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Mo No: Mariano Rivera Tears ACL During Practice, Will Miss Season

By

Jen Chung

Published May 4, 2012

Modified May 4, 2012

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Mariano Rivera being helped by teammates

 

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By

Jen Chung

Published May 4, 2012

Modified May 4, 2012

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Of all the ways for baseball's greatest closer of all time to be injured: The Yankees' legendary pitcher Mariano Rivera tore his ACL during batting practice in Kansas City, Missouri yesterday. And now many wonder if his career is over. When asked when—and if—he'll pitch again, a "damp-eyed" Rivera told reporters, "At this point I don’t know. We have to fight this first," adding, "I want to think and pray a little bit before I make decisions of whatever happens."

Rivera, 42, was catching balls during batting practice, which he usually does. According to ESPN, he does so to "stay in shape" and "fell to the warning track. His face was contorted in obvious pain, and he was rubbing his right knee with his right hand." Alex Rodriguez saw Rivera fall to the ground and reportedly yelled, "Oh, my God. Oh, my God." (You can hear it on the video.) After the Yankees lost to the Royals, 4-3, Derek Jeter said, "It’s bad, there is no other way to put it. Mo is a vital part of the team. You don’t replace him. Other guys have to pick it up."

He had been trying to field a Jayson Nix-hit fly ball, "I got myself between the grass and the dirt and I couldn’t pull my leg up; I twisted my knee. The ACL is torn. It broke; the meniscus, also." A-Rod said, "Obviously it’s a huge blow. Mo means so much to this team."

Rivera said, "If it's gonna happen like that, at least let it happen doing what I love, you know. And shagging, I love to do. If I had to do it over again, I would do it again. No hesitation. There's reasons why it happens. You have to take it the way it is and fight, fight through it. Now we have to just fight." And manager Joe Girardi said it wasn't appropriate to speculate that Rivera should have prevented it, "You've all seen Mo run around here for what, 40 years? You can fall off the curb or down stairs and get hurt."

Rivera is the career leader in saves—he got 602 last fall, breaking Trevor Hoffman's record—with 608. The NY Times writes, "Unquestionably, he is the best closer in major league history. His 2.21 career earned run average is the lowest, with a minimum of 1,000 innings, since 1920. He has the most career saves, with 608 — plus 42 in the postseason, to match his uniform number." He is also The Sandman:

Many think Dave Robertson will pick up the void Rivera's absence brings.

Tagged

acl

alex rodriguez

baseball

closer

joe girardi

mariano rivera

Yankees

Jen Chung

Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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