Rivera answers the call to be inducted into Hall
Beloved Yankee delivers day’s final speech among six-man induction class
Former New York Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera takes the stage during the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony Sunday at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown. Rivera is the only player elected unanimously to the Hall. Happy to see him honored, at right, are Rivera’s family and friends, who clapped and cheered as he walked onto the stage.
The 80th induction class into the National Baseball Hall of Fame Sunday afternoon saw New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera open his nearly 25-minute speech before a raucous reception outside Clark Sports Center with the following statement: “First of all, I don’t understand why I always have to be the last. I keep saying that for the last 20 years, and the last 17 years of my career, ‘Why do I always have to be the last?’ I guess being the last one was special.”
Rivera, the all-time leader in saves, certainly was special and he authored the final speech of the festivities. All six players enshrined on a beautiful sun-drenched afternoon in Cooperstown brought something unique to the game they loved.
The order of the speeches began with the two starting pitchers, followed by the pair of designated hitters and concluded with two of the game’s greatest closers.
Easily the most moving and compelling speech was authored by someone who never played an inning in major league baseball: Brandy Halladay, the wife of the late Roy Halladay who died in a plane crash in the Gulf of Mexico in 2017.
Fighting back tears before even beginning her impassioned address, Brandy Halladay received a standing ovation from the 57 Hall of Fame players present to hear her words.
“Anybody who thinks baseball truly isn’t a family has never been involved in baseball,” she said. “I know how honored Roy would be to be sitting here with such accomplished men, who have represented the game so well through all of your careers. ... This is not my speech to give. I’m going to do the best I can to say the things I believe Roy might have said or wanted to say if he was here today.”
Halladay won the Cy Young Award
in 2003 and 2010. An eight-time All-star and three-time winner of 20 games in a season, Halladay finished his 16-year career with a record of 203 wins and 105 losses, a 3.38 earned-run average and 2,117 strikeouts. He was inducted Sunday along with Rivera, Mike Mussina, Edgar Martinez, Lee Smith and Harold Baines.
During the 2010 season with the Philadelphia Phillies, Halladay threw a perfect game during the regular season and tossed a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds in the National League Division Series to become just the second pitcher in MLB history to accomplish the feat during postseason play.
Brandy Halladay talked about her sons Braden and Ryan and the level of support they have received. She expressed gratitude to both Toronto and Philadelphia for honoring the family’s decision to not have a cap designation on the Hall of Fame plaque.
“Evidence of the love for us and our love for them as well was shown all week as they came together to celebrate Roy, and that means the world to me,” Brandy Halladay said.
“I think that Roy would want everyone to know that people are not perfect. That we are all imperfect and flawed in one way or another. But with hard work, humility and dedication, imperfect people can still have perfect moments. Roy was blessed in his life and his career to have some perfect moments, but I believe they were only possible because of the man he strived to be, the teammate that he was and the people he was blessed to be on the field with.”
Mussina was the first to speak Sunday. He pitched for the Baltimore Orioles from 1991 to 2000 and with the Yankees from 2001 through 2008. He retired after producing his only 20-win season of his career. He finished with a 270-153 record, a 3.86 earned-run average and 2,813 strikeouts. A seven-time Gold Glove winner, Mussina earned five All-star selections and is just one of four Live Ball Era pitchers to record at least 270 wins and a winning percentage of .625 or higher.
Twice drafted by Baltimore, Mussina thanked many during his rapid-fire speech.
“I was never fortunate enough to win a Cy Young Award or be a World Series champion,” Mussina said. “I didn’t win 300 games or strike out 3,000 batters. While my opportunities for those achievements are in the past, today, I get to become a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Maybe I was saving up from all those almost achievements for one last push. This time, I made it.”
Both Baines and Smith, stars during the 1980s and 1990s, earned enshrinement from the Today’s Game Era committee.
Baines, a designated hitter who played for the Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Indians over 22 years, earned six Allstar game selections. He produced 2,866 hits, a .289 batting average, 384 home runs and 1,628 RBIS.
A man of few words before, during and after his career, Baines got emotional when talking about his parents, family and wife Marla.
Said Baines, “In the end, when you ask me why I’ve never been outspoken or said very much, I think of my dad and the advice he passed on to me many years ago: ‘Words are easy, deeds are hard. Words can be empty, deeds speak loudest and sometimes they echo forever.’”
Smith pitched for eight different teams during his 18-year career. He entered the Hall of Fame wearing a Chicago Cubs hat on his plaque. He finished 802 games and saved 478 games, which was a record at the time he retired. A seven-time All-star selection, Smith saved 30 games in a season 10 times.
Scouted by Buck O’neil for the Cubs, Smith nearly passed on pursuing baseball for basketball.
“So many people helped me reach this stage, but compared to any, it has been my family that made me into who I am today,” Smith said. “They are the main reason I am on this stage right now.”
The wait for induction also proved to be a long and arduous journey for Martinez, the Seattle Mariners mainstay who earned enshrinement on his 10th and final year on the Baseball Writers Association of America ballot. Martinez batted .312 over 18 seasons, including winning batting titles in 1992 and 1995. A seven-time All-star and five-time Silver Slugger Award winner, Martinez hit 309 home runs and drove in 1,261 runs. He was named the best designated hitter five times during his career, an award that is now named after him.
In front of a enthusiastic Mariners fan contingent, Martinez’s speech was filled with little about his exploits and a great deal surrounding all the people who made his career possible. The two people he praised most were scout Marty Martinez and cousin Carmelo Martinez, who convinced him to leave Puerto Rico and take Seattle’s contract offer.
“Marty was the scout that signed me and he saw something in me that others didn’t,” Martinez said. “Carmelo was like a brother. He signed before me and had a big influence in my life. When Marty Martinez offered me that contract, I didn’t want to sign. I told him I was going to school, playing on the weekend and life was good for me — a new car and nice clothes. Why would I want to risk what I had for $4,000? Carmelo convinced me. He told me, ‘You can make it. Give it a shot.’ We argued and he won. Carmelo, thank you. You are a big reason why I’m on this stage.”
Rivera, as he did throughout his recordbreaking career, found a way to deliver an excellent final salvo to complete Sunday’s induction ceremony.
“I am so humbled and blessed to receive this incredible honor,” Rivera said. “God bless you all and I love you. Thank you.”