Rivera's Injury

sports:  On May 3rd during batting practice before a game in Kansas City, Mariano Rivera tore his ACL shagging fly balls in center field when he tried to climb the wall to make a catch ending his season.  Let's start with the more mechanical part of what is going on.
First and foremost, Rivera routinely is in the field during batting practice and has been for the duration of his now seventeen year career.  This is an important thing to establish because blame otherwise gets put upon coaches and managers allowing him to do something irresponsible.  That just isn't the case.  Rivera has always been a superb athlete who takes care of his body not to mention the fact that he was originally looked at by major league scouts as a center fielder.  It really was just a fluke accident that occurred while he was doing something that is part of his day to day activities.
The other thing to consider about Rivera's injury is its effect on his ability to pitch.  It was pointed out by Bill Simmons, who writes for ESPN, how rare this injury is for a pitcher.  A pitcher usually has arm issues.  This is more an injury for people putting undo stress on their knees, whether that means running the bases or in the field.  Most often though you see ACL injuries in football or basketball where stop and go movement along with the twists and turns evading contact can tear up ones knees.  This is a pitcher.  Also the knee in question is the one on the leg Rivera uses to push off from the mound.  It is just really hard to say what kind of effect this will have on Rivera's pitching when he returns given the small, if not nonexistent, sample size we can look at as a barometer.
So now that it has been established what happened to Rivera, I would like to talk about it from the standpoint of what it means to me as a fan of baseball.  I have spent most of my days both as a child and adult watching the Yankees turn themselves into and actively embrace the role of the Evil Empire.  They have gathered high priced players and won a ton of World Series and been to a handful more.  This is something that has always made me quite angry.  And Mariano Rivera has been a huge part of that success for the past seventeen years.  He has been there closer for sixteen straight seasons.  Easily the most feared ninth inning pitcher in baseball and force of nature in the playoffs with a career 0.70 era going 8-1 with 42 saves after the end of the regular season.  He essentially turned games into eight inning games because if you were losing after eight the game was over.  Knowing he was coming into a game was the kiss of death for so many teams I have rooted for.  Some of these teams I rooted for just to root against the Yankees (Diamondbacks, Marlins, Phillies, to name a few that I have no true allegiance to).  Sometimes I would even say to myself and to anyone who would listen, "Can't he just get hurt so I have some hope that someone will beat the damn Yankees."
Well, now he is hurt, badly.  Rivera will miss the remainder of the 2012 season.  And I have to say, I am actually sad about it.  Yes, he has caused me a lot of baseball pain over the years.  No I am definitely not a converted Yankees fan.  But it is sad to me.  Maybe its because Rivera is in the twilight of his career but I just feel bad for him.  This has been the greatest closer of all time, greatest reliever of all time, and probably one of the greatest pitchers of all time.  He has been remarkably durable and consistent.  I think it is safe to say that watching Rivera pitch has actually been to watch history happen.  Baseball has never seen a reliever of his caliber and may never again.  And the best part about is he has done it with one pitch.  That cutter at about 95 mph has been the ruin of just about everyone in baseball at one time or another.  ONE PITCH!  I just don't understand why anyone couldn't hit it.  It had to have been some Yankee black magic or something.  That's my only explanation.  Regardless, watching someone that great get hurt in such a silly way has made me sad.
I want to make it clear though, I am not eulogizing Rivera.  He has already told the press that he will pitch again and I believe him.    His competitive spirit is legendary and his toughness, proven by how few games he has missed, is fact.
I will probably spend next spring up late nights in a cold sweat knowing that Rivera will be back and most of next summer back to hoping he gets hurt so my teams can win more.  But I will be happy to see the best be back in action scaring fans and hitters alike.  After all, the Yankees aren't as scary without the Sandman at the back of their bullpen.  And lets face it, the villain has to be scary.