Mariano Rivera (; born November 29, 1969) is a Panamanian-American former professional baseball player who was a pitcher for 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, from 1995 to 2013. Nicknamed "Mo" and "Sandman", he spent most of his career as a relief pitcher and served as the Yankees' closer for 17 seasons. A 13-time All-Star and five-time World Series champion, he is MLB's career leader in saves (652) and games finished (952). Rivera won five American League (AL) Rolaids Relief Man Awards and three Delivery Man of the Year Awards, and he finished in the top three in voting for the AL Cy Young Award four times. In 2019, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, and is to date the only player ever to be elected unanimously by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA).
Raised in the modest Panamanian fishing village of Puerto Caimito, Rivera was an amateur player until he was signed by the Yankees organization in 1990. He debuted in the major leagues in 1995 as a starting pitcher, before permanently converting to a relief pitcher late that year. After a breakthrough season in 1996 as a setup man, he became the Yankees' closer in 1997. In the following seasons, he established himself as one of baseball's top relievers, leading the major leagues in saves in 1999, 2001, and 2004. Rivera primarily threw a sharp-moving, mid-90s mile-per-hour cut fastball that frequently broke hitters' bats and earned a reputation as one of the league's toughest pitches to hit. With his presence at the end of games, signaled by his foreboding entrance song "Enter Sandman", Rivera was a key contributor to the Yankees' dynasty in the late 1990s and early 2000s that won four championships in five years. He was an accomplished postseason performer, winning the 1999 World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award and the 2003 AL Championship Series MVP Award, while setting postseason records that included lowest earned run average (ERA) (0.70) and most saves (42).
Rivera is considered one of the most dominant relievers in major league history. Pitching with a longevity and consistency uncommon to the closer role, he saved at least 25 games in 15 consecutive seasons and posted an ERA under 2.00 in 11 seasons, both of which are records. When he retired, his career 2.21 ERA and 1.00 WHIP were the lowest in the live-ball era among qualified pitchers. Fellow players credit him with popularizing the cut fastball across the major leagues. Along with his signature pitch, Rivera was known for his precise control, smooth pitching motion, and composure on the field. In 2013, the Yankees retired his uniform number 42; he was the last major league player to wear the number full time, following its league-wide retirement in 1997 in honor of Jackie Robinson. In 2014, MLB named its AL Reliever of the Year Award in Rivera's honor.
A devout Christian, Rivera has been involved in charitable causes and the religious community through the Mariano Rivera Foundation. For his philanthropy, Rivera received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States, in September 2019.
Early life
Mariano Rivera was born on November 29, 1969, in Panama City, Panama, to Mariano Rivera Palacios and Delia Jiron. Rivera has one older sister, Delia, and two younger brothers, Alvaro and Giraldo.Levin (2008), p. 12 Supported by Mariano Sr.'s job as captain of a fishing boat,Sherman (2006), pp. 4–5 the family lived in Puerto Caimito, a Panamanian fishing village that Rivera described as "poor". As a young man, Rivera played soccer and baseball with his friends on the beach during low tide. Soccer was his favorite sport, and Pelé his favorite athlete. For baseball games, they substituted cardboard milk cartons for gloves and tree branches for bats, and they fashioned balls by taping wads of shredded fishing nets. Rivera used this makeshift equipment until his father bought him his first leather glove when he was 12 years old. Speaking about his youth, Rivera said that although he stayed out of trouble, he "was hanging with the wrong people".
Rivera attended Escuela Victoriano Chacón for elementary school and La Escuela Secundaria Pedro Pablo Sanchez for his secondary education, but he dropped out in ninth grade. At age 16, he began to learn the fishing trade by working on a commercial boat captained by his father, catching sardines. Rivera, who worked six-day weeks, year round, called the job "extremely hard" and was more interested in becoming a mechanic. He spent three years learning the fishing trade, saving the money he earned in hopes of opening an automobile repair shop. Two incidents on his father's boat validated his doubts about fishing as a career. In 1988, Rivera's uncle Miguel was lashed by an unsecured rope that shot off a hydraulic mechanism, and a month later he died from his injuries. About a year later, at age 19, Rivera was forced to abandon his father's ship after it began capsizing due to a malfunctioning water pump and an overweight load of fish.
Rivera continued to play sports during his teenage years but eventually quit soccer around age 17 after a series of ankle and knee injuries. Consequently, he shifted his attention to baseball, though he considered it a hobby rather than a potential profession. At age 18, Rivera joined the Panamá Oeste Vaqueros, a local amateur baseball team, as a utility player. Herb Raybourn, a scout, watched him play shortstop in a 1988 baseball tournament but did not project him to be a major leaguer. A year later, Panamá Oeste's pitcher performed so poorly in a playoff game that Rivera was asked to replace him, and despite no experience at the position, he pitched well. Teammates Claudino Hernández and Emilio Gáez consequently contacted Chico Heron, a scout for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). Two weeks after his pitching debut, Rivera was invited to a Yankees tryout camp run by Heron in Panama City. Raybourn, who had returned to Panama to scout as the Yankees' director of Latin American operations, received a tip about Rivera. Raybourn was surprised to hear he had switched positions but decided to watch him throw. Although Rivera lacked formal pitching training, weighed just , and threw only , Raybourn was impressed by his athleticism and smooth, effortless pitching motion. Viewing the free agent Rivera as a raw talent, Raybourn signed him to a contract with the Yankees organization on February 17, 1990; the contract included a signing bonus of US$2,500 ($ today), according to MLB records.
