Mariano Rivera
Mariano Rivera Major league baseball player for New York Yankees
Mariano Rivera played 19 seasons of baseball for the New York Yankees from 1995 to 2013.
He is also known as "Super Mariano, the Sandman and Mo."
Rivera was signed up by the Yankees as an amateur free agent and from 1995 up to date he has earned over $169,441,825 as a pitcher in the major leagues.
As a free agent he started off at the age of 25 with a salary of $109000 and from 2012 he signed a contract for $15,000,000 and 2013 contract for $10,000,000.
He has recently retired from baseball after compilling a leading 652 saves with 44 of them in this season.
Mariano is regarded as the greatest closer of all time and he is leaving baseball at the top of his game.
Rivera is the 13th person to receive the Major League Baseball Commissioner's Historic achievement award at the World Series, Fenway Park for being a major impact on the sport.
The commissioner does not hand these awards out often and it is at his descretion.
Statistics for Rivera in New York Yankees
Year
| Team
| Age
| Position
| G
| Games Started/Completed
| Innings
| Home Runs
| Strike Outs
| Batters Faced
| Awards
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1995
| NYY
| 25
| Pitcher
| 19
| 0
| 67.0
| 11
| 51
| 301
| |
1996
| NYY
| 26
| P
| 61
| 0
| 107.2
| 1
| 130
| 425
| CYA-3,MVP-12
|
1997
| NYY
| 27
| P
| 66
| 0
| 71.2
| 5
| 68
| 301
| AS, MVP-25
|
1998
| NYY
| 28
| P
| 54
| 0
| 61.1
| 3
| 36
| 426
| |
1999
| NYY
| 29
| P
| 66
| 0
| 69
| 2
| 52
| 268
| AS,CYA-3,MVP-12
|
2000
| NYY
| 30
| P
| 66
| 0
| 75.2
| 4
| 58
| 311
| AS
|
2001
| NYY
| 31
| P
| 71
| 0
| 80.2
| 5
| 83
| 310
| AS,MVP-11
|
2002
| NYY
| 32
| P
| 45
| 0
| 46
| 3
| 41
| 187
| AS
|
2003
| NYY
| 33
| P
| 64
| 0
| 70.2
| 3
| 63
| 277
| MVP-27
|
2004
| NYY
| 34
| P
| 74
| 0
| 78.2
| 3
| 66
| 316
| AS,CYA-3,MVP-9
|
2005
| NYY
| 35
| P
| 71
| 0
| 78.1
| 2
| 80
| 306
| AS,CYA-2,MVP-9
|
2006
| NYY
| 36
| P
| 63
| 0
| 75.0
| 3
| 55
| 293
| AS,MVP-26
|
2007
| NYY
| 37
| P
| 67
| 0
| 71.1
| 4
| 74
| 295
| |
2008
| NYY
| 38
| P
| 64
| 0
| 70.2
| 4
| 77
| 259
| AS,CYA-5
|
2009
| NYY
| 39
| P
| 66
| 0
| 78.2
| 7
| 72
| 257
| AS,MVP-14
|
2010
| NYY
| 40
| P
| 61
| 0
| 75
| 2
| 45
| 230
| AS
|
2011
| NYY
| 41
| P
| 64
| 0
| 71
| 3
| 60
| 233
| AS,CYA-8
|
2012
| NYY
| 42
| P
| 9
| 0
| 70.2
| 0
| 8
| 32
| |
2013
| NYY
| 43
| P
| 64
| 0
| 66.1
| 6
| 54
| 256
| AS
|
Interesting Facts on Mariano Rivera
He was born in a fishing village in Puerto Caimito, Panama on the 29th November 1969. He has one older sister and two younger brothers.
His father was a captain of a fishing boat and as a young man Mariano played baseball with his friends using milk cartons for gloves and tree branches for bats. He received his first leather baseball glove at the age of 12, from his father.
Rivera wanted to become a professional soccer player but due to ankle injuries in high school, he had to end his career idea. He graduated from high school at the age of 16 and worked with his father on the fishing boat.
At 19 years of age, he capsized a boat and abandoned it as the job was too harsh for him.
In 1998 he joined Panama Oeste, a local baseball team as their shortstop and a scout watched him play not convinced that he was a major league performer.
A year later he replaced the pitcher and his teammates were so impressed by his performance that they contacted a New York Yankees scout.
He was invited to a Yankees tryout camp where he weighed a total of 70kg's and threw only 85- 70 miles per hour. Rivera was signed up by the scout as an amateur free agent because he was seen as raw talent.
Mariano spoke no English when he was signed up in 1990 as a relief pitcher for the Yankees.
His cousin, Ruben Rivera was signed up in the off season of that same year.
Rivera's favourite moment in baseball was watching Charlie Hayes catch the fly ball in the world series of 1996.
Vanilla is his favourite flavour ice- cream.
He has "God bless," written under the brim of his baseball cap.
Mariano's favourite movie is "The Rock" with Nicholas Cage and Sean Connery.
He does not know the lyrics to the song "enter sandman."
A shoulder injury in 1995 nearly ended his career with the Yankees.
Summary
The best pitcher since 1920's Rube Walberg of the Red Sox.
He has been known to be calm and shows great sportmanship on the field.
After 20 years of baseball and 19 seasons with the New York Yankee's, Mariano retired and received the Commissioner of Major League Baseball's Historical Achievement Award.
Rivera and his wife are going to open churches and continue to fund others in an effort to help communities by supplying clothing, food and resources to those in need.
Mariano Rivera's Retirement Plans
After a 20 year career in baseball and 952 games he has retired and plans to begin a new church in New Rochelle, N.Y. where he first moved to after leaving Panama.
His wife Clara, will be the pastor of the Pentecostal congregation, "Refugio de Esperanza," (Refuge of Hope.)
Clara was aquainted with gospel from an early age and has worked in the church ever since.
The church is committed to the revitalisation of the community through projects and special programs.
Food, clothing and resources will be provided to people who need it and they will also have a learning centre for children and teens, offering them help with education, sports programs and after school activities.
Mariano and Clara met in Panama and they have three sons. They have built a congregation through prayer in their home since 1990, after a horrific labour with Clara hemorrahaging where she turned to God.
They plan to fund more start ups and has already done so in Mexico, California, Florida and Dominican Republic.
Mariano bought an abandoned historic church in 2011 and has invested $3million into it already.
"It's my way of serving the Lord and giving back to my community." Mariano Rivera.
Do you Like Sport?
What is Your Favourite Sport?
For the baseball fans of Mariano Rivera
Many of us love our sport and can be fanatical about it! Fans of their favourite sport collect every piece of memorabilia that they can find. Some will spend exorbitant amounts of money on something that has belonged to their favourite sportsman and others try to play the game.
For many the highlight of their week would be to watch their favourite sports with friends and family who cheer and scream for their favourite teams or players.
As this has been written about Mariano Rivera, here is a video of his last day on the field, for you to enjoy, cry and watch over and over again.
Rivera's Final Moment in Baseball
New York Yankee's 2014 Schedule
April
1st,2nd,3rd at Astros
4th,5th,6th - Blue Jays
7th,8th,9th - Orioles
10th,11th,12,13th - Red Sox
15th,16th - Cubs
17th,18th,19th,20th - @Rays
22nd,23rd,24th - @Red Sox
25th,26th,27th - Angels
29th,30th - Mariners
