Sunday Was About A Lot More Than Celebrating Mariano Rivera

Sunday in the Bronx, the Yankees celebrated the past, struggled in the present, and are dreading the future.

On an afternoon that was proclaimed to be “Mariano Rivera Day” in New York City by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the Yankees honored Mariano Rivera by holding a 50-minute pregame ceremony that celebrated the career of baseball’s all-time greatest closer.

Many of Mariano’s past teammates, and players critical to the Yankees’ past gathered on the field for an emotional and memorable ceremony.

The players and former franchise members included Jeff Nelson, David Cone, Bernie Williams, Hideki Matsui, Jorge Posada, Paul O'Neill, Tino Martinez and John Wetteland. Mo’s longtime manager Joe Torre and once GM Gene Michael were in attendance to be there for Rivera.

Upon showing the video tributes, and the giving of gifts, and the live performance of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”, the Yankees honored Mo in one of the biggest ways, by retiring his No. 42.

But once the celebrating ended before the game, the Yankees still had some celebrating left to do during the game, as Andy Pettitte, who announced on Friday that he would be joining Rivera in riding off into the sunset at the conclusion of the season, would take the mound in his final start at Yankee Stadium.

Pettitte took the mound, seemingly pumped by the emotions of the day, he was perfect through the first 4.2 inning before issuing a walk to Pablo Sandoval, and he took his no-hitter into the 6^th inning, and it lasted until Ahire Adrianza hit solo homerun off Pettitte with one out in the inning, breaking up both the no-no and the shutout.

Though that didn't faze Pettitte, as Yankees manager Joe Girardi let him working into the 8^th inning as he enter with 102 pitches. Giving him the chance to pitch through the inning, Pettitte only lasted as long as it took to give up a double to Sandoval to start the inning, which would come around to score on a double by Tony Abreu off David Robertson.

Pettitte pitched great, giving up just two runs on two hits, while walking only one and striking out six, continuing to be the Yankees’ best start over the past few weeks. He left to a standing ovation by the sold-out crowd, and was greet by hugs from all of his teammates in the dugout. It was the perfect way to end his Yankee Stadium career.

The only problem surrounding Pettitte is that the Yankees’ bats were still living in the past, while playing a game against the San Francisco Giants in the present.

The Yankees only managed to score one run against the Giants, a solo homerun by Mark Reynolds in the 3^rd inning. Other than that, it was another poor offensive showing by the Bombers, who put up 11 runs in the first two games of the series against San Francisco pitching.

Several major scoring chances had come and gone, including in the 8^th inning when the Yanks set up runners on 2^nd and 3^rd with nobody out to open the bottom of the frame after a single by Alex Rodriguez and a double by Robinson Cano.

Zoilo Almonte, who was pinch-running for A-Rod, stupidly ran himself into the first out of the inning when Alfonso Soriano ripped a groundball to third base and Almonte took off for home, but was gunned down by at least five steps.

"Sometimes we make mistakes, and that's the way it is," Yankees third-base coach Rob Thomson said. "He was being aggressive, he saw something and he reacted to it."

Then with two outs in the inning, and runners on 1^st and 2^nd, Eduardo Nunez lined a base hit to center field, and with Cano running home, left fielder Juan Perez fired a throw to home plate that beat Cano, and keep the Giants leading 2-1.

And trailing in the 9^th, facing Giants closer Sergio Romo, who has always look up to Rivera, shutdown the Yankees in order to close out a loss for the Yanks that can only do harm to their ever shrinking Wild Card chances.

"It's hard to believe that we're sitting here and that we lost another game," said Pettitte. "This was a big loss, there's no doubt about it. We've got to try to pull off a miracle here."

But before the Yankees managed to struggle in the present with the task at hand – beat the last place Giants and remain at least three games back in the Wild Card race – they were reminded of the past, as well as reminded that the future is shaping up to be nowhere near the level it’s been in the last decade.

The most likely scenario is that next Sunday in Houston, the Yankees will finish up their season against the Astros without making the playoffs. Rivera and Pettitte will officially retire from the game of baseball, and from the Yankees.

Robinson Cano – the Yankees best player and biggest hope for success in the future -- will become a free-agent, and there’s always the possibility that he could resign with another club, leaving the Yankees for good.

Girardi, too, will be a pending free-agent this winter, and although the signs say that he wants to come back as much as the Yankees would love to have him back, there are sure to be plenty of job openings for a

major league manager all around the league.

The Washington Nationals will be losing Davey Johnson after this season when he retires; the Los Angeles Angels could have an opening after an awful season from a team with high expectations; and the Chicago Cubs have been rumored to be very interesting the Yankees’ manager.

And I still haven't even mentioned Derek Jeter. We really don't know what to expect from The Captain as he enters the 2014 season in which he'll turn 40-years-old, as this could possibly his final season, if not, his next to last in the league.

So Sunday in the Bronx, the Yankees honored and celebrated the 18-year career of Mariano Rivera. They brought back many of the greatest Yankees from the past decade to celebrate to past. Afterwards, the Yankees took to the field and played sloppy and uninspiring in the present.

In the process, Andy Pettitte and Rivera left to field, for Pettitte the second to last time, and for Rivera one of the last times in his career, reminding us that the end of an era is staring us in the face, and a new era is about to begin, and I must say, it doesn’t look good.

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