KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mariano Rivera’s career may have ended Thursday night, not while basking in the glow of adoring fans at Yankee Stadium, but in agonizing pain on the outfield grass before a few thousand fans in Kansas City.
Baseball’s greatest closer tore a ligament in his right knee while shagging balls during batting practice before a game against the Royals, a devastating injury that will likely sideline the Yankees’ 12-time All-Star for the remainder of the season.
“This is bad,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “There’s no question about it.”
The 42-year-old right-hander’s leg caught on the field where the grass meets dirt, causing his knee to buckle.
He fell into the outfield wall and down to the ground, where Rivera grimaced in pain as teammates and training staff ran out to see him.
Rivera was carted from the field and taken for an MRI exam. Royals physician Dr. Vincent Key diagnosed a torn ACL after examining the scans of the knee.
“I thought it wasn’t that bad, but it’s torn,” Rivera said after the Yankees lost 4-3, pausing several times in the Yankees clubhouse to compose himself. “Have to fix it.”
Rivera has said that he will decide after the season whether to retire, and while Girardi said he hoped that baseball’s career saves leader with 608 would make a comeback, Rivera was noncommittal.
“At this point, I don’t know,” he said. “At this point, I don’t know. Going to have to face this first. It all depends on how the rehab is going to happen, and from there, we’ll see.”
The injury cast a pall over the Yankees, who put the tying run on third base in the ninth before Mike Moustakas made a stellar play on a chopper by Alex Rodriguez, throwing him out at first to preserve the Royals’ victory.
Afterward, the only thing on A-Rod’s mind was Rivera.
“I saw it all go down,” said Rodriguez, who uttered “Oh, my God,” from behind the batting cage when Rivera went down. “Obviously it’s a huge blow. Mo means so much to this team.
“It’s hard to even talk about it tonight,” Rodriguez said. “Mo means so much to us on a personal level, and on the field.”
Bullpen coach Mike Harkey was near Rivera when he went down, and was the first to whistle for help.
Girardi was watching batting practice near Rodriguez behind home plate and ran down the third base line before cutting across the outfield to get to his closer.
Harkey and Girardi helped carry Rivera to the cart, gently setting him into the back with his knee propped up.
The cart rounded the warning track before disappearing up a tunnel.
