Yesterday, on twitter I found a link to a site with a petition that I happily put my name to:
It
is an effort started by Thomas Ferrara of New York to have River Avenue
in New York City renamed to “Rivera” Avenue. For the document to
become a legitimate petition, it requires 10,000 electronic signatures,
and it is directed to Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
As Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post wrote:
Tom
Ferrara was standing in the shadow of the big ball-yard in The Bronx,
waiting for his son-in-law, squinting away the sun, when the epiphany
hit him. This was Thursday, Sept. 5, and the Yankees would soon play the
Red Sox, and Ferrara’s eyes suddenly fastened on the street sign in
front of him.
River Ave.
River Ave.
“And
it hit me,” said Ferrara, the CEO of Future Value Associates in Pound
Ridge. “But for two letters, that could be a wonderfully appropriate
street name.”
And with that, Ferrara started his online campaign to get Mo emblazoned in New York for eternity (or as long as streets exist).
It makes sense to me. What better way to honor the best reliever the sport of baseball has ever had?
During
his “Farewell Tour” of 2013, the Yankees opponents have showered him
with gifts ranging from a chair made from the bats he broke with his
amazing cutter to a poem from our hated rivals the Red Sox.
We need to top those because Mo is ours, and always will be ours.
It
is certain that he will have a bust in Cooperstown and a monument in
Yankees stadium, but we need to uniquely honor this face of our latest
championship era. No one has done what he has done in the eighth and
ninth innings, and with the constant evolution of how a relief pitcher
is used, most likely no one ever will.
Other
teams and sports have honored their greats with statues outside their
stadiums. Unless you are specifically going to those stadiums, you
won’t even know they are there.
A
street is more accessible and recognizable even to those not familiar
with the game. It forever ties Mo to New York City for those that
travel along its route, as well as people charting their courses on a
map of the Big Apple.
Pete Rose, baseball’s tainted all-time hits leader has “Pete Rose Way”, the
Baltimore Ravens recently retired defensive hero is remembered with “Ray
Lewis Way” and even Robert Griffin III (RG3) has a street named after
him in his hometown of Copperas Cove, Texas.
Mariano Rivera’s integrity, class and accomplishments far outweigh any one of those.
The
way Mo conducted himself on and off the field makes him the perfect
role model for any child, regardless of their aspirations.
As the petition reads:
Mariano
Rivera's inspiration and class has done so much for not only New York
City, but for the game of baseball. To honor the greatest closer of all
time - if not one of the best baseball players of all time - rally
together with us to have New York City change the popular River Avenue
behind Yankee Stadium to Rivera Avenue
River Avenue runs along the right field side of Yankee stadium in the Bronx
and slightly bends to the left, much the same way a Rivera cut fastball
would to a left handed batter. Thousands walk along it on their way to
the ball park (just as Ferrara did).
--Steve Skinner, BYB Guest Writer
Twitter: @oswegos1
The Bleeding Yankee Blue store is opened! CLICK HERE TO START SHOPPING! Also, follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue (Official) on Facebook, just type it in.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for commenting on Bleeding Yankee Blue.