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Yankee NEWS - Mo to Retire after End of 2013 Season

TAMPA, Fla. — New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera says this will be his final season.

Cue the Music .. !!

Rivera made the announcement Saturday at the team’s spring training complex. There was word this week that he will retire after the season, and he made it official at a news conference.

Asked how he wanted to end his career, Rivera said, “The last game I hope will be throwing the last pitch in the World Series.

“Winning the World Series, that would be my ambition.”

The 43-year-old Rivera holds the career saves record with 608 and has helped the Yankees win five World Series titles. He is regarded as the greatest closer of all time, whether he’s throwing his cut fastball in the regular season or postseason.

Rivera missed most of last year after tearing his right knee while shagging flyballs during batting practice in early May.

He began the news conference by playfully thanking the Yankees for giving him a new contract for two additional years through 2015 — which would break a team policy of not negotiating new deals before the old ones expire.

“It’s not too easy when you come to a decision like this,” Rivera said, turning serious. “After this year, I will be retired. ... Now you’re hearing it from me. It’s official now.”

Rivera said he would have retired at the end of last season if he had not gotten hurt.

“I didn’t want to leave like that,” he said. “I felt like I wanted to give everything.”

While others have proclaimed him the best closer in baseball history, Rivera wouldn’t put that label on himself.

Ok Mo .. Let Me .. !!

“I don’t feel myself, the greatest of all time. I’m a team player,” he said. “I would love to be remembered as a player who was always there for others.”

Rivera has not pitched in an exhibition game this spring. He usually goes at his own pace in camp, working in the bullpen and throwing in simulated games.

The 12-time All-Star has earned a record 42 saves in the postseason while putting up an 0.70 ERA. He began his major league career in 1995 and has spent his entire time with the Yankees.

Rivera made just nine appearances last season before he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee on May 3. He had surgery on June 12.

Rivera returned to his native Panama earlier this week on a personal matter. His wife and two children were by his side for the news conference.

Yankee NEWS - Spring Training : I'm Sooooooo Ready !!!!

YES Network's 2013 Yankees Spring Training Telecast Schedule
Sunday, February 24 Toronto 1:00 pm
Wednesday, February 27 Baltimore 1:00 pm
Thursday, February 28 Toronto 1:00 pm
Friday, March 1 Philadelphia 1:00 pm
Saturday, March 2 Detroit 1:00 pm
Sunday, March 3 @ Boston 1:30 pm
Tuesday, March 5 Atlanta 7:00 pm
Wednesday, March 6 Dominican Republic 1:00 pm
Saturday, March 9 Atlanta 1:00 pm
Monday, March 11 St. Louis 1:00 pm
Wednesday, March 13 Philadelphia 7:00 pm
Friday, March 15 Miami 1:00 pm
Saturday, March 16 Philadelphia 12:00 pm
Wednesday, March 20 Boston 1:00 pm
Thursday, March 21 Minnesota 7:00 pm
Sunday, March 24 Tampa Bay 1:00 pm
Tuesday, March 26 Houston 7:00 pm
Friday, March 29 @Washington (in D.C.) 2:00 pm
Saturday, March 30 @ Army (West Point) 2:00 pm

Schedule subject to change. All times ET

Yankees 2011 - Derek Jeter Interview : from 1 - 3000 Hits

Yankee NEWS - Jeter Homers For 3,000th Hit, Goes 5 For 5 In Win !!

This was so Derek Jeter.

Pressure mounting, time running out, all eyes on him at Yankee Stadium.

He delivered — and then some — on a defining day in his championship career.

Jeter homered deep into the left-field bleachers for his 3,000th career hit, making him the first New York Yankees player to reach the mark. He tied a career best by going 5 for 5. And he capped Saturday's show by singling home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning.

"Just one of those special days," Jeter said.

Mobbed by his pinstriped pals after the ball sailed into the seats, showered by ovations from his fans, Jeter stood alone in Yankees lore. A fitting crown for the captain, on a sunny afternoon when it seemed he could do anything he wanted in a 5-4 win over Tampa Bay.

