The Closer
The greatest relief pitcher of all time shares his extraordinary story of survival, love, and baseball.
He was a kid from a tiny Panamanian fishing village who arrived at his New York Yankees tryout with a mismatched uniform, a hole in his shoe, and no glove. He had spent the morning repairing fishing nets, then took two buses for ninety minutes to get to the field where he was supposed to throw baseballs for a scout. He spoke no English, had no clue what was about to happen, and had no career plans, other than to become a mechanic in his native Panama. And then Mariano Rivera signed a contract for $2,000 and embarked on a journey that was powered by his unshakable faith and that made him the greatest relief pitcher in the annals of Major League Baseball, and a Hall of Famer. This is his story.