Mo Begins His Farewell Tour

USA Today Sports / Kim Klement

As Mariano Rivera approached the podium for his press conference, surrounded by his wife and two sons, you sensed that the rumors of his impending announcement that he would retire from baseball after the 2013 season were indeed true. His approach seemed cautious, as he slightly held his head down, like he did not want to literally face the packed room of reporters and teammates until the moment he absolutely had to. Once there, he greeted his onlookers with that signature smile we've all become so familiar with for the last 19 years.

And then, after being introduced by Yankees head of pr, Tony Zillo; after thanking his Lord and saviour Jesus Christ; after jokingly thanking Brian Cashman for breaking Yankee policy and giving him a 2-year extension to play until 2015; after acknowledging his teammates, the announcement came.

"It's not easy when you come to a decision like this," Mariano said. "But I would like to say that it has been an honor and a privilege to wear the pinstripes uniform that I have worn proudly for so many years. It has been wonderful."

"After this year, I will be retiring."

And that was all anyone needed to hear. Nothing said after that statement really mattered. It had become official: the Yankees all-time leading closer; Major League Baseball's all-time leading closer; the greatest closer to ever play this game would be saying good-bye to it all after the 2013 season.

Simply put, Mariano wants to be home with his family. They miss him. He misses them. And one could guess that while spending most of the 2012 season at home rehabbing from the achilles injury that cut his season short, the desire to remain with his family became more palpable. But being the honorable man that Mo has always been, he decided to come back and play in 2013 because he owed it to his fans, to his team, to baseball and to himself. So we all should be thankful for Mo's injury, otherwise, today's announceent would have come much sooner.

"If I would have finished the season last year, I would have retired last year."

Today's press conference was a short one. If you were expecting Mo to give a long, dragged out speech about his career or what the game of baseball has meant to him, you were wrong. What Mo has decided to do is let the season be his way to give fans their long good-bye. This press conference was as Mo has played the game: precise and expedient. He got in, took care of the task on hand, then got out, with a smile. There were some questions by the media, of course, to which he and his wife Clara graciously answered. But with the Yankees having a game this afternoon of which he's scheduled to throw his first pitch in a game since May of last year, Mo, even in this special moment, would never take anything away from that. It has been and always will be, about the team.

I've written two farewell posts here on Bomber Boulevard: one for Andy Pettitte's "first" retirement, lol, and one for Jorge Posada. Each coming after their last game was played. So I will wait until the end of the season to write my official farewell to the great Mariano Rivera, discussing his career, his place in baseball history and what he's meant to me and all of you as Yankee fans. Being a man-of-his-word, unlike Andy (thank God!), I suspect that it will be the only farewell post for him I'll ever have to write. Deep down in my heart though, I'm praying to be wrong about that.

Follow Rasheeda Cooper on twitter: @ra_cooper