OT: Mariano Rivera celebrates impending retirement by making people's day
Mariano Rivera is celebrating his impending retirement by picking long-term employees/fans in the road cities he's visiting and thanking them for years of fandom.
This is a lot better than graciously accepting gifts.
I would like to think that for every ungrateful athletic idiot, there are ten guys like Rivera (if to a lesser degree).
"They all have their own personality. I decided before spring training that I wanted to do something different and make sure I said thanks to the fans - not just the regular fans, but also those behind the scenes, like Julie, who has been here (more than) 20 years. That's wonderful." - Rivera, quoted in the article
In a time where a lot of players would go around accepting gifts and various honors, it is refreshing to see a player go around honoring the fans who devote time and money to baseball and essentially have aided in making his storied career possible. That is a wonderful way to go about it, and major kudos to Rivera.
Early life from Wikipedia
Mariano Rivera was born in Panama City, Panama, on November 29, 1969, to Mariano, Sr. and Delia Rivera.[5] His father worked as a ship captain in the fishing industry.[6] Rivera has one older sister, Delia, and two younger brothers, Alvaro and Giraldo.[7] He grew up in the Panamanian fishing village of Puerto Caimito—a town he described as "poor"[8]—frequently playing soccer with his friends. For baseball games, they substituted milk cartons for gloves and tree branches for bats,[2] and they fashioned balls by taping up wads of shredded fishing nets and beat-up baseballs.[9] Rivera used this makeshift equipment until his father bought him his first leather glove when he was 12 years old.[5]. .... After graduating from high school at age 16, he worked six-day weeks on a commercial boat captained by his father, catching shrimp and sardines.[6][9] The job was "way too tough" for Rivera, who was more interested in becoming a mechanic.[2][11] As a 19-year-old, he had to abandon a capsizing 120-short-ton (110 t) commercial boat, all but convincing him to give up fishing as a career.[2]
They're the reason I like the Yanks. I grew up in Kzoo and when I was told at a young age Jeter was from there I became a huge fan. (It doesn't hurt that they were damn good when I was young either)
I am a Yankees fan and I agree, but I am thrilled they ARE on my team. I've seen athletes over the years who have charities or foundations and they try to project the good guy image. Deep inside you get this feeling that it's all show though. I have never had that thought with Jeter or Mo. They seem like genuinely good guys that just happen to be legendary baseball players. I doubt this sentiment is just homerism on my part, but it's possible. I hope Jeter can recover from his ankle injury and have a few more great years before riding off into the sunset. Mo is definitely going out on a high note!
bring the beer!
And STILL the best this year, too. This dude is not going out with a whimper, that's for damn sure.
A sure-fire first ballot Hall of Famer, and there's no disputing it.