As we say goodbye to another baseball season, we are reminded of a few things: 1) The Angels and Nationals are not who we thought they were; 2) the Dodgers were better than we thought they were, and; 3) that Alex Rodriguez is a dirty cheat who can’t get over himself in the wake of the Biogenesis scandal. Rodriguez reminds me of how Ranger fans took way too long to get over the departure of Josh Hamilton (there’s no crying in baseball and the MLB is a business, by the way) from Arlington.

But the baseball season’s demise also reminds us of a fact that becomes sobering for anyone who pays attention to the game: the retirement of Mariano Rivera. By the time this paper comes out, the Yankees may be in or out of the playoffs with the final days of the regular season just around the corner.

Rivera is the last Major League player to have played in the big leagues for longer than most WT students, including myself, have even been alive. He was signed in 1990 by the New York Yankees as a pitcher. After that, the son of a Panamanian fisherman took his first ever flight to the Yankees’ spring training facility in Florida. After spending some time in the minor leagues, he made his debut in the 1995 season for the pinstripes.  He was originally slated as a starting pitcher but was later moved to reliever, a position that he has permanently held for the Yankees since 1997.

Since then, Rivera has established himself as the most dominant relief pitcher in baseball history. He’s got an uncanny knack to stay composed late in games with the lead on the line and pull through for the win. At one point in his career, he had at least 25 saves for 15 straight seasons. He has a record earned run average over his long career of just 2.00 and there have more men to walk on the moon than to score on Mariano in the playoffs. Five world championships have made the man a legend.

The Sandman, as he is known around the sport, announced earlier this season that he will return at the end of the 2013 campaign, which will come to an end just before is 44th birthday. He figures to be a strong candidate for the Baseball Hall of Fame as soon as he becomes eligible.

But there is more to the Sandman than numbers; there’s humility. All throughout his career, Rivera has remained humble and thankful for the opportunities he has been presented. He represents a side of baseball that is rarely seen among players and fans.

As I was brainstorming this column, I didn’t think that his humility, while impressive, was enough to have the Sandman live on. I ended up having an emotional catharsis of sorts in trying to find what that other element was. Before long, it finally hit me: I realized how lucky I was to see a man like that play baseball. Think about it. There is so much scandal going on in baseball and a lot of change that may be good or bad, but there has always been one solid rock that has linked generations and that rock is Mariano Rivera. How lucky we all are to have that in our lives.

I’m reminded of Lou Gehrig’s famous farewell speech on July 4, 1939. In that speech, Gehrig said, “I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth,” before adding that because of his support, “I’ve got an awful lot to live for.” Mariano characterizes that for all of us.

Thanks, Sandman, for making us the luckiest people on Earth to have watched you play. Thanks for inspiring us to live humbly and perform to our best, especially when it is all on the line. Thanks, Mariano for giving us an example of how to live and “an awful lot to live for.”