Two marquee players from an iconic baseball franchise were in Toronto the past few days, one was booed and the other cheered. The Yankees were around for a three-game series and it was Alex Rodriguez, the alleged repeat drug offender who was the subject of fan disapproval. He is grossly overpaid to play a game at which he cheats. Little wonder he isn't admired.
The other player, Mariano Rivera, is one of the best loved players and arguably the best "closer" in the history of the game. Last year Rivera suffered a major injury while essentially messing around in the outfield during a practice doing something totally unrelated to pitching. At age 42 and having accomplished just about everything possible, including World Series wins, it must have been tempting to retire. He decided to come back for one final season and he has done extremely well, albeit with a few uncharacteristic speed wobbles. He is still near the top of the "saves" stats for 2013. In every ball park Rivera visits he is cheered by admiring fans.
Rivera is a devout Pentecostal Christian and when he retires he will support his wife who pastors a start-up, multi-racial congregation in an area where there are many social needs. Last year he gave over $600,000 to charitable outreach causes, mostly church sponsored.
I appreciate that lots of people really couldn't care less about the activities of pro athletes, but I find Rivera's story heartening. Spoiled, entitled and lawless athletes end up in the news regularly and its good to get another perspective. Hey, Rivera is still ridiculously wealthy, but it's a good wealthy!
Do you agree?
It's good to hear stories like that, because one often gets the impression that these multi-millionaires - the very ones who are the most capable of making a difference financially to charities - use their wealth to have a driveway full of Ferraris, houses all over the world, and expecting first class treatment everywhere they go.
ReplyDeleteGood for Rivera. As for A-Rod, he should be donating hundreds of millions of dollars that he "earned" while cheating to charities.
I wish these stories were more widely published - this is a good one !
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