The annals of baseball are chock full of terrible first pitches, but we didn't get a chance for that at Yankee Stadium's Opening Day. Mariano Rivera threw out the first pitch of the season for the Yankees, and the new Hall of Famer kept it safe, but it was right down the pipe.
Rivera, the first ever unanimous Hall of Famer, looked confident going out to the mound, and he made it look as easy as he did during his 19-year MLB career.
Mariano Rivera threw out the ceremonial first pitch on #OpeningDay. pic.twitter.com/VZ2CqYk7CR
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) March 28, 2019
A Hall-of-Fame-worthy first pitch. #OpeningDay #UnaniMOus pic.twitter.com/BkkCsmxOYM
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) March 28, 2019
Rivera, of course, has the most saves in MLB history with 652. He had a 2.21 career ERA with the Yankees, and his ERA+ of 205 is also the best ever. Rivera, who retired in 2013, was a 13-time All Star and an ALCS and World Series MVP to go along with his five World Series titles.
Arguably the only disappointing things about this opening pitch were that it wasn't one of his patented cutters and "Enter Sandman" didn't ring throughout Yankee Stadium when he came out. But we'll let it slide for a guy who's been out of baseball for five years and will be 50 in November.
