Mariano Rivera, widely considered the best closer in baseball history because of his 609 saves, which are the most in baseball history, his miniscule 2.22 career ERA in 1,221 innings pitched, and microscopic 0.70 postseason ERA in 141 innings, is also proving in his final major league season that he's a class act as well.
At each stop the Yankees make this season, Rivera, who is retiring at year's end, is meeting with the people behind the scenes of major league baseball games. It is a "farewell tour" of sorts, and his first stop was in Cleveland.
Rivera spoke with vendors, groundskeepers, and even one of the Cleveland Indians' most famous fans, John Adams, who has been beating a drum at Indians home games for 40 years.
Rivera told these people, "I appreciate what you guys do. We see mostly what goes on when we're on the field and not what's going on behind the scenes. I wanted to say thank you for everything that you guys do, for the love and passion you have for your team. It doesn't matter if you are a Yankee fan or not. You are a baseball fan."
The idea of this "tour" is to thank the unheralded people who are important to the MLB experience, and interact with them and answer questions they may have wondered about him for years. One person asked him who is the toughest hitter he pitched to; Rivera's answer was former Seattle Mariners designated hitter Edgar Martinez.
Rivera told The Wall Street Journal "When I retired, I wanted to do something different, something that people don't see," Rivera said. "It doesn't always have to be the same on the field. There's a lot of other people that run the teams. They are here but we don't see them."
Mary Forkapy, an employee of the Indians since 1996, said she enjoyed her time with the living legend, who happily posed for a photo with her and signed an autograph. "It was very genuine, very heartfelt, very nice," she said. "He told me I was a very important person."
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