This is one of the saddest posts I have written for our Subway Squawkers blog since we started writing the blog in 2006. Mariano Rivera’s career may be over, thanks to a torn ACL and a torn meniscus. Geez, it’s painful even to write that. I’m still in shock over what happened.
I was out for a walk last night, talking on the phone with one of my brothers, when Squawker Jon kept on trying to call me. After a few times, I finally picked up. Jon then said he wouldn’t keep on calling me if it weren’t important, and told me that Mariano Rivera was carted off the field after shagging flies. Yikes, talk about a punch in the stomach.
Although Jon did say that Mo was smiling on the cart while leaving the field, as soon as I saw the clip when I got home, I figured his initial reaction indicated a torn ACL, and unfortunately, that suspicion turned out to be correct. What a nightmare.
I was very tired last night, and went to bed before the game was over, so I didn’t get to hear the official diagnosis. But Squawker Jon did stay up and watch the postgame, and he sent me an email about it last night, saying that “Just saw Mariano interviewed and he was teary. Even I’m upset.” I also heard from some other Met fan friends, sending prayers and positive thoughts Mariano’s way.
Needless to say, Mo’s absence will be felt with the Yankees. He is the greatest closer of all time, and the Yankees would never have won four rings in five years without him. He is also a great human being, too. I got to meet him a few years ago, and was very impressed with him as a person.
Some in the media are trying to insinuate that him getting hurt while shagging balls was a preventable injury. Nonsense. We’re not talking about him jumping on a trampoline; Mo was doing something baseball-related. This is why I have so little patience for those who get injured off the field being reckless; there is enough that can happen within baseball to hurt a career, without going out looking for things!
There will be enough time in a later blog entry to speculate about who will ultimately replace Mo. Today isn’t the time for it. I’m still heartbroken over the loss of Mariano Rivera.
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