A few seconds after I published my thoughts on the season ending knee injury to Mariano Rivera, I heard Yankees play-by-play announcer Michael Kay announce the news on his radio show.
Immediately, I went to Twitter and saw the message with my own eyes.
Well there you have it. Mariano Rivera just said he will absolutely pitch again. He’s determined to not let his career end like this.
Courtesy of Conor Orr from the he Star-Ledger:
“I’m coming back,” he said. “Write it down in big letters.”
Rivera was on crutches today and said that he’s heard he could be back to work in 3-5 months. He would not rule out pitching this season but said if everything goes right he’ll be completely ready by spring training next year.
He plans on telling his teammates as a group, something he hadn’t done by the time the clubhouse opened to the media.
Rivera said he decided late Thursday night in his hotel room and that he will fly back to New York Saturday.
“You don’t go out like this,” Rivera said.
He was optimistic that he could breeze through the recovery process.
“I’m a quick healer so that’s good. It’s all good.”Rivera, though, was unclear on whether it was his initial plan to play next year anyway, or if the injury motivated him to play another season.
“Miracles happen miracles happen, guys,” he said. “I’m OK, I’m a positive man and I’m OK. The only thing is I feel sorry I let down my teammates.”
I’ll have more later on.
