Mariano Rivera
Major League career relief leader Mariano Rivera qualified for the Hall of Fame for the first time in 2019, setting a record for the first unanimous inductee in history. Rivera said after being frozen: "I have played for the best Yankees throughout my career, and it is even more surprising to be admitted to the Hall of Fame like this." Relief must be included in the calculation when the team is leading (3 points or less). The powerful Yankees created many opportunities for Rivera.
Rivera was the son of a fishing boat captain in Panama. He learned baseball with sticks and stones when he was a child. He entered the baseball field at the age of 18, but he was a fielder. Once when the team was lagging far behind, he was dragged up by the coach to pitch, but the opponent couldn't score a single point. Later, Rivera barely scraped together the fare to go to the Yankees' test in Panama.
In 1997, the Yankees turned Rivera into a closer. He accidentally threw a very powerful inside corner ball. He practiced hard to perfect it, which became the powerful "cutter" in the future. Rivera was selected for the All-Star Game that year, and later set a record by cutting off 44 bats in 81 innings, a veritable chipper.
In order to commend Rivera's brilliant achievements, the major leagues named him the "Rivera Award", the highest honor for an American League reliever pitcher. Rivera's name has officially become synonymous with fire-fighting heroes. Wang Jianmin The year when the Yankees pitched his American career masterpiece (2006), the then 36-year-old Rivera still had an ERA of 1.80 and 34 successful saves. He did not retire until he was 43 years old (2013).
In September 2019, Donald Trump, the then President of the United States, awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House, praising Rivera for "his outstanding contribution to American sports, culture, and society. He is the best relief pitcher in the history of baseball. In addition, he is also a model of realizing the American dream." Trump laughed and said: "Other pitchers also practice cutting pitches. Why are they so far behind you?"
