Joe Torre arrived at his first spring training as Yankees manager in 1996, having only seen Mariano Rivera, as a rookie, pitch in one game in the previous season's playoffs.
Torre knew he had a hard-throwing right-handed reliever. That is, if he was going to have Rivera on the roster.
"At spring training, there was some conversation about trading him, only because we had an abundance of those types of pitchers," Torre said yesterday at a golf outing at Sleepy Hollow Country Club to support the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation. "I didn't really know where he'd fit. We didn't think closer because we had other people, but we thought he could contribute. ... We really weren't sure. Obviously, that was the best trade that the Yankees never made."
Paul J. Bereswill
Good move: Joe Torre said keeping Mariano Rivera (above) on the team in 1996 was "the best trade that the Yankees never made."
More than 17 years later, Rivera's farewell tour is winding down.
Never more was the Yankees closer's impact on the game felt than when he jogged in from the bullpen in the eighth inning of Tuesday night's All-Star Game at Citi Field and received a rousing tribute from fans, players and coaches from all cities and teams.
Rivera demonstrated
his appreciation with kisses and a tip of the cap, before retiring all three batters he faced and winning the game's Most Valuable Player Award.
Afterward, the 43-year-old described how emotional the moment was for him. Those who have known him for years seemed just as touched.
"It was beautiful and he deserves that," said Willie Randolph, who was a coach with the Yankees during Rivera's first 10 seasons. "It gave me goose bumps watching him. The way he performed and the way the players and the fans treated him, just a perfect way to go out in an illustrious career.
"Just to hear him speak also so eloquently at the end, something that a lot of fans don't get to see, Mariano expressing himself, knowing him the way I do, it was heartfelt and it was really beautiful. It was a tremendous tribute to him. It was pretty cool."
Torre thinks despite an almost untouchable 638 career saves and a mind-boggling 0.70 ERA in 96 postseason appearances, Rivera's universal respect from opposing players and fans — unseen since Cal Ripken Jr. — stems more from how he handles his accomplishments than the accomplishments themselves.
"On a night like [Tuesday], you realize how far that goes for all the respect he has in this game because he's played it the right way," said Torre. "I think we really spotlight a lot of individual achievement and he's really more of a team-oriented person. He never sticks it in someone's face. When he saves a game, he just walks off. He does that because he has a respect for them."
Rivera has been as strong as ever this season, with a 1.83 ERA and 30 saves in 32 chances, but with the Yankees three games out of a playoff spot and the status of his many injured teammates unclear, the end is uncertain — except for his date with Cooperstown.
"There are very few people who can say there's a certain thing they did better than anyone else in the history of sports," former Mayor Rudy Giuliani said. "I think he may be the first unanimous first-ballot Hall of Famer. ... Why you wouldn't put in a man who is the best at his position in the history
of the game by a great margin?"
howard.kussoy@nypost.com
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