You don’t have to be a Yankees fan, or even a sports fan to know that Mariano Rivera means the world to New York City. An Illustrious career of closing game after game with robotic like precision, and hardly ever giving fans more than the occasional runner on first to worry about will do that for an athlete. The hall-of-fame is baseball’s most sought after individual prize, but saying Mo is a guaranteed first-balloter somehow seems to understate the case. Mariano Rivera is a living legend.
Last week, in a turn of events nobody expected, Rivera sustained an injury to his knee while shagging fly balls during practice. Not having Mo on the active roster is always scary, but this particular event happened to take place during the season that will most-likely be Rivera’s last. The horrible notion that crossed fan’s minds almost immediately was not when Mo would be back shutting down sides and racking up saves. It was if Mo would be back, ever, and in NYC, those are forbidden thoughts.
Why We Watch, a sports documentary series operating out of New York City, took to the streets on Friday to get Yankees fan’s reactions to the knee injury and Mo’s hopefully still growing legacy. As expected, die hard Yanks fans had nothing but nice things to say about the greatest closer of all time, and some great thoughts and memories to share. The short film is extremely well produced, and does Mariano a well-deserved justice, not just focusing on his obvious hall-of-fame numbers but the way he resonates with Yankees fans, and the universal love New York City feels for him.
Rivera’s last season being cut short by a freak injury during practice is obviously not optimal. In a career that never seemed to approach a dull moment, a permanent trip to the DL would be tragic. But what this videos goes to show is something that should make us all feel a lot better: When you’ve left the impact Mariano Rivera has on Yankee nation, it would be next to impossible to go out on a bad note.
