The Closer (27 page)

When you say goodbye to a sport you’ve played your whole life, as I did in 2013, there’s a lot of reflection that goes along with it. When you write your life story in the same year, it makes the reflection, and the soul-searching, that much deeper.

Writing
The Closer,
in many ways, was not unlike getting a save. I may be the one with the statistic (or my name on the cover), but a whole team full of people made huge contributions to allow that to happen. I could fill another chapter with the names of all the people I am deeply grateful to, and I hope and pray that any omissions here are understood to be due to limitations of space and my flawed memory, and not to what I feel in my heart.

Fernando Cuza has been my baseball agent, friend, and right-hand man for many years, and he and Relativity Sports senior vice president Aaron Spiewak were the guiding forces and caretakers of the book from the outset. Aaron, in particular, found the book a home with Little, Brown, a top-notch publishing house with top-notch people who have been with me from the very early innings of this project, starting with publisher Reagan Arthur. Senior production editor Karen Landry and staff did a remarkable job turning a manuscript into a finished book, just as publicists Elizabeth Garriga and Nicole Dewey did in getting the word out, creatively and persistently, about
The Closer.
John Parsley, my editor, is not just skillful at his job; he was a tireless and indispensable ally from start to finish. Thanks, too, to John’s able assistant, Malin von Euler-Hogan.

Jason Zillo, the Yankees director of media relations, has been there for me throughout the years, a constant source of support and counsel, never more than in my farewell tour in 2013.

My first catcher and friend of twenty-five years, Claudino Hernandez, along with our Panama Oeste teammate Emilio Gaes, saw the possibilities for me before I did; how do you thank somebody for
that?
Claudino also doubled as a driver / Puerto Caimito tour guide for Wayne Coffey, my coauthor, when he went to Panama to conduct research. Wayne and I began this book with a prayer, asking for the Lord’s strength and guidance so that my story would honor Him even as it tells the story of a humble man who has as many shortcomings as any other man. I believe our prayer was answered. In our countless hours together shaping the manuscript, Wayne helped draw out memories and find an honest and authentic way for me to interweave all the elements of my journey. Along the way, I discovered that writing a book is hard work, but also deeply rewarding work.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t thank Wayne’s wife, Denise Willi, and their children, Alexandra, Sean, and Samantha, for their patience; they did not see or hear much from my coauthor as we neared the finish line. Frank Coffey and Sean Coffey were among the early readers whose insights were invaluable. Wayne’s literary agent, Esther Newberg of ICM, along with her associate, Colin Graham, put together our collaboration with Relativity, which set Wayne and me on our way. The esteemed sports team with whom Wayne works at the
New York Daily News
—Teri Thompson, Bill Price, Eric Barrow, Mike Matvey, and Ian Powers—were likewise staunch supporters, and I thank them for that.

My parents and siblings and cousins—most of them still in and around Puerto Caimito—were the foundation of my life before anybody knew who I was, and in so many ways shaped the man I became. I can’t say that fans and players and employees of the clubs around the big leagues had any part in shaping me, but they
did so much to make this journey of mine special. To all the people I met and the clubs that honored me in 2013—to the fans of Detroit, Cleveland, Tampa Bay, Colorado, Kansas City, Baltimore, the Mets, Seattle, Oakland, the Angels, Minnesota, Texas, the Dodgers, San Diego, the White Sox, Boston, and Houston—I just hope with all my heart that you know how much your kindness and tributes touched me. To the fans of the New York Yankees: Well, you were there in the beginning and you were there at the end, and I will never forget the love and support you’ve shown me all these years. I never wanted to be anybody’s closer but yours. So I’ll just say thank you all, and bless you all.

It’s almost impossible for me to describe how important Mario and Naomi Gandia are to the Rivera family—both as loving extended family members and as sources of Christian inspiration and wisdom. As much as any people I know, Mario and Naomi live in the Lord’s light, share the Lord’s love, and make the world better because of it. They always want to be behind the scenes, but just this once, they must be out front.

There aren’t enough words in my native tongue, Spanish, or in English to convey the love and admiration I have for my wife, Clara. She is the rock of our family life, a very present help in good times and otherwise. To our boys, Mariano Jr., Jafet, and Jaziel, you are the greatest gift a father can have, and I am as proud of the young people you are as I am grateful for your love. I have been away for many times in your life, and one of the best things about retirement is that I can stop saying goodbye so often.

And to the Lord, who has blessed me with His grace and mercy, whose wisdom and love are the beacons of my life, I don’t want to just say thank you. I want to glorify You and honor You with all I do, and pray that
The Closer
is a good way to start.

M
ARIANO
R
IVERA
spent his entire career with the New York Yankees. He is Major League Baseball’s all-time saves and ERA leader, a thirteen-time All-Star, and a five-time world champion. He and his wife, Clara, have three sons and live in New York.

W
AYNE
C
OFFEY
is one of the country’s most acclaimed sports journalists. A writer for the
New York Daily News,
he cowrote R. A. Dickey’s bestselling
Wherever I Wind Up
and is the author of the
New York Times
bestseller
The Boys of Winter,
among other books. He lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife and children.

@MarianoRivera

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Copyright © 2014 by Mariano Rivera

Cover design by Allison J. Warner

Cover photograph by Sporting News/Getty Images

Cover hand lettering by Joel Holland

Cover copyright © 2014 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.

All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

Little, Brown and Company

Hachette Book Group

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First ebook edition: May 2014

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Unless otherwise noted, all photographs are courtesy of the Rivera family.

ISBN 978-0-316-40075-6

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