In one of the least surprising awards decisions in the history of professional sports, Mariano Rivera was announced as the American League Comeback Player of the Year yesterday. In his final season, coming off a major knee injury at age 43, Mo pitched to a 2.11 ERA with 44 saves in 64.0 innings pitched. The cutter was still cutting, the command was still insanely good (3.5% BB rate), and if you didn't already know that Mo had suffered the knee injury in 2012 you would have never guessed. His comeback was so seamless and his performance was so stereotypically Mo-like that it was almost as if he never left.
With Mo now retired, this was a fitting award for his final season. He came back from a major injury, played incredibly well, and got to go out on his terms. Nobody else in the AL stood a chance. Congratulations, Mo. And if this award stirs up anything inside you that makes you want to play next seasons, well that'd be just dandy.
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