Almost as if he saved his best swing of the season to counter his critics and doubters, to prove that he still was, indeed, Derek Jeter. How else to explain it? His first home run in the Bronx this year, for No. 3,000.

"You want to hit the ball hard," he said. "I didn't want to hit a slow roller to third base and have it be replayed forever."

"It's a number that's meant a lot in baseball," he said. "To be the only Yankee to do anything is special."

Oh, and for good measure: Jeter stole a base, too. For any hitter, a perfect game. Something out of "The Natural," really.

"I don't think you can script it any better," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "This is already movie-ready."

Added the Rays' Johnny Damon, a former teammate: "Hopefully he can act very well and hopefully he can play himself in his own movie, that's the type of day this was."

In fact, HBO will soon show a documentary about Jeter's pursuit.

"Nobody better in the clutch," Yankees star Jorge Posada chimed in. "He looks forward to that moment, and today was a perfect example."

With a swift swing of his shiny black bat, Jeter jolted himself into historic company, hitting a solo home run off All-Star ace David Price in the third inning. He became the 28th major leaguer to hit the mark and joined former teammate Wade Boggs as the only players to do it with a home run.

Jeter watched the ball fly as he left the batter's box and gave a big clap as he rounded first base. Rays first baseman Casey Kotchman was the first to salute Jeter, doffing his cap as Jeter passed by.

"Hitting a home run was the last thing I was thinking about," Jeter said. "I was pretty relieved."

By then, all of Jeter's teammates were already celebrating in the dugout, raising their arms almost in unison. A special time for No. 2 — his second hit of the game, and right at 2 p.m.

He looked every bit like a spry 27-year-old with those bright green eyes and an even brighter future, rather than a 37-year-old shortstop with his best days behind him.

Jeter finished the day with 3,003 hits.

The only thing left, it seemed, was a triple — Jeter has never hit for the cycle. Instead, he singled in the sixth, and bounced a tiebreaking single through a drawn-in infield.

"I was expecting the triple," Yankees closer Mariano Rivera kidded. "That's the way it is."

The prize ball, one of the specially marked ones put in play for the occasion once Jeter got to 2,999 hits, disappeared into a cluster of fans a few rows beyond the wall. Christian Lopez of Highland Mills, N.Y., sitting in Section 236, emerged with the valuable memento after it bounced off his father's hand.

The 23-year-old former football player from St. Lawrence University gladly gave the ball back to Jeter, saying it never occurred to him to keep it. The Yankees rewarded him with four tickets to every game for the rest of the year, and memorabilia autographed by Jeter — three bats, three balls and two jerseys.

"Mr. Jeter deserved it," Lopez said. "It's all his."

Jeter 3K merchandise, meanwhile, began flying off the shelves at the souvenir stands. Hats, pins, shirts and more, all commemorating No. 3,000, hadn't gone on sale until it occurred.

True to his nature of staying focused on the game, Jeter briskly rounded the bases. When Boggs got his 3,000th, he knelt down and kissed home plate.

Not Jeter's style. But there was no way this moment was would pass without plenty of fanfare.

Posada, his good buddy, greeted Jeter with a bear hug after he crossed the plate. Rivera and the rest of the Yankees were right behind, swallowing up Jeter before he could reach the dugout. The bullpen gate swung open, too, as New York's relievers came pouring in.

Jeter, still in the midst of a most difficult season, waved to the crowd several times, then pointed up to the box where his dad and steady girlfriend, actress Minka Kelly, were sitting. His dad was in attendance — his mom and sister were absent, attending a christening.

"It was tremendous," Jeter's father, Charles, told the YES Network. "I can't describe how I was feeling. We need a victory, first of all. ... Very emotional for me, very happy for him."

All the Yankees greats left their distinct marks. Babe Ruth set the home run record, Lou Gehrig became the Iron Horse, Joe DiMaggio hit in 56 straight games, Yogi Berra won the most championships, Mickey Mantle launched the longest drives. They all won World Series rings, certainly, with Jeter owning five.

The 3,000 hits, that will be Jeter's legacy forever.