Professional baseball career
Minor leagues (1990–1995) After signing his contract, Rivera—who spoke no English and had never left home before—flew to the United States and reported to the Gulf Coast League (GCL) Yankees, a Rookie level minor-league affiliate of the New York Yankees. Feeling lonely and homesick, he wrote home to his parents often, as they did not have access to telephones in Puerto Caimito. At that point in his career, scouts considered Rivera to be a "fringe prospect" at best,Sherman (2006), p. 7 but he made progress with a strong 1990 season for the GCL Yankees. Pitching mostly in relief, he allowed only 24 baserunners and one earned run in 52 innings pitched—a 0.17 earned run average (ERA). The team permitted Rivera to start the season's final game in order for him to accumulate enough innings pitched to qualify for the league's ERA title (which carried a $500 bonus); his subsequent seven-inning no-hitter "put him on the map with the organization", according to manager Glenn Sherlock.Sherman (2006), pp. 68–69 In the offseason, Rivera returned to Panama and tipped Raybourn off about a promising local player, Rivera's 16-year-old cousin Rubén, whom the Yankees consequently signed.
In 1991, Rivera was promoted to the Class A level Greensboro Hornets of the South Atlantic League, where he started 15 of the 29 games in which he pitched. Despite a 4–9 win–loss record, he recorded a 2.75 ERA in innings pitched and struck out 123 batters while walking 36 batters. New York Yankees manager Buck Showalter took notice of Rivera's strong strikeout-to-walk ratio, calling it "impressive in any league" and saying, "This guy is going to make it."Sherman (2006), pp. 13–14 A minor-league scout for the Cincinnati Reds filed a report that season about Rivera that said: "long arms w/ slender strong body, loose actions...will challenge in velocity...maturity is a question, consistency is a question...consistency will need to be maintained to improve and advance."
In 1992, Rivera was promoted to the Class A-Advanced level Fort Lauderdale Yankees of the Florida State League (FSL), but he missed the first third of the season with elbow stiffness. He started ten games for Fort Lauderdale, compiling a 5–3 win–loss record and a 2.28 ERA, while walking only five batters in innings pitched. Ultimately, Rivera was sidelined again after suffering damage to the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow. The injury was attributed to him snapping his wrist during his throwing motion in an attempt to improve the movement of his slider.Sherman (2006), pp. 17–18
Rivera underwent elbow surgery on August 27, 1992, leading to concerns that he would be out through the 1993 season. Contrary to popular belief, the operation was not Tommy John surgery; Rivera's surgeon, Frank Jobe, determined that ligament replacement was not necessary and instead repaired the frayed UCL. Rivera was left unprotected by the Yankees in MLB's 1992 expansion draft, which filled the rosters for two expansion teams, the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies. At one point in the draft, Marlins general manager Dave Dombrowski was planning to select Rivera with his next pick, but after the Rockies chose Yankee Brad Ausmus, the Yankees were shielded from losing any more players; Rivera went undrafted.
During Rivera's rehabilitation, he played catch with former Yankees pitchers Whitey Ford and Ron Guidry, and faced batting practice from his first minor-league pitching coach, former pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm. After recuperating, Rivera pitched an abbreviated 1993 season for the Rookie-level Yankees and Class A Greensboro, during which he was kept on a limited pitch count. Hornets shortstop Derek Jeter, who would later be Rivera's teammate in the major leagues, tracked his pitch count during games. In 12 starts, Rivera recorded a 2.08 ERA, walking 16 batters in innings pitched. Watching him recover, the Hornets' official scorer Ogi Overman was not optimistic about Rivera's future, saying, "I thought [he] was on a one-way trip to nowhere."
Rivera began the 1994 season with the Class A-Advanced level Tampa Yankees of the FSL. In June, he was promoted to the Double-A level Albany-Colonie Yankees of the Eastern League, followed by a promotion to the Triple-A level Columbus Clippers of the International League in July.Levin (2008), pp. 23–26 Rivera finished his season with a 10–2 record and a 3.09 ERA overall, but he struggled in Columbus, recording a 5.81 ERA in six starts. At the start of the 1995 season, he was ranked the ninth-best prospect in the Yankees organization by sports magazine Baseball America;Sherman (2006), pp. 18–19 by contrast, Rivera's highly touted cousin Rubén was ranked the second-best prospect in the entire sport. Mariano's pitching repertoire primarily consisted of fastballs at the time, with a slider and changeup as secondary pitches. He began the 1995 season with Columbus, pitching to a 1–1 record and a 1.50 ERA in four starts.
Major leagues (1995–2013)
1995–1997