Mariano announces '13 will be his final season

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com | 3/9/2013 10:31 A.M. ET

Mariano Rivera vowed to leave the game that he loves under his terms, and now the all-time saves leader is ready to begin writing the final chapter of his illustrious and remarkable career.

Rivera, 43, announced on Saturday that the 2013 season will be his last in a Major League uniform. The Yankees scheduled a 10 a.m. ET news conference at George M. Steinbrenner Field, providing the platform for Rivera to make his plans public.

"It's not too easy when you come to a decision like this, but I would like to say that it has been an honor and a privilege to wear the pinstripes uniform that I have worn proudly for so many years through good times, great times and times of learning processes," Rivera said. "It has been wonderful."

While Rivera's announcement should not be a surprise, considering that the Yankees' closer has hinted strongly at retirement in the last several years, it marks the conclusion of a path that promises to lead directly to enshrinement in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Upon arrival at Spring Training this year, Rivera suggested that he had reached a decision about his playing future, promising to reveal those thoughts at an appropriate date before Opening Day.

Rivera's announcement on Saturday coincides with the scheduled date for his first appearance in a Grapefruit League game; Rivera is expected to pitch an inning in New York's exhibition against the Atlanta Braves, which begins at 1:05 p.m. and is available on MLB.TV.

That outing will mark Rivera's first time on a mound against an opposing club since April 30, 2012, when he logged career save No. 608 against the Orioles at Yankee Stadium. It will be a milestone in his grueling recovery from a torn right anterior cruciate ligament that threatened to end his career just days later.

Rivera had been hinting for the first several months of 2012 that he was thinking of retiring after the season, speaking often about the difficulty of being away from his family during the season and his plans to devote more time to his church in New Rochelle, N.Y.

Those plans were interrupted as Rivera collapsed in pain on the warning track of Kansas City's Kauffman Stadium, a mishap caused by chasing a batting-practice fly ball, and Rivera strongly promised the next day that he was "not going out like that."

"If I would've finished the season last year, I would have retired last year," Rivera said Saturday. "But I didn't want to leave that way. I wanted to give everything and I felt like I still had something left. This year, I felt like I knew what I needed to do."

Following surgery in June, Rivera underwent months of intense rehabilitation to get back on the mound, finding that his reconstructed knee seemed to have little effect on the trademark cutter that has given big league hitters fits for years.

"That taught me that you have to enjoy every bit of it," Rivera said earlier this spring. "I will definitely enjoy this [season] and take advantage of it."

The Yankees signed Rivera to a one-year, $10 million contract for the 2013 season that promises to be his last, guaranteeing that nearly every road trip this year will morph into something of a farewell tour for the universally respected hurler.

Rivera owns a Major League-record 608 saves, converting 89.3 percent of his 681 opportunities. He owns a career 2.21 ERA and has recorded at least one save in 17 consecutive seasons. A 12-time All-Star and five-time World Series champion, Rivera also owns a record 42 postseason saves -- including 11 in the Fall Classic.

Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @bryanhoch and read his MLBlog, Bombers Beat. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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