Mariano Rivera Honored

During their game with the Tampa Bay Rays on April 15th, 2009, the New York Yankees honored Mariano Rivera by wearing his treasured #42 on their jerseys. It’s a fitting honor for the BEST. CLOSER. EVER. And because of the obvious inspiration that Rivera brings to his team, the Yankees pulled out a 4-3 win (Boxscore) with a Derek Jeter hit in the top of the ninth with guess who coming in the bottom of the ninth for the save… yeah… Mo. BEST. CLOSER. EVER.

You would think the Yankees would wait until tomorrow to have a Rivera tribute when they open up their new stadium. Oh well.

NOTE: If you didn’t know, MLB was actually honoring Jackie Robinson who wore #42 by having every team and umpires wear Robinson’s jersey number. As a bit of history, Rivera is the last player that will ever wear the number before it is completely retired.