With Faith And Focus, Mariano Rivera Became Baseball's 'Closer'
Mariano Rivera has been called baseball's greatest closer. He was the relief pitcher the New York Yankees called in from the bullpen to get the final outs, typically when they held the lead. If the lead was small — and the Yankees won — Rivera was credited a save. In fact, he retired after last season with more career saves than any pitcher in Major League Baseball: 652.
He is revered for what he did and didn't do. He didn't behave scandalously, pick fights, take drugs, throw at batters' heads or chase big contract offers to other cities.
Rivera has now written a memoir about his life called The Closer, which he co-authored with Wayne Coffey. He tells NPR's Robert Siegel that he grew up very poor in Panama — and might have had a dramatically different life without baseball.
"I wanted to be a mechanic. So I would have saved all the money that I make to open my own shop," he says.