"I want to give him a big hug. It's an absolute wonderful accomplishment," Berra said in a statement.

Whenever Jeter retires, a plaque in Monument Park is guaranteed to follow. Someday, he'll surely have a monument, too. Because on the list of monumental baseball achievements, this ranks up there.

Along with 28 players with 3,000 hits, there are 25 members of the 500-homer club and 23 pitchers in the 300-win circle. And the Yankees: They've got 27 World Series championships.

Jeter desperately wanted to achieve the mark at home, and the Yankees only had two games left in the Bronx before the All-Star break, with an eight-game road trip looming to start the second half.

"I felt a lot of pressure to do it here," he said, joking that, "I was lyin'" when he said it didn't matter much.

Girardi wasn't worried about Jeter trying too hard.

"He's never had a problem with pressure in his life," Girardi said before the game.

As always, Jeter walked to the plate after a recorded introduction by late, longtime Yankee Stadium public address announcer Bob Sheppard. His intonation of "Deh-rick Jee-tuh" has been imitated over the years by thousands of Yankees fans, if not millions.

Jeter smiled after his first hit as the sellout crowd of 48,103 roared. That singled came on a full count.

"He could've thrown it in the dugout and I would've swung," Jeter said.

The crowd sensed history was on deck when Jeter came up next. There was a buzz when he stepped into the batter's box — Jeter loves to put up his right arm to ask the umpire for time.

As the at-bat built, there was a hush each time Price went into his windup.

After connecting on a 78 mph curveball to tie the score at 1, Jeter remembered to honor his opponents. He pointed at Price while many of the Rays applauded the accomplishment, some of them coming out of the dugout to cheer. Price later took a brief break and went to the bench.

Fans kept chanting and cheering throughout a celebration that lasted 4 minutes, and Jeter montages filled the videoboard for the next couple of innings.

Far away, the tributes began. At the All-Star game festivities in Phoenix, fans crowded around televisions to watch Jeter's postgame interview.

Longtime Yankees great Don Mattingly, now manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, saw Jeter's homer on a TV in the clubhouse at Dodger Stadium.

"Only Jeet. Everything's like that with him," his former teammate said. "He always comes up dramatic, doesn't he? It's awesome."

Tony Gwynn, another member of the 3,000 club, also was at Dodger Stadium when Jeter homered.

"The only time I ever said anything to him about hitting was when he came up to me during Game 1 of the World Series in New York in '98," the former Padres star said. "I was standing on second base and he said: `Man you need to teach me how to hit.' And I said: `Yeah, right. You're kidding me, right?"

Having grounded a leadoff single to left field in the first inning — much like his first career hit on May 30, 1995, against Seattle's Tim Belcher at the old Kingdome — Jeter achieved the milestone in his next at-bat.

Jeter casually chatted with Rays catcher John Jaso when he came to the plate, fouled off a couple of full-count deliveries and homered on Price's eighth pitch. Jeter, in fact, homered when the future All-Star lefty made his major league debut in 2008.

He doubled to left his next time up in the fifth inning for No. 3,001, breaking a tie with Roberto Clemente. He showed off his Jeterian, inside-out swing to right-center for a single in the sixth.

Jeter was the first big leaguer to get 3,000 since Craig Biggio in 2007, who reached it with his third hit in a five-hit effort.

Rafael Palmeiro, Rickey Henderson and Cal Ripken were the previous players to get there.

There was a time when some wondered whether Jeter would have a chance to break Pete Rose's career record of 4,256 hits. Jeter, in fact, was eight days younger than Rose when he got to 3,000.

But Jeter has been slowing down. He came into the game hitting only .257 with just two home runs, and recently pulled out of his 12th All-Star game to rest the strained right calf that recently landed him on the disabled list.

"I really don't worry about my age too much," he said.

Jeter hadn't homered at all since May 8, and this was his first homer at Yankee Stadium since last July 22.

Boggs, Dave Winfield and Rickey Henderson each got plenty of hits with the Yankees on the way to 3,000 and the Hall of Fame, but were gone when the milestone came. Paul Waner got one hit for New York after he passed the mark.

