ANAHEIM, Calif. — Mariano Rivera took to his Facebook Saturday to reminisce with fans about his MLB debut. On this date in 1995, 25 years ago, Rivera got the call-up to the New York Yankees from Triple-A Columbus and was given a start against the California Angels.
“I remember being called to the big leagues. I was so excited, I was calling everybody from home. It was a special day though. I was in California and I was facing the Anaheim Angels,” Rivera recalled.
“I got my butt kicked though. That was my debut. I got my butt kicked,” Rivera added on his outing which lasted 3.1 innings with five strikeouts but eight hits, three walks and five runs allowed in a 10-0 loss.
It was something Mo chalked up as a learning experience nonetheless.
“But at the same time, it was a great experience, something that I’ll never forget. I knew that I belonged in the big leagues but had to do some work, tweak some things. It was great, amazing seeing how what was different between the big leagues and the minor leagues, it was amazing,” Rivera remarked on his debut.
“Having the opportunity to be part of the best team there is in baseball period. To me the New York Yankees are number one period. Being part of that team, that dynasty, the opportunities that the Lord offered it was amazing,” Rivera added.
Rivera also spoke to how the loss gave him the motivation to bounce back and push even harder.
“Even though I lost the game I gained a lot of experience and matureness. I learned that it doesn’t matter how many times you got beat you have to get up. How many times you go down you have to get up and keep pushing forward and that’s what I did, I kept pushing forward and at the end everything was alright,” Rivera said.
“We came up winners, we won five championships, five championships in 19 years of a career but a day like today was the beginning of an amazing journey, an amazing career, a lot of blessings, and a lot of tears and laughs,” Rivera added.
