Mariano Rivera makes his return to Old-Timers’ Day at Yankee Stadium, one year after injury

NEW YORK — A year after tearing his Achilles tendon on Yankee Stadium’s outfield grass, legendary closer Mariano Rivera made a triumphant return to Old-Timers’ Day.

“Injuries are gonna happen, and I’m OK with that,” a smiling Rivera said Saturday, as his fellow retirees took batting practice behind him. “It was tough, it was tough. I still have to deal with it. I’m moving better, and I’m here. I’m good enough to be here.”

It was this time last year that Rivera, now 56 years old, crumpled to the ground while trying to field a fly ball off the bat of Willie Randolph. He went to the hospital that day, and ultimately went on to have surgery to repair the injury.

Players who participate in the game are required to sign liability waivers from the Yankees. The team jokingly announced on its social media platforms Saturday morning that it had “reinstated RHP/UTIL/HOF Mariano Rivera (#42) from the 364-day injured list.”

“We are keeping an eye on him,” said Jorge Posada, Rivera’s longtime catcher. “We’re not putting him in center field. He says he’s gonna pitch. I don’t know, his arm looks good.”

Rivera, who is the game’s all-time leader with 652 career saves, spent his entire 19-year career with the Yankees. He was a 13-time All-Star, finished top five in American League Cy Young voting five times and was named World Series MVP in 1999. The five-time World Series champion became the first unanimous selection to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019.

He threw some batting practice prior to the start of the 78th Old Timers’ Day, looping in pitches to former teammate Hideki Matsui.

Rivera recalled using Old-Timers’ Day as a player to speak with the greats who came back to visit. “That was meaningful,” he said. “Whitey Ford. ‘Whitey, how do you do this thing?’ He did it before us.”

Not many current young players, however, take him up on those same opportunities nowadays.

“I wish they’d do it more,” Rivera said. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen that way. But it’s OK to me. I’m not the one that needs it.”

Rivera also expressed frustration at the team’s inability to win a World Series since 2009, when Rivera was still New York’s closer.

“You’re telling me. If you have the answer to that, I would like to hear it,” Rivera said. “It’s been hard. It’s unbelievable. Hopefully this year is the year. It’s not easy, winning championships is not easy. It’s hard. But we have the team.”

Rivera is one the most decorated champions in Yankees history, so he would know what it takes. On this day, he was only there to prove that in a different sense. To show that one devastating injury wouldn’t keep him getting back out there, and playing on this field once again.

“I love this game,” Rivera said. “I am here because I love this game. That’s it. Nothing else.”