Mariano Rivera grew up in Puerto Caimito, Panama. This wasn't the ideal spot for a future baseball star 
to grow up as equipment was sparse. He was forced to play with sticks for bats and hallowed out milk cartons for gloves. His love and dedication for the game however earned him a chance in the minor leagues. It wouldn't be long, still in his rookie season, that he would play in the major league. Shortly after he would move from being a starter to being a closer. He would define the prototype of this postion for years. His calmness allowed him to succeed in pressure moments and often set the mood for the whole team. For many years you knew if the Yankees were up and Mariano was in the game it was as good as won and the rest was just a formality. His domince feed itself as his reputation grew teams would fear him and avoid being down in the late game at all costs. To me, Mariano was one of the most exciting players to watch and in many cases cheer against. When he was in the game it was a good game up to that point and you know with his reputation even a base hit seems great and if you could manage to win it was unbelievable. Sadly, it appears his career may be over due to recently tearing his ACL. He'll be missed by many including me.




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Martelli, A.J. "Mariano Rivera A Bio of the Greatest Closer in Baseball."Bleacher Report. March 24, 2009. Web. May 4, 2012.