Jeter said it's "mind-boggling" when he first found out no Yankees player had 3,000, a fact he discovered while perusing the team media guide several years ago during spring training.

"Congratulations, first of all, to Derek Jeter on joining the 3,000 hit club. It is an exclusive honor, achieved by only a select group, that not many people can call their own," Boggs said. "I had the opportunity to play with Derek when he was a rookie in 1996, and I had no doubts that Derek would reach this milestone."

Jeter is the 11th player to get all 3,000 with one team, a list by Stan Musial, who had 3,630 hits for the St. Louis Cardinals, Carl Yastrzemski (3,419 for the Red Sox) and Ripken (3,154 for the Orioles).

About the only people disappointed that Jeter hit 3,000 this day were the thousands of fans who lined up trying to get tickets, many of them having paid whopping amounts to get into Friday night's game that was rained out.

John Verbeek made trips on the New Haven rail line for two straight days from his home in Milford, Conn., to see Jeter's chase. He headed back to the train station without seeing a single pitch or at-bat.

"I got the tickets on StubHub for a premium, hoping to see the game last night," Verbeek said. "My daughter is a real Jeter fan and she raced all the way in from Boston to get here on time last night."

"And now we can't get in today. We're very, very disappointed," he said.

Yankees announcer Bob Sheppard dies

Very sad day for Yankee & Giants fans.
His voice will echo in my head forever,
from memories I will never forget.
RIP Bob

Bob Sheppard was honored by the Yankees on May 7, 2000, during his 50th season as the team's stadium announcer.
NEW YORK -- Bob Sheppard, the iconic Yankee Stadium public address announcer whose impeccable introductions of stars from Joe DiMaggio to Derek Jeter earned him the nickname "The Voice of God," has died. He was believed to be 99.

The Yankees didn't immediately release additional details but were to do so later in the day, team spokesman Jason Zillo said Sunday.

Sheppard started with the Yankees in 1951 and he last worked at Yankee stadium late in the 2007 season, when he became ill with a bronchial infection. He recorded a greeting to fans that was played at the original ballpark's final game in September 2008, and his audio recording still is used to introduce Jeter before each at-bat at home by the Yankees captain.

When the team moved into new Yankee Stadium last year, it honored him by naming the media dining room after him.

While Sheppard didn't like to give his age, a former Yankees official had confirmed in 2006 that Sheppard was born Oct. 12, 1910.

The Yankees' lineup for Sheppard's first game on April 17, 1951, included DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Johnny Mize, Yogi Berra, and Phil Rizzuto. And the opponents that day, the Boston Red Sox, were led by Ted Williams.

Sheppard became as much as a fixture in the Bronx ballpark as the familiar white stadium facade or Monument Park, tucked behind the blue outfield wall.

In May 2000, after 50 years and two weeks on the job, the team honored him with "Bob Sheppard Day" and put a plaque in his honor in Monument Park. Fans gave Sheppard a standing ovation, and legendary news anchor Walter Cronkite read the inscription. Berra, Reggie Jackson and Don Larsen were among those who stood on the field during the ceremonies.

Bob Sheppard was honored by the Yankees on May 7, 2000, during his 50th season as the team's stadium announcer.
"The voice of Yankee Stadium," read the plaque. "For half a century, he has welcomed generations of fans with his trademark greeting, 'Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Yankee Stadium."

He also served as the stadium voice of the NFL's New York Giants from 1956 through 2005, and for men's basketball and football at St. John's, where he taught. But baseball is what made him famous.

He announced at 62 World Series games and a pair of All-Star games, and introduced more than 70 Hall of Famers across his career. It was one of them, Jackson, who dubbed Sheppard "The Voice of God."

His player introductions remained consistent throughout the decades, with Sheppard imbuing each name and number with a gravitas more befitting a coronation than a ballpark: "No. 7. Mickey Mantle. No. 7." Or even "No. 58. Dooley Womack. No. 58."


Text Copyrighted 2010 by The Associated Press

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