Mariano Rivera. The name, to me, makes me shake, makes my palms sweaty, and makes me have a sudden urge to go to a corner and cry. As a Seattle Mariners fan in the late 90’s and early 00’s, I have witnessed my fair share of heart-breaking losses from this man and I distinctly remember many a playoff game where the Mariners’ closer at the time, Kazuhiro Sasaki, could not seal the deal and watching as Rivera would run out of the bullpen and it seemed like the season was already over. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed watching Game 7 of the 2001 World Series and watching as the Yankees, who took the Mariner’s rightful spot in the World Series that year, as they were so close to winning and watching Mariano choke. It felt almost like revenge even though I did not root for Arizona (although I did that year).

Now that he has finally decided to retire after this season, I cannot help but have massive respect for him. He is in a group of people, for me, who annoyed the hell out of me in their prime, but towards the end of their career, I cannot help, but acknowledge their achievements and skills. Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O Neal, and Mariano Rivera are all in that group. I do not think there will ever be a scarier closer than Rivera. I look around the MLB now and I see a lot of good closers, but none that really make me want to cower in fear and turn the game off. Mariano had this aura of invincibility where it seemed like if you could beat him, God must have had a hand in it.

The one thing I always respected was how classy Mariano was and still is. He did not strut out of the bullpen and he did not have a huge ego. At the end of the day, you could not criticize his attitude or how he handled the end of a game. He would come in, get the three outs, and walk away. It was a job and he had no time to mess around. He did not have a signature closer move once he closed the game out, no arm motions, just good old-fashioned baseball.

As I watched the all-star game a couple of weeks ago, I couldn’t help but applaud the guy as he came out of the bullpen to pitch the eighth inning. He hadn’t changed a bit from when he first started in 1995 and I feel like he more than deserved the ovation he got. I also thought there was this great shot of Rivera hanging out in the American League bullpen and just talking with the young pitchers. Wouldn’t you have wanted to be in that bullpen? The thing that is making me have more respect for him is that he knows his place now. He is taking it all in on his last season and he is willing to pass on experience to the next generation of pitchers. It was a great image and it really nice to see that. It has been so long since the Mariners/Yankees rivalry was real (even in my mind) and I think you would be stubborn to still hate Mariano. Sure, we can still reminisce on the times where he drove us wild, but at this point, you would just be a stubborn old fool. Heck, even Red Sox fans gave a standing ovation a week after the all-star game. You have to give him his props.

I just wanted to take the time to tip my cap to one of the best closers, if not the best, closer to ever play this game. I am glad to see that he is finally retiring so he can stop closing out games, but I do not know if we will ever see someone like Rivera ever again. You still haunt me daily, Mariano. I cannot help but to recognize the skill and the person underneath the invincible aura.