Mariano Rivera Announcing Retirement Saturday?
Mariano Rivera, 43, is reportedly gearing up to announce his retirement Saturday.
The New York Yankees closer who was forced to sit out most of this season after tearing his ACL last May will reportedly announce that this will be his last season at the Yankees' spring training camp in Tampa Saturday, according to ESPN reports.
The Christian Panamanian pitcher said the Lord may be telling him that it is time to walk away from professional baseball.
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"Maybe the good Lord is telling me it's time to go," Rivera said last May in a New York Daily News report. "It will be the Lord who will guide me."
The Yankees 12-time All-Star closer was vocal about his faith in the Lord after he tore his ACL last year and said he was blessed because doctors discovered that he was suffering from an additional injury, a blood clot in his calf.
"I was scared," Rivera said. "I never heard anything good about blood clots."
However, the All-Star closer said he did not know if the clot would have been discovered if he had not injured his knee while snagging a ball in the outfield last week.
"Maybe this is a blessing," Rivera said last year. "I always say things happen for a good reason."
After Rivera's footing caused him to fall and hit a wall in the Kansas City, Mo. arena while attempting to catch fly balls in the outfield last May, some speculated about his injury possibly ending his career.
Still, Rivera told reporters that he would keep his faith in God after he was first injured.
"No, I never will second guess that or question the Lord," Rivera said in a press conference while blinking back tears last year. "It happened for a reason and you just have to deal with it."
