Mariano Rivera is absolutely the best pitcher, not just closer, pitcher, I will ever see in my lifetime. There was Pedro, Maddux, Randy Johnson, Nolan Ryan, and Roger Clemens but none of those guys had what Mariano has always had, one unhittable pitch. Those pitchers threw several pitches, some 7 or 8 different pitches, Mariano for 95% of his career has thrown one pitch and no one can seem to get it even at 42 years of age. The pitch is a freak, hitters have nightmares about it and when teams come to New York they think that they have to win in 8 innings or else its over and that's almost a given. One pitch. There was a great article a few years ago when he reached 500 saves that talked about how Rivera at one point was a struggling starting pitcher and then one day, his normal fastball just started moving more than anybody else's. The man has made a career off of that God given talented gift, one pitch. The man was already the greatest closer in my mind and the numbers back that up, 2.22 career ERA with 602 Saves, .071 Career ERA in the postseason including 42 career postseason saves--off one pitch--this includes a run from the 1998 playoffs until the 2000 playoffs were Rivera never gave up a run...not one. In this day and age of big egos and flashy theatrics(that ass 250 miles Northeast) Mariano Rivera has been cool, calm, and collected never showing the opponent up even though he purely dominates them unlike any other pitcher I have ever seen. I keep waiting for the day that it will all be over, that one pitch wont break and he will get hit....I have been waiting for it since 2003 and it just hasn't happened, he is still the most dominating pitcher in all of baseball at the age of 42. Mariano Rivera is grateful and humble, true class through and through. There isn't enough said about what this man means to baseball, the Yankees, and the numerous charities that he is involved in. As you can see from this interview there is a real humility, even in all his greatness of a moment where the emotions are high, he is genuinely a great person. I hope someday that future generations will have a Mariano Rivera to root for, someone like him, because there will never be another. He was to the pitchers mound what Babe Ruth was to a batters box and I was alive to witness it. Being far from NY we spend money on the baseball package to see Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera go at it one more year, every year they get better and the story becomes deeper, more inspiring, and almost to good to be true. What makes them both great, especially Mo, is that no matter winning or losing they act the same way, they approach life the same way. One more pitch, one more chance, one more day, there will be another game, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose either way you give it your best. I have learned alot from the way Mariano approaches the game, preparation, humility, gratitude, take nothing for granted. I try my best. Thank you for the memories and the humility. One pitch
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