera came off the field, Andy Pettitte came out for his last curtain call, as the Tampa Bay Rays waited respectfully in their dugout, not wanting to interrupt the historic Mo'-ment.
"They know how to do things here," Maddon said of the Yankees organization. "They're great at pomp and circumstance in this place."
Tampa Bay pitcher David Price tweeted after the game; "This was one of the most memorable nights of my life... Mariano was Mariano...saw another piece of history! My hat is off to you sir."
It was one of those special Yankee scenes that will join Lou Gehrig's farewell speech, Babe Ruth's last Yankee Stadium appearance, the first game after Thurman Munson's death, and the finale at the old stadium as moments to be cherished forever.
There was hardly a dry eye in the ball park.
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| A teary eyed Rivera walks off the mound for the last time at Yankee Stadium |
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