The Sandman

Mariano Rivera

His journey started in a Panamanian village where his father was a fishing boat captain and he was a mate. When he was forced to abandon a sinking boat he decided there were better ways to make a living.

As a child he played baseball using a flattened milk carton for a glove, a tree branch for a bat and a ball made of shredded fish netting and electrical tape. Despite these crude beginnings he found he was good at the game. Leaving fishing, he tried out for the Panama Oeste team as a shortstop. His break came when he volunteered to pitch and was spotted by a scout for the New York Yankees.

In the minor leagues he damaged nerves in his elbow and had surgery, but rehabbed it and then produced two stellar years. He was promoted to the “Show” and soon became the Yankees main relief pitcher.

Now they call him “Mo,” “The Hammer of God,” “The Great One,” “Super Mariano,”and “The Sandman,” the last because he turns out the lights on opponents. When he leaves the bullpen to enter a game, the Yankee Stadium PA system blares out Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”

Mariano Rivera broke the all-time major league career record for saves last month. It’s an extraordinary story where hard work, dedication and character won out. It’s also remarkable that Rivera’s Christian faith – not baseball or money – is the touchstone of his life. He scared fans a few years ago when he said he was being called to preach, not pitch, and considered giving up baseball.

He stayed with pitching and uses his status and money to practice his Christian beliefs.

The Mariano Rivera Foundation uses church-based programs to help underprivileged children in Panama and the U.S. On a personal level, he sometimes changes into street clothes and helps minor leaguers, something stars don’t do. According to James Traub, writing in The New York Times Magazine, Mariano has a ”soul at peace,” and a calmness that mystifies his peers.

Rivera had a born again experience in his early twenties and told The Times sportswriter Jack Curry: “When God takes control of everything, He’s inside of you and He brings you strength. He has the power to do everything for you. I feel like God is on my side and will help me deal with everything.”

Mariano says his signature cut fastball “simply appeared one day in 1997, like a divine visitation."  The pitch “jams a left handed hitter and rides away from a righty,” but it can’t be seen until the last moment. Other pitchers throw cutters, but nobody else’s break 6 to 8 inches like his.

He says the pitch is “a blessing from the Lord” and openly shares his technique. But he also believes “no one without the blessing was going to throw his cutter.”

Mariano Rivera walks the walk: he’s modest, sharing, loving, approachable, even-keeled, giving and faithful to his family and God. An exemplary Christian. And probably the best relief pitcher in history.

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