Get ready for the Mariano Rivera farewell tour.
According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, it’s an open secret that Rivera intends to retire after the 2013 season. An announcement reportedly is expected to come soon, perhaps as early as Saturday.
When Rivera walks away from the game, it will be with an impressive resume, to say the least. The 12-time All-Star is baseball’s all-time saves leader with 608 (and counting), and his postseason track record is unbelievable.
Entering 2013, Rivera has an 8-1 playoff record to go with 42 saves, a sparkling 0.70 ERA and a minuscule 0.76 WHIP. He also has five World Series rings to his credit.
It’s been debated over the past few seasons when exactly the 43-year-old Rivera would opt to call it quits. He has still been as dominant as ever, although an ACL injury limited him to just nine appearances in 2012. Olney said (via Twitter) that he asked Rivera this spring if he would have retired last fall if he returned at the end of 2012, and the closer reportedly indicated that he likely would have retired.
Baseball fans love a good debate, but it’s pretty much an accepted fact that Rivera is the greatest closer of all time. Even most Red Sox fans would tend to agree.
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