Mariano Rivera's Last Days Are Quickly Approaching

Like your favorite TV series, or a losing season for the Boston Red Sox, as they say, all good things must come to an end. For the New York Yankees, the days of Mariano Rivera pitching in games as their closer are entering his final weeks. Whether it has sunk in or not, the end is near.

As the Yankees are on the road this season, they're making their final stops of the season in Baltimore, Boston and Toronto, Rivera, too, is making his last trips to these AL East cities that he’s come to know so well over his 19-year career.

Tuesday night in Baltimore, Rivera was called upon in the 8th inning, asked by Yankees manager Joe Girardi to record a four-out save, with David Robertson unavailable to pitch the 8th because of shoulder tendinitis.

Rivera retired his man in the 8th, then set down the Orioles in order in the 9th, sealing the Yankees’ 7-5, come-from-behind victory, fuel by a four-run 8th inning that included Alfonso Soriano launching a go-ahead, two-run homerun, his second of the game, to give the Yankees a 6-4 lead, paving the way for Mariano to eventually pitch in the bottom half of the inning.

While Tuesday’s game might not actually be his final appearance at Camden Yards as the Yankees have two more games with the O’s in this season, the pre-game ceremony that’s likely to before shortly before the first pitch is thrown on Thursday is just another sign that the farewell tour is almost over.

When he announced back in spring training that he was going to call it quits at the end of the season, it always seemed like there was going to be something that would end up bringing him back for one more ride in 2014.

But he hasn't once budged from the idea of hanging up his cleats after his last pitch is thrown this season, and with just a handful of games remaining this season, I’m completely convinced that he’s not lying when he tells us that this is his last season.

Last Wednesday, Girardi told ESPNNewYork.com that he was planning on sitting down with Rivera after this season and attempt to talk him into pitching one more season, saying that he still has enough left in the tank to compete at a high level for at least one more year.

"I'm sure I'll talk to him at some point in the offseason," Girardi said, "and ... I'll tell him when the season's over, 'Take a month. Take a month and a half, two months, and make sure this is really what you want to do. Because once you do go, it's hard to come back.'"

"I don't see any reason why he couldn't do it next year, I don't," he added. "He's made it pretty clear that he doesn't want to [return], but I always say, you know, January rolls around and sometimes you have a different feel about what you want to do."

But just a few days later, it’s starting to sound like Girardi is beginning to believe that Mariano isn't coming back in 2014. After sending out Mo for the six-out save against the Boston Red Sox on Sunday, Girardi said that it was an easy choice to use Rivera in the situation, considering that he’s not saving anything for 2014, and he’s will to give the Yankees as many innings as they need these final weeks.

"We have to make sure he doesn't get hurt where we lose him for five or six days," Girardi said. "But I think he's at the point where he might come in [Monday night] and say, 'I'm ready to go.' Who knows? He's not saving anything for 2014."

And he’s right, Rivera isn't saving anything, as he won’t be here next season, and it probably won’t sink in for me until the Yankees have their first save opportunity next April and Mariano Rivera is not running out of the bullpen to Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”.

For baseball’s greatest closer -- the man with 650 career saves, a career 2.21 career ERA, and an astonishing postseason ERA of just 0.70 with an all-time record of 42 saves – the good will always outweigh the bad for Rivera, no matter how many blown saves he has, and times he losses to the Red Sox.

At this point, there isn't anything he can do to shake the idea out of my head that he a sure to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. The man is 43-years-old, and he’s been in the big league for 19 years, and we've finally reached the point that we've never believed would actually come.

Mariano Rivera is entering the final weeks of his career, and this weekend in Boston, he’ll pitch against the Red Sox for the final time. We've reached the end of an era, and you better soak in ever last moment of Rivera on the mound, because you'll never see another pitcher like him again.

Thanks for reading, and comment below, or tell me on Twitter, @GavinEwbank2013, what some of your favorite Mariano memories are.