Yankeed closer Rivera says he will come back
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Mariano Rivera vowed he would pitch again.
Rivera, 42, suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee Thursday while shagging fly balls in the outfield during the New York Yankees batting practice.
"I'm coming back," Rivera said before the Friday night game with the Kansas City Royals. "Write it down in big letters. I'm not going out like this. This has me thinking, I can't go down like this. If the good Lord gives me the opportunity to come back and do it again, that's what I want to do.
"Knowing myself and knowing what I'm capable of and know who I trust, I knew that I didn't want to leave that scene (carted off the field) like that. I don't want to be remembered like that. I have to fight back again and be ready for whatever time I have to comeback. This happened for a reason. My only concern, my only worry was letting my team down. But at the same time, I'm positive and optimistic. This is a new chapter again."
Rivera, the all-time saves leader with 608, was on crutches and his right knee wrapped while he spoke to reporters. He said he would meet Monday with Yankees team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad to further evaluate the knee and schedule surgery.
"Whatever it is, is going to be fixed," Rivera said. "I've had surgery before. Surgery is surgery. I take all challenges the same. To me it's a new challenge and I have to face it."
While it is highly improbable Rivera would pitch again this season, he said, "miracles happen." Rivera reiterated he would pitch again" even if it doesn't mean this year."
He said he has probably caught 400-500 fly balls in batting practice throughout his career with no problems before going down in agonizing pain on the Kauffman Stadium warning track in center field.
"Things happens," Rivera said. "I don't regret it. It happened to me and I take it. It felt like someone cut my leg off, so I knew it was serious. This morning around four or five o'clock, it was throbbing, painful. But I'm good here, I'm laughing. Thank God."
Rivera addressed the team Friday.
"They have what it takes to win and don't worry about me," he said. "I'll be OK. I want them to focus on the game. We have guys that can step up and do the job."
Rivera is confident he could return in 2013 and be the same pitcher he always has been. "Why not?" he said.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he thought Rivera would return after talking to him Friday night.
"It wasn't the way he wants to go out," Girardi said. "He still has to get through this rehab and let's see where he's at. Mo is a guy who wants to do things on his own terms and wants to determine when he's done. I don't think he's the kind of guy that would ever want say I'm done because of an injury."
Girardi said he would use David Robertson, who has not allowed a run in his past 24 innings dating to Sept. 1 last season, and Rafael Soriano, who logged 45 saves in 2010 with Tampa Bay, as his closer.
"We're fortunate in that we believe we have two guys that are capable of doing it," Girardi said. "You look at what Robertson has done and he deserves an opportunity to do it. We all know Soriano has done it. You're probably going to see both. Mo is Mo. I'm not saying it's easy to replace him, but guys have to step up a little bit.
"I'm not ready to be pinned down. We all believe in our hearts that Robby can do it at a very high level. Would I like to have one set closer? Yes. We're going to try to get to that. We're going to see how it irons out. When you lose a guy at the back end, you got to see how the other guys fill in. I don't worry about Robby and the pressure. I don't worry about Soriano and the pressure."
The pressure is not pitching out of a bases loaded situation, but replacing the irreplaceable Mariano Rivera.
